Prediction Capabilities for Cyber Physical Vehicles

Introduction

Ubiquity and interconnection are important in information systems, and they are behind many concepts like pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, internet of things, and cyber physical systems. A cyber-physical system is a system of real-world objects that are controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms, usually through the Internet. Cyber physical systems open new ground in the automotive domain by introducing entirely new services to the traditional concept of a car. The connected, smart car provides a way to stay in touch with the world during drive time. There is a possibility for new kind of infotainment services and connected car applications to provide better services for drivers and the automotive industry as well. The novel applications include fleet management based on data collection via embedded software, data management in the cloud, and data analytics. The predictive maintenance can be based on the monitoring of the state of the vehicle, and the analytics can be based on cloud-enabled platforms to provide new services to car manufacturers, maintenance and service companies, insurance companies, and entertainment providers.

Automotive manufacturers and suppliers can utilize these cyber physical systems to diagnose vehicle malfunctions on the road. This direct and immediate information can be used to avoid costly recalls by understanding product quality and rapidly assessing safety issues in order to optimize production. Telecommunication companies can develop new connected applications and services, which may be consumed either in vehicles or remotely through smartphone apps. Better driving experience can be delivered by exploiting information about the location, movement, and status of vehicles by analyzing map context and driver behavior. Non-traditional automotive industry participants may provide many of these novel services.

The above-mentioned services are mainly centralized services, in the sense that there is a single organization that collects data from the cyber physical system, analyses it, and then takes actions. Because there is only one actor that senses the environment and takes actions, this is centralized adaptation. This model suits well the traditional automotive industry.

Cyber physical systems help the development of self-driving cars as well. Autonomous vehicles can detect their environment, using different sensors like radar, LIDAR, GPS, computer vision and data from the Internet. The planning unit of the autonomous vehicle merges and interprets the collected information to determine the necessary control actions to navigate the car and avoid obstacles. Autonomous vehicle technology is expected to provide several benefits like those shown in Table 1. In order to achieve these benefits, the autonomous vehicles have to act collectively. Because there are several actors that sense the environment and take actions, this is decentralized adaptation.