Location Based Systems

A new study, Autonomous Driving, by Roland Berger Strategy consultants finds that automatic driving will generate additional revenue volume of up to US$40 billion in component sales in the period through 2030. In addition, new software solutions needed for automated driving will reach a global market volume as high as 20 billion dollars by 2030. There are specific technologies to be mastered, to a large extent unknown territory for both OEMs and suppliers and considerable investments will be needed to de

Swiss wireless communications specialist and Australia connected vehicle technology provider Cohda Wireless have joined forces to develop an advanced vehicle to vehicle/infrastructure (V2X) solution. Offering best in class performance, the MK5 was recently demonstrated at the 2014 ITS World Congress in Detroit and is suitable for first-mount automotive electronics, aftermarket products and roadside infrastructure. Cohda’s dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) based V2X system uses accurate satel

A successful consortium led by the UK’s Transport research Laboratory (TRL) has been selected by Innovate UK to deliver the GATEway project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment), one of three projects awarded to test driverless vehicles in UK urban locations. The US$12.5 million project will see three trials of different types of zero emission automated vehicles within an innovative, technology-agnostic testing environment set in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The ‘prime meridian’ was establi

Swiss based u-blox has acquired the automotive-grade Bluetooth and wi-fi module products of Lesswire, a subsidiary of the PRETTL group. Founded in 1999, Lesswire provides robust vehicle-ready short range wireless communication modules to Tier-1 automotive electronics suppliers in Europe and Asia.

TomTom’s Telematics business has acquired Fleetlogic, one of the leading fleet management service providers in the Netherlands, which the company says strengthens TomTom Telematics’ position as the market leader in the Netherlands and in Europe. The acquisition includes the companies TripXs and Inalise and adds 27,000 subscriptions to the TomTom Telematics installed base. The total installed base of TomTom Telematics now consists of more than 450,000 vehicles. "The fleet management market in the Net

Toyota Motor Corporation is to launch a newly-developed set of active safety technologies from 2015. These are designed to help prevent or mitigate collisions across a wide range of vehicle speeds and will be offered in the form of two Toyota Safety Sense packages, to be rolled out across most passenger models and grades in Japan, North America and Europe by the end of 2017. Both packages will be made available at price levels chosen to encourage widespread use. Two packages will be available depending o

Beginning in 2015, some of Toyota Motor Corporation's new models will be compatible with advanced vehicle-infrastructure cooperative systems that use a wireless frequency reserved for intelligent transport systems (ITS). This compatibility will be offered as an option for the Toyota Safety Sense P active safety package that will be made available in 2015 on selected new models sold in Japan. The systems will use the dedicated ITS frequency of 760 MHz for road-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-vehicle communicati

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced the UK Government’s biggest single investment in cycling, which includes US$179 million to secure funding to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme for the next three years in Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford accelerate their development of local cycling networks, increase protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots and help prevent accidents. US$157 million will also be invested over t

A three-month trial of 360-degree camera technology carried out by Brigade Electronics and Continental has been hailed a success by the two companies. Said to be the first trial of the technology on a fleet of large articulated heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), the project used the Brigade Backeye360 Elite system with Continental’s powerful ASL360 camera system on a fleet of rigid and articulated HGVs owned by UK retailer Marks and Spencer. Backeye360 Elite uses four ultra-wide angle camera lenses mounted

Flo, the driving app launched by Dutch software developer Decos, gives drivers real-time feedback that the company says helps them be safer drivers and save money on fuel and maintenance costs in the process. During each trip, Flo awards points for good driving, such as smooth acceleration and steady speed and deducts points for poor driving, including hard braking and driving too fast around corners. The app gives real-time audio and visual feedback while driving and every trip is automatically saved fo