Brewing Hot in the Automotive World: The Universe of Maps & Navigation
Speeding through history
Who knew that what started as an important piece of collateral placed in your car’s glove compartment would become a billion dollar industry in the Digital era? No, I’m not referring to those Guns N’ Roses CDs, we are talking about Maps. If maps ever had a marketing theme, it would have been “Maa se poocha?” or “Did you ask Mom?” because she is always showing us the right direction unconditionally.
The history of navigation is both rich and intriguing. To a good portion of the world, it would seem that maps came into force in the early 2000s when internet started to become prevalent and that the use of maps and navigation systems in the vehicles came even later. But the surprising truth is that automotive companies have been working on navigation systems for more than 80 years now. However, it would be safe to say that this space gained significant momentum in the 1980s when automotive companies like Mazda, Toyota, BMW introduced in-car GPS navigation systems.
One of the first critical inventions in this space came in 1985 with a brave move from paper maps to digital maps stored on portable media. It was an aftermarket system called Etak. It read mapping data stored on a cassette drive and each tape would cover a section of a city. So one had to change the side of the cassette to explore a different part of the city. Can you imagine your Google Maps assistant saying that You have reached the end of the World. That would be a memorable day. Just to navigate around Los Angeles required four tapes. Technology-wise, Etak was very advanced for the time and, naturally, quite expensive. Yet, it managed to sell several thousand units over several years. It was the iPhone of those days.
This was followed by more innovations. In 1990, Mazda introduced the first ever GPS system for automotive navigational use. Mazda’s navigation system was built into the actual car instead of being an aftermarket accessory. For the first time, your position on the road could be triangulated in real time from satellites in space. This marked the beginning of a true digital age in the automotive saga.
In 1997, Alpine, another Japanese company, introduced a CD-ROM navigation system with map data stored in it and used GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites. As with cassette drives, each CD disc contained mapping data for a few states. However, this system would allow retrofitting and any car buyer could add GPS to his car. It’s because of such inventions Japan rightly holds the title of Mecca of Automotive.
The West had wider adoption of these innovations only after the U.S. government lifted restrictions on usage of GPS data to public. It wasn’t until 2000 that the full capabilities of GPS technology were installed into vehicles, with new luxury vehicles like the BMW 7-Series putting the GPS data to use.
But what does an automotive navigation system do?
An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to navigate directions. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on a road. When directions are needed routing can be calculated and on the fly traffic information can be used to adjust the route.
Now, most automotive companies apart from the relying on the satellite data, also deployed another advanced technique to calculate your map position also known as Dead reckoning in the auto world. Rather, Etak also used this technique, so it dates back to 1980s when satellites data wasn’t open to public and was only for military use.
Dead reckoning uses distance data from sensors attached to the drive-train i.e. a gyroscope and an accelerometer to calculate your position with greater reliability. This is still very much in play in case of GPS signal loss or tunnels. This is a key reason why automotive navigation systems have sustained the test of time and innovation because of their deep connectivity with other car components like odometer, speed and fuel sensors. As navigation systems improved, auto companies rolled out richer features like Turn-by-turn Navigation. In this, a user could select routes and directions for a selected route were continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system also kept users updated with the best route to their destinations, in fact the newer versions of the systems also factored in changing factors such as traffic and road conditions. Despite the limitations of using CD-ROM based or DVD based navigation systems with map data stored in these storage devices, users still had it good. Rather, with a DVD based system in the car, they could Break Free with Queens playing in the car and enjoy the benefit of navigation which isn’t possible with CD-ROM based navigation. Little did they know that their world was going to be swayed by tech in the post 2000 world?
But before we usher into the post 2000 world, let me summarize the universe of satellites which are used to reckon global positioning. The U.S. Department of Defense developed satellite-based global positioning technology for the military. While the first satellite-based system was up and running as early as 1960, more refined versions involving multiple satellites in general military use were introduced in early 1980s. But it wasn’t until 2000 that precision GPS navigation became open to the public, a development for which the world would remember President Clinton. This instantly upgraded the accuracy of the few consumer-based systems already in existence by a factor of 10, and opened the doors to a much larger, consumer electronics-based industry for GPS navigation.
Fast forward to 2020, a network of 24 U.S.-based GPS satellites orbit the earth, ensuring that at least three are available at any one time, hence the term triangulation, for a device’s position request anywhere on the globe. Russia’s own GLONASS system of 22 satellites will soon work with some compatible smartphones in the U.S. for additional accuracy.
What changed post 2000?
Coming back to early 2000s, GPS receiver technology evolved and started to get smaller and cheaper. This saw a new wave of startups which introduced personal standalone GPS products, like the in-car navigation devices. Automotive sector saw these companies make enormous headway in this space and eventually they became trusted partners for auto companies. Companies like Tom Tom, Garmin, which made their name in this era sold these trackers in enormous quantities and have been able to diversify their product portfolio with changing times and technologies. But more on that a little later.
First, let’s understand what worked for these GPS units which led to a surge in sales and user adoption.
These companies developed proprietary software and ran it on top of a readily available OS like Embedded Linux. These portable GPS-based units were designed for handheld operations or dashboard mounting in a vehicle. They offered a similar suite of features as many of the navigation systems in cars and could run for several hours on battery before they had to be plugged into the car’s power outlet. While they were easy to handle, a clear disadvantage they offered was that they were not connected internally to the vehicle’s odometer, they could get off course if there is no line of sight when traveling in tunnels or in between tall buildings or on lower levels of bridges. Another flaw with these devices in comparison with the auto navigation systems was the degree of vandalism users had to deal with.
For most part of the decade, the users were stuck in the middle of two imperfect worlds, having to side with one. Either they could go with the old faithful automotive in-dash (navigation) systems and make peace with using DVD-based systems wherein any time there was a map update, the users had to visit the dealerships and spend more money to get these updates. It was definitely an expensive affair. Lots of users also complained about the UI of these systems and quoted that it was a complete nightmare to use these complex systems irrespective of the car segment. It’s not every day that a BMW 7-series user and a Ford Mustang user sympathize with each other in a product review.
The other option was to buy one of these GPS units which were selling like hotcakes during that time. They were easy to handle, easy to use and were regularly updated with new features like live traffic conditions. With time, the prices of these units only declined over the decade. To give you a fair estimate, the devices which sold at about 700 USD in the early 2000s, were selling with the latest features of real-time traffic at 150–200 USD by the end of the decade. Most of these companies were wiped out of the market as the decade rolled to an end with some survivors which truly capitalized on this massive opportunity and made a significant mark in the navigation space. We will look at some of them in the later sections.
2005 marked the beginning of another new era in the world of navigation. The Digital Almighty Google introduced the iconic Google Maps and I can just rest my case here.
While it was natural to use Google Maps in the GPS units, the market demanded more from the tech giants. The unsatiating desires of people were answered and how. Come 2007, January, this wasn’t just another Macworld Convention. This was going to be the most unforgettable episode of this convention when the man himself Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. This was just what the doctor ordered for the world of navigation. As iOS launched in 2007, followed by Android in 2008, Google Maps for both the OS was released in September, 2008 and featured GPS turn-by-turn navigation coupled with parking assistance features. In Aug, 2013 it was nominated as the most popular app for smartphones and rightly so, with a whopping 54% of global smartphone users using it.
Now users had a third alternative while driving. They could simply use their smartphones to navigate directions and enjoy rich features introduced by Google Maps like planning trips including identifying bridges, towpaths and highways on the maps, street view, business listings etc.
As users got comfortable with Google maps, Cell Phone Holders for cars became one of the most sold car accessories. Users could just fit their cell phone in a holder, plan their trips on Google Map and enjoy great music by connecting their in-car audio systems to their phones via Bluetooth.
So, where are we today?
As the automotive world observed customer behavior in the smartphone world, the flexibility and feature set offered by Google Maps emerged as a clear benchmark. So what was missing here? Not much to be honest. There are many users who continue to experience and enjoy this model of navigating routes.
But as phones grew richer in their capabilities to offer infotainment, maps, emails, messaging, you name it, users wished for a more integrated experience with their in-car infotainment systems, which are the new in-car navigation systems. But this is a topic for a different article. Wait a couple weeks, maybe?
In 2014, Apple introduced the first hands-free integration of their mobile devices into a vehicle’s in-dash head unit and named it CarPlay. Although iPod music as well as Bluetooth hands-free phones were built into cars for several years, CarPlay added Siri, messages and most importantly navigation. Within a year more than a dozen automobile manufacturers offered CarPlay. A year later, Google introduced the Android counterpart to CarPlay, Android Auto. In 2015, Hyundai became the first OEM to offer Android Auto in their vehicle segments and was followed by many other OEMs.
So, from using phones placed in holders to navigate directions, users eventually moved towards a hands-free integration of their iPhones or android phones to the navigation/infotainment system where they could finally make more use of that screen.
Talking about developments in the recent years, more OEMs are moving towards a more seamless integration of a user’s phone to the infotainment unit in the car. A prime example of this is the SYNC program launched by Ford, which dates back to 2007 but gained more popularity post its third release in 2015. The program has delivered rapid innovation over the years. Using SYNC, a factory-installed in-vehicle infotainment unit, user can experience features like accepting/rejecting calls from the buttons on the steering wheel, audio conversion of a text message, Applink (running approved list of mobile apps using voice commands or car’s buttons), real-time traffic updates as well as destination routing including locating points of interest. It’s literally mirroring your phone interface on the navigation unit and using voice commands to perform actions.
The increased focus of OEMs to offer a more connected suite of services has made way for numerous companies working on mapping to offer more. Now, they are creating additional layers of proprietary software on top of the maps layer to offer a more enhanced suite of navigation services to the automotive companies to integrate in their cars.
Some of these innovative companies like Tomtom, Waze, Sygic and HERE offering map services are already a strong substitute to Google for its Maps suite. While they may be similar in their offerings, they are trying to differentiate themselves on various capabilities like stronger analytics offerings, heavy focus on new mobility segments like carpooling or ride-sharing, strong platform capabilities etc.
And, where are we headed?
The future definitely holds very exciting and unimaginable propositions, especially in the domain of navigation. One of the mind-boggling offerings we have seen in the market is a safe driving at night feature. Imagine a head-up display which projects navigation directly into line of sight, thus can be used to project the maps on the car windshield. The user can experience live navigation on the windshield rather than having to look for it on the phone.
Not too bad, isn’t it?
By the way, have you heard of real-view navigation yet?
It uses the power of augmented reality inside maps wherein a user can see through the real-world view inside the map. It is like watching the road ahead through your phone in 3D. No need for navigation directions anymore on maps.
Still not impressed? Let’s talk about the autonomous world then.
Most people are hedging their bets on Autonomous, labeling it as the future of automotive, but the world of self-driving cars can only take off when the accuracy levels offered by maps are insanely good, I’m talking about a couple feet. Already, top players in the navigation area are offering highly advanced services or ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems) capabilities for self-driving vehicles such as:
a. Predictive control systems which brake and accelerate based on highly accurate curvature and gradient information of the road ahead.
b. Automatic lane changes and speed control at roundabouts especially developed for highway junctions.
c. Advanced road information like lane count, curvature at junctions and lane divider type
d. Explicit and Implicit speed limit information for all road segments and using that to decide vehicle speed and increase safety
With such advanced features already in place, we are not too far from a more automated driving experience which is centered on the magnificent world of navigation.
The world of navigation has given us extreme comfort to locate and traverse paths. It has become a significant part of our daily lives, so much so that you spend an entire Uber ride pin-pointing the flaws in the maps. But hey, we only complain about things which affect us.
Next up, we will see what happens when the world of payments merge with automotive.
Stay tuned!
Editing Credits: Abhijay S Sisodia
(In case you missed the one from last week, click here)
