IoT in the future of the automotive industry

The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the globe connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data without human intervention. Car2Car connectivity and advanced fleet management are only a few examples of how IoT solutions are shaping the new automotive age.

Why do we speak about the Internet of Things in the automotive market?

The independent market research, “Automotive IoT Market by Platform-Global Forecast to 2025″ by GlobeNewswire predicts the automotive IoT market will grow at a CAGR of 16.4% from 2019 to 2025 and reach $541.73 billion by 2025. The introduction of high-speed mobile networks (5G and beyond) on the horizon will catalyze this growth through faster data transfers, response times, and enhanced vehicular communication.

Advancing from the age of products to the age of service and experience, from functionality to information as the key object of value creation, and from warehouses to intricately connected systems, the automotive industry is trying to scale up its potential with IoT.

The Core Role of IoT in the Automotive Industry

IoT connectivity, smart sensors and gadgets, edge computing, mobile apps, and cloud services are going to revolutionize how you interact with and use your automobiles. Implementing the IoT applications results in performance increase, reduces cost, and enables better quality control.

Industry 4.0 is paving the way with the IoT and Artificial Intelligence, the IoT applications in the automotive industry is limitless.

Top Applications of IoT in Automobile Industry

With IoT technologies, the automotive industry is creating more and more innovative and advanced solutions. IoT has already gained adoption in many areas within the automotive sector. Let us look at some of the most interesting applications of IoT in the automotive industry:

1. In-vehicle infotainment

The modern car infotainment system is equipped with functionalities that extend beyond the realm of entertainment. Smart apps are being put into car infotainment systems to provide in-car navigation, telematics, and entertainment. For example, Google has partnered with many automakers to integrate its apps such as Google Maps, Play Store, and Google Assistant into vehicle infotainment systems. Similarly, CarPlay by Apple is offered in several mid-to-high-end cars.

A high-end IVI system is usually integrated with:

• Attractive UI displaying infotainment modules
• Bluetooth connectivity with smartphones
• Driver and passenger seat temperature control system
• Media player
• Radio — AM/FM/HD radio
• Event manager that manages the priority of tasks

And even more.

2. Predictive maintenance

Combining big data, cloud computing, edge computing with sensors enable data collation and analytics, collect data on a vehicle’s part performance. But how does it work? First, it evaluates the risk of malfunction of the vehicle with the sensors, transmits the data over the cloud, and notifies the user by reducing breakdowns and enabling easy maintenance.

The main advantages of Automotive IoT solutions with predictive maintenance:

• Identify any parts failures before the occurrence
• Calculate remaining useful life/possible repairs up to a 75%
• Measures performance variables such as temperature, speed, electrical system, navigation route
• Lower costs of operations with an increase in safety

3. Real-time telematics

Vehicle telematics allows the monitoring of location, movement, status, and behavior of a vehicle. Connecting the telematics devices, the smart cloud-connected IoTboxes on vehicles provide real-time insights on vehicle state, driver health, and optimization of transportation within a fleet. It truly is a significant rise of IoT in the automotive industry.

When IoT and telematics come together, vehicles can be enhanced with electronics, connectivity, and hardware that allow them to communicate and interact with other devices.

The advantages of using telematics include

• remote access to vehicle operation information,
• remote vehicle speed limit controls,
• turn-by-turn navigation with augmented 3rd-party information
• vehicle collision notifications to third parties,
• emergency responders.

4. Cellular Vehicle to Everything (CV2X)

The real-time traffic flow information, mapping, infotainment, remote access to emergency services — all these services require connectivity. In the IoT use case in automotive, a network that connects cars is a Cellular Vehicle to Everything (CV2X). There are two modes of operation with C-V2X: device-to-device and device-to-network.

Device-to-device enables communications like vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P). V2V, V2I, and V2P make connected roadways through innovations like collision avoidance, sharing data about speed, location, and route via a single network, and alert the driver about traffic signal priority/timing or to pedestrians and cyclists all possible.

Device-to-network supports vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication via cellular networks, allowing cloud services to include in these end-to-end solutions, as well as enables real-time traffic reporting and routing.

5. Cognitive insights for management

With connected cars, manufacturers can inform drivers directly and efficiently about any problems as well as automate and simplify such tasks as scheduling a car servicing appointment with the nearest service center or a car dealer. This two-way exchange ensures that cars are regularly serviced and controlled with little inconvenience to the user.

6. Firmware Over the Air (FOTA) Update

FOTA is a remote software management technology that enables wireless firmware update on embedded systems. The automotive industry is extensively used to update vehicle ECU software with new features, facilitate bug fixes, and replace older versions of firmware.

A firmware server located in an IoT Cloud Infrastructure sends new firmware for the vehicle’s ECU through wireless channels such as BLE, WiFi, or GPRS.

During the FOTA update process, either the existing firmware in the vehicle ECU is replaced with a new firmware image, or a patch is added. Therefore, the desired changes are updated in the ECU through remote connectivity only.

7. Data analytics and dashboard reporting

Connected cars provide driver data essential to the development, testing, and prototyping of better self-driving vehicles. As more and more vehicles with IoT-enabled systems engage with the real world, the wealth and quality of data are inevitably improving. With data analytics and dashboard reporting tools, auto manufacturers can continue to make new offerings and better serve the needs of their customers.

Preparing for an IoT-enabled automotive future

IoT applications are currently redefining the status quo in the automotive industry. As the Internet of Things technology matures further, it is certain that there will be a complete transformation in the way we use our vehicles. It has already become possible to control and know a vehicle’s stats with a single tap. As newer innovations in IoT-enabled vehicles achieve economies of scale and customer acceptance, the nature of business is likely to keep changing. The inclusion and participation of analytics software vendors, applications service providers, and infrastructure stakeholders will play a greater role in the system and lead to a redistribution of roles in the industry. Self-driving features and a digitized in-car experience soon will not be “special perks” for automakers — they will be a necessity. To remain competitive in the automotive industry, legacy automakers need to stay up-to-date on the latest self-driving and in-car experience technologies.

According to Business Insider Intelligence, many automakers are deploying multiple strategies to remain viable in the space, including working with big and small tech startups, partnering with big tech firms, or building an in-house solution.

Automotive is kick-starting a new phase with IoT and Wi-Fi capabilities powered by 3G/4G/5G functionality which open up the room for an even higher implementation. So, maybe we can expect all autonomous vehicles in the nearest years?..