BRN - Mercedes

I know we've seen and read a fair bit on the Merc concept but I just liked the way this article was written....to Elon :ROFLMAO:

Couple snippets I also liked...my bold.

Mercedes engineers worked with California-based artificial-intelligence developer BrainChip to create systems based on the company's Akida hardware and software. Among other things, the technology makes the "Hey, Mercedes" voice control system in the EQXX five to ten times more efficient than conventional voice control.

Mercedes says it meets all current crash safety regulations—previews cutting-edge technologies and techniques that are ultimately destined to appear on production Mercedes models.

Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX Concept: Did You See This Coming, Elon?​

The establishment strikes back, as the stunning EV shows what a legacy automaker is capable of.​

Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX Concept 54
SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS

Angus MacKenzieWriterThe ManufacturerPhotographer
Jan 3, 2022

Okay, Elon, this is where it gets serious. The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is what folks who've been building automobiles for more than a century can do when they turn the might of their huge research and development budgets entirely to thinking about designing and engineering a better electric vehicle.

Mercedes-Benz says the Vision EQXX will travel more than 620 miles on a single charge. But here's the thing: Unlike the current range kings of the EV world such as the Lucid Air Grand Touring (516 miles, according to the EPA) and the Tesla Model S Long Range (405, per the EPA) Mercedes says it'll do so with a smaller battery pack—just under 100 kWh in capacity versus the Lucid's 118-kWh pack and the Tesla's 100-kWh pack.
That's better than 6.2 miles per kWh, which would make the EQXX a third more efficient than the Lucid and 55 percent more efficient than the Tesla. This Mercedes changes the conversation around EVs away from today's almost total focus on range as a function of battery capacity. In the EQXX, range is a function of a holistic approach to vehicle efficiency.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX Concept 55 SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
And Mercedes believes there are good practical reasons for taking that approach: "It would have been easy to just use a big battery to get the range," says EQXX drivetrain engineer Tim Wölfel. "But we wanted that range in a compact vehicle."
The car's long tail flatters to deceive: The Vision EQXX is more compact than it looks. Its 110.2-inch wheelbase is exactly 3.0 inches shorter than that of a Tesla Model 3, and is right between those of the current A-Class and C-Class sedans. And while the battery has almost the same capacity as the 100-kWh unit in the 126.4-inch-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz EQS, it's half the size and weighs 30 percent less.
True, the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is a concept. But it's not vaporware. Like key Mercedes concepts of the past, such as the Experimental Safety vehicles of the 1970s, this fully street-legal prototype—Mercedes says it meets all current crash safety regulations—previews cutting-edge technologies and techniques that are ultimately destined to appear on production Mercedes models.
And it's not just the car that's efficient: A new digitally led design and engineering process saw the EQXX go from idea to road ready in just 18 months, bringing together expertise from the company's Formula 1 and Formula E race engineering groups, its research department, prototyping specialists, and the production development team.

The Vision EQXX may be one of the most consequential concept cars of the early 21st century. Here's why.
Mercedes Benz VISION EQXX SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
POWERTRAIN
The Vision EQXX is powered by a single 200-hp electric motor mounted at the rear of the car and driving the rear wheels. The motor is based on the eATS unit that currently powers the compact EQA hatch and the newly launched EQB SUV, but it has been extensively reworked with the help of engineers from the Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrain (HPP) facility in Brixworth, England.
HPP, which designs and builds the fiendishly complex and highly efficient Mercedes Formula 1 powertrains, worked on every element of the EQXX drivetrain to reduce energy consumption and losses through system design, material selection, lubrication, and heat management. HPP also designed the EQXX's power inverter, and the power electronics unit is the same one HPP helped develop for the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE hypercar.
"The motorsport guys count every joule of energy," says Tim Wölfel, explaining that the EQXX's drivetrain is 95 percent efficient. In other words, 95 percent of the energy sent from the battery gets to the driving wheels.
Mercedes Benz VISION EQXX SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
BATTERY
To reduce its size and weight, the EQXX's battery pack dispenses with the conventional method of packing cells into separate enclosed modules, and has a lightweight top cover made from sugarcane waste reinforced with carbon fiber, a materials technology used in Formula 1. Weighing under 1100 pounds, the EQXX's pack has an energy density of more than 200 Wh/kg.
Mercedes says the high energy density comes in part from the chemistry of the anodes, which have a higher silicon content and an advanced composition that means they can hold considerably more energy than commonly used anodes. The battery also has active cell balancing, which means power is drawn evenly from all cells. The EQXX system is very high voltage—more than 900V, well above the industry standard of 400V and even the 800V used in the Porsche Taycan.

The battery is only passively cooled, by the airflow under the car. How practical is that? "We want to find out," says Wölfel, disarmingly reinforcing the idea the EQXX is a proper working concept, not a show car. "What we are thinking is that each battery cell heats itself, and if we know the cell well, we can control the temperature of the cell. A lot of resources are being put into this. We have to find out what is the best state of charge."
Mercedes Benz VISION EQXX SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
AERODYNAMICS
Mercedes engineers have calculated that on the average long-distance drive, 20 percent of the energy stored in an electric vehicle's battery will be consumed overcoming rolling resistance, and 18 percent by losses in the drivetrain and other vehicle systems. The rest—62 percent—will be consumed simply by pushing the vehicle through the air. That simple stat is the reason the EQXX has a claimed drag coefficient of just 0.18.
In profile and plan view, the EQXX has the classic teardrop shape of extreme wind cheaters such as GM's groundbreaking EV1 and the Volkswagen XL1 hypermiler, cars both referenced by Mercedes engineers, along with the three-pointed star's own 1938 540K Streamliner, the C111-III concept of the 1970s, and the Concept IAA unveiled at the 2015 Frankfurt Show, all of which boasted stated drag coefficients of 0.19 or 0.18. To get that shape, the rear track is two inches narrower than the front, and the cabin tapers dramatically above the car's voluptuous hips.
At the front, air is carefully directed under the car, where a shutter system allows extra airflow to pass over a cooling plate for the electric motor if needed. Air is also directed around the front wheels to form a curtain and help keep the flow attached to the side of the car to reduce drag. The long tail helps reduce wasteful turbulence in the car's wake, with an active rear diffuser that lowers and extends at about 40 mph to help keep the speed of the air coming from under the car equal to that streaming off the sides and top.
Mercedes Benz VISION EQXX SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
BODY STRUCTURE
Mercedes says the ultrahigh-strength steel used in the EQXX's body structure offers excellent occupant protection in the event of a crash, while keeping weight to a minimum. The doors are made from a hybrid of carbon- and fiberglass-reinforced plastics with aluminium reinforcements. A new polyamide foam reinforces the lower edge of the door and optimizes energy absorption in a side collision. The roof is covered with solar panels.
The most innovative bits of the EQXX's body are the things you can't see, like the large cast aluminum structure that extends from the rear floor and provides mounting points for the rear suspension and the motor. This casting is made using a patented process that creates a structure that mimics the load and strength paths of natural organisms, reducing excess material to a minimum. As a result, there isn't a single straight line or flat surface on the part. The process, dubbed Bionicast, was also used to create the front shock tower domes of the EQS.

As the Bionicast process eliminates material from anywhere it's not needed while preserving structural integrity, the rear inner fenders are full of large holes. To fill them, Mercedes uses a sustainable plastic substitute developed by an Israeli startup called UBQ Materials; it's made from typical landfill trash such as food and garden waste as well as mixed plastics, cardboard, and even diapers. The combination of the Bionicast process and UBQ patches can reduce the weight of large structural castings by 15 to 20 percent, according to Mercedes.
Mercedes Benz VISION EQXX SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
LIGHTWEIGHTING
EVs, even high-performance ones like Porsche's Taycan Turbo S, aren't usually hard on their brakes, despite their weight, because a lot of braking is done using regeneration via the motor(s). The EQXX is thus fitted with coated aluminum brake rotors rather than iron or carbon-composite units. The aluminum rotors save 29 pounds over conventional iron units, and are considerably less expensive to make than carbon-composite ones.
Corvette fans will be delighted to learn the EQXX has fiberglass-reinforced plastic rear springs. Unlike the simple Corvette leaf, however, the EQXX springs look like four-inch-wide, half-inch-thick strips of plastic folded into a serpentine shape. Developed in partnership with German supplier Rheinmetall Automotive, these strange looking pieces are said to be much lighter than conventional coil springs.
Behind the EQXX's beautifully styled flush wheel covers are ultralight 20-inch forged magnesium wheels. The wheels are shod with specially developed Bridgestone Turanza tires that are also lightweight and have ultra-low rolling resistance.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX 9 SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
ENERGY OPTIMIZATION
Once you get past the wins in terms of aerodynamics, powertrain optimization, and weight reduction, the efficiency devil is in the details. And the EQXX brims with clever technologies and features that are designed to help the car extract the most performance from every joule of energy it consumes.
The 117 solar panels on the roof of the EQXX feed into a 12V system that powers many of the car's ancillaries. On a good day, says Mercedes, the system will lower the draw on the 900V system enough to deliver a 15-mile bump in range. Meanwhile, sensors around the car monitor the airflow so the EQXX can calculate the positive or negative impact of changes in wind direction on energy consumption. Combining all that data with detailed terrain and traffic information, the EQXX will constantly calculate and display a speed that delivers maximum efficiency.

The curved 8K screen that stretches 47.2 inches between the A-pillars makes the most of the EQXX's crisp and sparkling game-engine-powered graphics, including a realtime 3D navigation display. The mini-LED backlit screen features more than 3000 local dimming zones, which means it only consumes power as and when specific parts of the screen are in use. The EQXX has conventional external rearview mirrors because engineers concluded a camera system like that used on Audi's e-tron in global markets would consume too much energy.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX 13 SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR
The EQXX interior is visually spectacular. Some parts, such as the steering wheel, gear selector, and wiper and turn signal stalks are existing Mercedes parts. The car also features the same touch-sensitive seat-adjustment system as on the latest generation Mercedes models. More important, though, the big infotainment screen looks a part of the overall design, not added in.
But what's more impressive is that almost all the fabrics and leathers and carpeting are made of either plant-based organic materials or recycled plastics. The door pulls, for example, are made from a vegan-certified biofabricated silk. The seats are trimmed in an animal-free leather made from pulverized cactus fibers combined with a bio-based polyurethane. The seat cushions' details are covered in a vegan leather alternative made from mycelium, which is the underground rootlike structure of mushrooms.
The carpets are made from 100 percent bamboo fiber. Recycled PET bottles used in a shimmering textile enhance the floor area and door trim, while an artificial suede made from 38 percent recycled PET has been used to create a wraparound effect linking the upper edge of the one-piece screen with the doors and headliner.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX 16 SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
NEUROMORPHIC COMPUTING
Neuro what? Neuromorphic computing is a form of information processing whose hardware runs so-called spiking neural networks. These artificial neural networks mimic natural neural networks, firing only when certain thresholds are reached. Mercedes says the system reduces energy consumption "by orders of magnitude."
Mercedes engineers worked with California-based artificial-intelligence developer BrainChip to create systems based on the company's Akida hardware and software. Among other things, the technology makes the "Hey, Mercedes" voice control system in the EQXX five to ten times more efficient than conventional voice control.

Mercedes acknowledges that while neuromorphic computing is still in its infancy, it says similar systems will be available in a variety of consumer products within a few years. And when applied at scale throughout an electric vehicle, neuromorphic computing has the potential to significantly reduce the energy needed to run the latest artificial intelligence technologies.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX 20 SEE ALL 11 PHOTOS
ARE YOU READY, ELON?
The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is an intellectual and technological tour de force, a fully functional prototype that explores the outer limits of electric vehicle efficiency, connectivity, and production feasibility. Mercedes-Benz says the EQXX also showcases its transformation into a software-driven company whose goal is to be the leader in electric vehicles.
"The Vision EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars," says Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Källenius. "It underlines where our entire company is headed: We will build the world's most desirable electric cars."
The gloves are coming off, Elon. Is Tesla ready for the fight?
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I could say it is the pedant in me but it is actually the prosecutor pointing out that in this article quotation marks are used either side of a statement attributed to Mercedes that

‘Mercedes says the system reduces energy consumption "by orders of magnitude."

One order of magnitude is ten. Orders of magnitude means multiples of 10.

The “Hey Mercedes” is said to be 6 to 10 times more energy efficient. As such it is at best one order of magnitude not multiples of one order of magnitude.

It seems clear at least to me that this direct quote is clear evidence that AKIDA is doing far more than “Hey Mercedes”.

If this is not the case the journalist has deliberately misquoted his source at Mercedes which seems highly unlikely.

My opinion only DYOR
FF

AKIDA BALLISTA
 
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I could say it is the pedant in me but it is actually the prosecutor pointing out that in this article quotation marks are used either side of a statement attributed to Mercedes that

‘Mercedes says the system reduces energy consumption "by orders of magnitude."

One order of magnitude is ten. Orders of magnitude means multiples of 10.

The “Hey Mercedes” is said to be 6 to 10 times more energy efficient. As such it is at best one order of magnitude not multiples of one order of magnitude.

It seems clear at least to me that this direct quote is clear evidence that AKIDA is doing far more than “Hey Mercedes”.

If this is not the case the journalist has deliberately misquoted his source at Mercedes which seems highly unlikely.

My opinion only DYOR
FF

AKIDA BALLISTA
Tend to agree FF.

From that same post and article I snipped the below and bold a couple of things that imply the same conclusion.

Mercedes engineers worked with California-based artificial-intelligence developer BrainChip to create systems based on the company's Akida hardware and software. Among other things, the technology makes the "Hey, Mercedes" voice control system in the EQXX five to ten times more efficient than conventional voice control.

Mercedes says it meets all current crash safety regulations—previews cutting-edge technologies and techniques that are ultimately destined to appear on production Mercedes models.
 
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Tend to agree FF.

From that same post and article I snipped the below and bold a couple of things that imply the same conclusion.

Mercedes engineers worked with California-based artificial-intelligence developer BrainChip to create systems based on the company's Akida hardware and software. Among other things, the technology makes the "Hey, Mercedes" voice control system in the EQXX five to ten times more efficient than conventional voice control.

Mercedes says it meets all current crash safety regulations—previews cutting-edge technologies and techniques that are ultimately destined to appear on production Mercedes models.
I saw that and as I say I personally have no doubt about this at all.

Since 2019 from I have written on the previous site multiple times that based on my research the reason AKIDA technology would succeed in the EV sector was that the way to increase range was to direct as much of the finite battery power to the driving wheels.

AKIDA technology even if it did not do anything that other technology currently can do the fact that it does it at such ludicrously low power made it a no brainer.

When you throw in unconnected, incremental and one shot learning and no need for external cooling it was nonsensical to argue it would not happen.

Mercedes has done a range of things to increase range but it has followed my advice (LOL) and incorporated AKIDA technology to run all the intelligent functions so that at least 90% of the battery power is available for the driving wheels.

My anonymous opinion only DYOR
FF

AKIDA BALLISTA
 
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Yeah Nah

Emerged
Elon’s insane plan to buy Mercedes

 
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Sticking to the topic here ..... big bucks from Daimler...$47Bn

So Mercedes own Daimler by the looks ...big bucks getting thrown around...😜


I rhink you will find Daimler is parent company and Mercedes is one brand although Daimler are going to rename the company Mercedes Benz. Better known brand.

SC
 
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zeeb0t

Administrator
Staff member
I just deleted near 40 comments from Frogstar and replies. Let’s keep in it on topic and feel free to talk about off topic things in The Lounge or in private conversation feature. Thanks.
 
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dippY22

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Yeah Nah

Emerged
Who made this video? I question it's authenticity.
It’s obviously speculation, they make reference to that in the video. A quick Google and you’ll find plenty of articles that state it’s a rumour based on a few loose mentions of Musk/Tesla having the cash to possibly look at acquiring a major auto - Merc being the premium option that could elevate the Tesla brand by association.
 

dippY22

Regular
It’s obviously speculation, they make reference to that in the video. A quick Google and you’ll find plenty of articles that state it’s a rumour based on a few loose mentions of Musk/Tesla having the cash to possibly look at acquiring a major auto - Merc being the premium option that could elevate the Tesla brand by association.

Oh, I get that it's speculation. My problem is the "they" in your response. Who is "they" ? I would just like to know who did it.
 

dippY22

Regular
Oh, I get that it's speculation. My problem is the "they" in your response. Who is "they" ? I would just like to know who did it.

Disregard, I got it now. It's done by Tech Future.
 
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Did anyone happen to see a tweet from Brainchip this morning that was deleted by them? I missed it but when I clicked my notification it flashed briefly and then said it had been deleted

I’m think it related to Mercedes and was either before or after this one also from this morning. So it was probably just a draft version sent accidentally and replaced by the below

2C47E545-E3A9-4DD0-9A66-94A13A9166C1.jpeg
 
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AkidaSan

Emerged
See the Mercedes Benz Colombia account for more tweets:


In the second tweet:
"The #MercedesBenz infotainment system includes artificial intelligence, so the system learns about the driver's tastes and preferences."

In the third tweet:
"Just say two words to activate it: “Hey Mercedes”. And your car is all ears. The intelligent system understands without the need to establish voice commands beforehand."
 
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Did anyone happen to see a tweet from Brainchip this morning that was deleted by them? I missed it but when I clicked my notification it flashed briefly and then said it had been deleted

I’m think it related to Mercedes and was either before or after this one also from this morning. So it was probably just a draft version sent accidentally and replaced by the below

View attachment 774
Yes, I just saw someone in the German forum bringing it up too.
It was this tweet indeed, and it's making fairly big waves in our small forum again.
I share the link to our German forum in case you want to take a look
Btw. We experienced this massive increase in trolling 1-2 weeks before it eventually happened in the hotcrapper forum.
So don't waste your time in the "BRAINCHIP HOLDINGS LTD" group and just red the information in "Klassengruppe"

 
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Zedjack33

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2E7F7390-7C14-4469-9BB2-C9229D880B1B.png
Akida in concept car only, or already included in new?
 
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Know we seen most of it but just a few more bits on Merc as find other articles, opinions and info.

From:



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Neuromorphic computing – a car that thinks like you​

Another key efficiency feature of the VISION EQXX that takes its cue from nature is the way it thinks. It uses an innovative form of information processing called neuromorphic computing. The hardware runs so-called spiking neural networks. Information is coded in discrete spikes and energy is only consumed when a spike occurs, which reduces energy consumption by orders of magnitude.

Working with California-based artificial intelligence experts BrainChip, Mercedes-Benz engineers developed systems based on BrainChip’s Akida hardware and software. The example in the VISION EQXX is the “Hey Mercedes” hot-word detection. Structured along neuromorphic principles, it is five to ten times more efficient than conventional voice control.

Although neuromorphic computing is still in its infancy, systems like these will be available on the market in just a few years. When applied on scale throughout a vehicle, they have the potential to radically reduce the energy needed to run the latest AI technologies.

UI/UX in the VISION EQXX – the non-judgemental road trip sidekick​

On a road trip, it’s good to have someone along for the ride. A road trip sidekick helps with the navigation. They might be in charge of the music selection. Or perhaps they’re clutching the travel guide, pointing out places of interest and fascinating nuggets of information along the way. They might even offer the occasional “tip” on driving style. Admittedly, however, this kind of “help” can also be a source of friction. In the VISION EQXX, all of this and more is handled by the car, leaving driver and passenger to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

The VISION EQXX shows us the potential of game-engine-powered interfaces, with graphics as they’ve never been seen before and a highly adaptive design. The UI demonstrates how real-time graphics enables new digital worlds which instantly respond to the driver’s needs and bring the real-world into the car.

The user interface and user experience inside the VISION EQXX catapults us into a highly responsive, intelligent and software-driven future. Stunning to look at, intuitive to work with and in tune with the human mind, the first ever completely seamless display in a Mercedes-Benz spans 47.5 inches from one A-pillar to the other. With an 8K (7680x660 pixels) resolution, the thin, lightweight mini-LED display acts as a portal connecting the driver and occupants with the car and the world outside. A star-cloud avatar, reminiscent of our name-sake Mercedes Jelinek, is the ethereal guide. Shape-shifting in response to the driver’s needs and taking care of the passengers, she makes the journey into a luxury experience. The system manages information to ensure the driver has what they need when they need it – on their terms.

The Mercedes-Benz team worked with navigation experts NAVIS Automotive Systems, inc. (NAVIS-AMS) to develop the first realtime 3D navigation system on a screen of this size. It performs seamless zoom and scroll functions from satellite view down to a height of 10 metres in the 3D city representation. Executed on the one-piece display, it offers the user stunningly clear, accurate and intuitive route guidance.

The road trip sidekick in the VISION EQXX is also fun to talk to. The further development of the “Hey Mercedes” voice assistant is emotional and expressive thanks to a collaboration between Mercedes-Benz engineers and the voice synthesis experts from Sonantic. With the help of machine learning, the team have given “Hey Mercedes” its own distinctive character and personality. As well as sounding impressively real, the emotional expression places the conversation between driver and car on a whole new level that is more natural and intuitive, underscoring the progressive feel of the modern luxury conveyed by the UI/UX in the VISION EQXX.

Efficient use of energy and information​

The one-piece display is also highly energy efficient. Its mini-LED backlight consists of more than 3000 local dimming zones, meaning it consumes power only as and when needed in specific parts of the screen.

The 3D navigation screen adapts to the type of content being shown. For instance, if you’re driving in an urban area, abstract visualisation of the surrounding buildings helps provide orientation amid densely packed streets. However, if you are traveling on the motorway or open road, the level of detail diminishes to provide a clearer overview of the journey. This has the added efficiency benefit of reducing the energy consumption of the display.

As well as providing seamless navigation, the intelligence in the VISION EQXX can mine for data based on the car’s route, with the avatar on hand to function as an intelligent tour guide. It can even help you manage your music library and offer local suggestions.

There is also a system to help you drive more efficiently. From energy flow to terrain, battery status and even the direction and intensity of the wind and sun, the efficiency assistant curates all the available information and suggests the most efficient driving style. This actually enhances the driver’s own senses by providing input on external conditions that the driver himself is unable to feel directly – in the way that, for instance, a cyclist can feel the force of the wind or the extra effort involved to pedal uphill. This sensorial support is further augmented by the ability of the VISION EQXX to use the map data to “see into the future”, anticipating what lies ahead to help the driver take advantage of it in a way that maximises efficiency. A cool orb graphic in the display provides an instinctive overview, underpinned if desired by sound.

And if more detailed information is what you want, a series of screens will tell you all you need to know with easy-to-follow visuals and infographics. The influence of current acceleration, gradient, wind and rolling resistance on energy consumption are shown in real time. If it’s a full analysis you want – you got it. Equally, if you’re someone who prefers to travel on a “need to know” basis, the VISION EQXX will keep schtum.

The simplicity of the interface is a further development of the Zero Layer concept first used in the EQS, which eases driver-vehicle interaction by dispensing with submenus. The interface is efficient and effective, thanks to intelligence and personalisation. Highly proactive, it shows you what you need when you need it, with an intuitive zoom feature providing access to all functions. Your human road trip sidekick has their own dedicated zoom feature and entertainment zone. And if you prefer to travel alone, this part of the display powers down to save energy.

From:



Before the opening of CES 2022, Mercedes-Benz released its brand new pure electric concept car VISION EQXX. The new car is built using Mercedes-Benz's next-generation electric drive platform. It can travel 621 miles (1000km) on a single charge. The car will be mass-produced in 2024 at the earliest.

In terms of voice function, Mercedes-Benz engineers and Sonantic's speech synthesis experts have cooperated to further develop the "Hello, Mercedes-Benz" mind-reading voice assistant, and thanks to the machine learning function, this voice system has a distinctive personality.

Star Cloud Avatar pretty cool.

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The indispensable intelligence of electric vehicles

At the level of intelligence, another key and efficient feature of the VISION EQXX concept car is its "thinking" method, which has an innovative information processing method called neuromorphic computing. The hardware can run a pulsed neural network, disperse pulses to program and calculate the information process, and trigger energy consumption only when the pulse signal appears, effectively reducing energy consumption by several orders of magnitude.


Mercedes-Benz engineers worked with technical experts from BrainChip, a leading company in artificial intelligence in California, to develop hardware and software systems based on BrainChip's Akida neuromorphic system-level chip. The "Hello, Mercedes-Benz" wake-up of the VISION EQXX concept car is an example. The system is constructed according to neuromorphic principles, and its wake-up speed is 5-10 times that of traditional voice control functions.
 
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Pretty good read I thought.

One thing I hadn't really considered much was the security of onboard processing from outside attacks.

Will Akida being stateless, essentially standalone Edge-AI help?




Automotive Outlook: 2022​

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Short-term IC supply-chain problems and long-term architectural and business changes top the list of what’s ahead.
JANUARY 6TH, 2022 - BY: ANN STEFFORA MUTSCHLER
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The auto industry is widening its focus this year, migrating to new architectures that embrace better security, faster data movement, and eventually more manageable costs.
The auto industry is facing both short-term and long-term challenges. In the short term, the chip shortage continues to top the list of concerns for the world’s automakers. That shortage has delayed new vehicle deliveries, interrupted repairs of existing vehicles, and it is expected to continue throttling industry growth until it is resolved. Manufacturing capacity is being added, and the supply chain issues are getting addressed, but it will take time before supply and demand balance out.
“A major issue for automotive overall in 2021 was the supply chain shortage, which is expected to continue into 2022,” said Robert Schweiger, director of automotive solutions at Cadence. “Because of that, various companies started to look into alternative ways to address this, eventually developing their own chips and eventually doing strategic partnerships with foundries.”
A prominent example is the partnership between Ford and GlobalFoundries. “It still remains to be seen what it means for 2022, but this shows the supply chain shortage has had a certain impact on decisions, on partnerships, on the strategy of automotive companies going forward,” Schweiger said.
Those shortages have put the spotlight on both parts sourcing and engineering talent, which are leading to longer-term and more fundamental changes. “OEMs and Tier 1s will increase their in-house engineering expertise for both hardware and software,” said Walter Wottreng, vice president of the Automotive Group at Synopsys. “Engineers will roll out flexible e/e architectures so they can quickly rewrite software and integrate alternative chips as the supply chain dictates. In addition, adding in-house expertise will help OEMs deal with the compression of the supply chain, as they will have more visibility into availability and direct relationships with semiconductor suppliers.”
In effect, carmakers and Tier 1s are raising the level of abstraction for how they approach shortages, allowing them some room to maneuver by developing their own software. “As a lesson-learned from the ongoing chip shortage, semiconductor vendors are becoming more active in the software space in order to make it easier for carmakers to adapt their latest silicon designs,” said Artur Seidel, Elektrobit’s vice president for the Americas. “They’re offering their silicon with dedicated software. This coupling includes safety/security components, so it’s a win-win for the customer. A couple of examples are Qualcomm’s acquisition of Veoneer, and Renesas offering a gateway solution, including software packages.”
Alongside of all of this, a flurry of deal-making is also underway, reflecting new developments and changes across the automotive sector. “In 2022, we see the automotive industry pushing towards an even more collaborative relationship between ecosystem partners including semiconductor suppliers, subsystem providers and OEMs,” said Lars Ullrich, vice president of automotive for the Americas at Infineon Technology. “We see a continued strong demand for automotive semiconductors in 2022 with a global push towards digitalization and electrification in tomorrow’s vehicle.”
What’s changing
One of the big changes is the focus on security — particularly software security — due to increased connectivity (V2X) and software-heavy systems for highly autonomous driving (HAD), Wottreng said.
Others point to similar shifts. Lee Harrison, automotive IC test solutions manager at Siemens EDA, pointed to multilayer security and device reliability as one of the biggest challenges for automotive ICs.
“Security is starting to garner huge attention. There is a lot of research, and investment to try and understand what is needed. Also, reliability and data collection are critical with new advanced ADAS systems, which make use of the latest technology nodes, for which there is no historical reliability data available,” Harrison said. “Designs for automotive applications require security to ensure sensitive data is inaccessible to outside agents. This used to be a somewhat niche requirement, and the implementation of custom solutions to meet these specific requirements was common. However, with the explosion within the semiconductor industry of automotive and cyber-physical systems in recent years, the requirements around secure test and monitoring have become mainstream. Chipmakers now need to extend security technology across several different levels of SoC development to provide the best coverage in a defense-in-depth solution.”
Others agree. “Although everybody says security is never a primary business driver, security is always a secondary business driver,” said Andreas Kuehlmann, CEO of Tortuga Logic. “The primary drivers are more things like safety in automotive, while in medical devices it’s privacy and medical history. And when we talk about compliance in regulated industries, security is always a foundational piece that is required for any one of these primary business objectives. For the automotive industry, the big wake-up call was the Jeep Cherokee incident, when Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated you can run the vehicle into a ditch. They may not have been the first to hack into a car, but they were the first to make a movie out of it.”
Kuehlmann said that was a wake-up call for the entire automotive industry, and a positive development. “They realized security is not only a safety matter. Unlike general reliability of cars, security is like an on/off switch. If you have a bad mechanical part, where bad typically means there’s some distribution, a fraction of them are bad but the majority are good, and that fraction shifts over time. The automotive industry is actually extremely good in measuring and monitoring that, and doing recalls. If you get above a certain threshold of bad parts, if it’s the airbag or another aspect of the vehicle, the automotive OEM does a massive recall, and that’s a purely economic decision,” he said.
Cybersecurity changes that equation. “If a particular model of a car is vulnerable, all cars on the road are vulnerable, meaning you can hack all cars at the same time,” Kuehlmann said. “That’s completely new, and it’s not only in automotive. That’s why boardrooms have difficulty getting their arms around what cybersecurity means. The traditional risk management tools don’t directly apply. You can be as preventive as you want, but if someone publishes how to hack car XYZ, and it’s published on the internet, all cars are suddenly vulnerable. With the flip of a switch, you can automate it, and that is something very fundamental. It’s also something the automotive industry understands.”
Automotive economics 2.0
A key way the auto industry addresses these kinds of issues is through standards, which in the past have proved effective in controlling costs throughout the ecosystem. This is especially true with zonal controllers, which are on the drawing boards at many carmakers, including some using leading-edge process nodes.
“The cost of developing zonal controllers at very advanced nodes will be high,” said Cadence’s Schweiger. “And for high cost, you need high volume to share the cost among many companies. That means eventually a certain company will develop the controller, but it will be available to their competitors, to the whole industry in order to get the volume up. What I’ve observed in automotive — for example, with AUTOSAR — is there were early adopters that had the idea about AUTOSAR as an automotive operating system, and they were starting to come up with their own proposals. Then they tried to bring additional automotive companies together to form a consortium to eventually jointly develop a new kind of standard, an open standard like we have today. Today, hundreds of companies are part of the AUTOSAR organization. Automotive is all about open standards, not proprietary solutions. That’s why with zonal controllers and zonal architectures, we again may see that a few companies will take the bumpy road, try to come up with their own solution, which later on becomes a standard that is open to many companies in order to address the cost issue.”
This applies to the economics of security, as well. “Particularly as we talk about cars being connected for over-the-air updates, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, all of this dramatically increases the importance of cybersecurity,” Kuehlmann said. “Without precautions, without building security into the product — and not only into the product, but into the entire infrastructure — we’ll have massive problems. Security is part of the reason why autonomous development has slowed a bit. The challenges within automotive cybersecurity are extraordinary, and they’re different than what we used to know.”
Understanding this, and planning for it, are two different things, though. Securing a car requires layers of security that are built into the initial architecture, but with enough flexibility to adjust to new threats as they become known. In the case of a car, which could be on the road for a couple decades, resilience is critical.
This is at the heart of a concept called “defense in depth.” It involves a range of technologies that can be implemented at different levels of the design to build rings of defense, using relatively simple concepts to introduce many levels of protection for a device, as well as providing a significant defense against malicious attacks, according to Siemens’ Harrison.
Some of these concepts are passive, providing a lock against access, while other technologies are reactive in that they can take evasive action when a threat is detected. This may be as simple as resetting the device if a BiST controller is configured into an unexpected mode, or blocking an illegal bus transaction based on data gathered by a bus sentry analytics monitor.
auto1.png

Fig. 1: Defense in depth model. Source: Siemens EDA
The use of embedded analytics technology increasingly is relied upon as an on-chip analytics engine, part of a device safety island used to monitor critical activities within a vehicle. “If any of these operations appear to be abnormal, or are not regular operations, they are monitored and flagged by the embedded analytics monitoring technology. An extreme example would be for the vehicles infotainment system sending communications data to critical vehicle functions, such as brakes and steering. In normal operation this would never happen, so it can be classed as an illegal operation, and thus can be detected and blocked,” Harrison explained.
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Fig. 2: An embedded in-system configuration. Source: Siemens EDA
In the past, simple solutions to secure the external interface included not bonding the JTAG pins in the production package, or disconnecting the TAP using some form of one-time programmable (OTP) fuse. However, with the increasing need for connectivity to monitor in-use data, access to the internal test network — either externally or through an embedded safety island — is now a must-have for automotive SoCs.
“With any solution, it is also possible to implement a number of layers of security, so that different keys can unlock the device to specified levels, granting different access rights for different applications or users. This approach is used extensively in the automotive ecosystem, where different levels of access are given depending on the device location,” Harrison said.
Additionally, given the rapid advancements in automotive ADAS development, the automotive ecosystem is now developing chips at the most advanced process nodes, for which there is little historical data. “Without that data, automotive chip suppliers are having to build those reliability models on the fly by collecting a huge amount of on-chip data from devices as they are shipped and go into service in the field. There are many new and old technologies now being used to collect on-chip data,” he added.
More data, more complexity
As vehicles become increasingly autonomous, the amount of sensor data that needs to be processed increases significantly. The question now is how much is done by zonal controllers and how much is done through a sensor fusion system. Either way, the amount of data that needs to be moved is increasing.
“You need a 10-gigabit or higher link,” said Cadence’s Schweiger. “That’s the next big thing that needs to go into a car.”
Regardless of where it is processed, though, the chips doing the processing are becoming more complex. There are more types of processing elements, including accelerators that can speed up object detection and classification.
“This is part of the ADAS systems, in addition to mapping and other functions,” said Kurt Shuler, vice president of marketing at Arteris IP. “Here, initially it was algorithms and AI or machine learning on visual inputs. Then, lidar and radar data was added to that in a sensor fusion function. That is then overlaid with mapping. This means even more hardware architectures are driven by the needs of the software.”
Mobileye was a pioneer in this approach to software, but other companies are taking this approach now, as well.
“What that means is that architects have a huge challenge of just getting the data from one part of the chip to the other part of the chip,” Shuler said. “The quality of service, tweaking that network-on-chip topology and the logic in it that does the prioritization, and the ordering of the data — that’s a huge challenge.”
Synopsys’ Wottreng suggested this will lead to the creation of software ecosystems, which in turn will shift left in the design cycle to reduce design and verification time, while also driving growth of digital twins. All of this is necessary to reach the next step in autonomous vehicles, but many barriers remain.
“Fully self-driving cars may be a little way off, but increased levels of assistance coupled with applications that have restricted operational design domains see us making real progress,” said Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager of Arm’s Automotive and IoT line of business, in a recent report. “To enable this new range of capabilities, vehicle electric architecture will undergo challenging evolutions as disparate ECUs are merged into domain controllers. A digital twin is a ‘live’ digital recreation of these domain controllers within an individual car on the road. This enables developers to test out ADAS, autonomous, and other future software workloads. The importance of this to the industry really seems to be a question of differing mindsets. To a hardware or a software developer right now it’s a tool to help them get their job done and perhaps identify flaws and bugs. To an executive, though, it’s the pathway to new revenue streams — real-time and continuous diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and so on. Two-thirds of software developers recognize the profound impact that the software-defined vehicle (SDV) will have on their work and the industry as a whole. What’s perhaps less evident at this stage is how important digital twins will be in enabling developers to deploy solutions faster.”
Schweiger said the automotive industry, and in particular, the OEMs and Tier 1s, still need to find their role in the development of complex chips so that eventually an OEM could develop its own SoCs for autonomous driving. “This is complex because a lot of the functionality gets integrated into the SoC, and those complex SoCs are running a very complex software stack, as well. What role will an OEM play in this setup? What role will the Tier 1 play? What is the role of semiconductor vendors who also moved up the supply chain in providing complete driving systems already, such as Nvidia? Can we expect a commercial solution, as we are used to from a semiconductor vendor, or will the industry or certain OEMs also create certain partnerships and they do their own thing?”
Cost is another factor with autonomous driving, because these complex compute platforms required are very expensive to develop, he noted. “What we will see in the beginning of fully autonomous vehicles are commercial vehicles, robotaxis, trucks, trains, and eventually our own autonomous vehicle or at least in a shared model. For private use, the cost of this system needs to go down. The huge sensor stack and very complex compute platforms cost a lot of money, so the cost needs to come down.
Elektrobit’s Seidel suggested automotive vehicles at scale will require high-performance-compute (HPC) vehicle architectures at high volume, but at price levels that are acceptable. “While a lot of progress is being made, we are still in a transition phase with many carmakers rolling out the next generation of advanced architectures, like zonal architectures, around 2024. This means a lot of the platforms currently on the road are not yet advanced to a point where they can enable the connected compute and seamless OTA that autonomous vehicles will require. We work with carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers, and chipmakers, to make sure that many of the software building blocks that bring these architectures to life (aka Automotive OS) are available.”
Testing and validation needs to continue to be refined as well. “There must be a firm legal and regulatory framework for autonomy,” Seidel said. “This is where the industry needs to do a lot more work. There are many parallel and competing developments happening when it comes to autonomous driving. On one hand, this is normal for a new industry, where the stakes are this high, and there is a window of opportunity for the first company to crack the problem. On the other hand, autonomous vehicles are extremely safety-relevant, which means that due diligence is as important as speed. Therefore, we need to see more collaboration in addition to competition. It seems there are more companies developing self-driving stacks in parallel, with no interchangeability, than there are carmakers. Acceptance will require an exchange of best practices and data. A key limitation to progress is that there are not enough resources for every carmaker to develop the required platforms and software stacks in parallel. We need a model where systems are modular and interchangeable, and where there is more sharing of resources among all players.”
Thierry Kouthon, technical product manager at Rambus noted a unique dynamic among automotive manufacturers on the two camps of networking architectures leveraged to connect the vehicle’s sensory systems with the ADAS and processing. “Many modern automakers, such as Tesla and Waymo, tend to favor centralized processing since it allows for more seamless iteration and easier software updates. On the flip side, more traditional automakers are still opting for zonal architectures that are more flexible, and suited for working with legacy designs, broader product portfolios and third-party component manufacturers. Both groups are also contending with the growing security concerns. Centralized processing environments make software security updates easier, but also means that a hardware compromise could be catastrophic in allowing access to a majority of the control systems. And zonal environments need to contend with securing the hardware and software of each specific zonal gateway. The risk of compromise is lowered, but the system security needs to be more widespread across the entire vehicle. Zonal architecture adds a level of complexity to vehicle security as each zone deals with sensors and ECUs that belong to different security domains, such as drive-train, vehicle comfort, or engine control — that need to be kept isolated by software means.”
An interesting challenge starting to arise for these auto OEMs, especially for Tesla and Waymo, in the wiring itself. “The amount and proliferation of sensors and systems across semi-autonomous vehicles make wiring one of the heaviest subsystems. This issue is compounded for electric vehicles which need to shed excess weight, due to balancing out the increased weight of the car’s battery. Hence many automakers are exploring new technologies, including MIPI Controllers, to try and limit the wiring needed. Zonal architectures, inherently address the wiring problem by keeping gateways for each vehicle zone close to the ECUs and sensors they control, while the gateways communicate with one another via a backbone network,” Kouthon said.
Standards
This sharing of resources is something the automotive ecosystem is adept at doing, and in 2022, standards work will push ahead. The ISO 26262 working group will meet again this year to discuss what’s next for Edition 3, which follows Edition 1 from 2011, and Edition 2 in 2018.
In addition, Shuler noted that the IEEE 2851 provisional working group is collaborating with Accellera on data standards to automate and share data in line with FMEDA (Failure Modes Effects, Diagnostics Analysis). “The whole point there is to make it easier for people in the value chain to be able to share data between tools, because right now if you’re a Bosch or a Continental or a Denso or an OEM — and getting functional safety information and FMEDA files from various sources, and you need to do analysis for your overall system — it’s really hard to pull that data together to analyze it. The various sources of data may all be different. Imagine the spec doesn’t specify what your failure mode distribution spreadsheet needs to look like, how to do the calculations, and how to go back and trace. You might have some numbers in a table, but where did they actually come from? How are they actually calculated? The work being done by Accellera and IEEE P2851 will make that easier. Then you should be able to share the data, understand how the data was calculated, and back up and see how it makes sense. You can’t do that with a spreadsheet table.”
Looking ahead
Arm recently surveyed 900 people in the Arm global ecosystem to understand priorities and perspectives on what the future holds. “When we asked which automotive trends and technologies would most impact the industry in the next five years, two clear themes emerged — evolving functional safety standards and requirements, and the move toward software-defined vehicles,” said Chet Babla, vice president of Arm’s Automotive and IoT line of business.
“As drivers continue to rely on ADAS features like lane departure assistance or assisted parking, for example, functional safety-capable computing is increasingly critical. Arm and others continue to expand safety-capable IP offerings to accelerate autonomous decision-making across a range of ADAS and digital cockpit applications. In addition, Arm plays an active role in the development of international safety guidelines such as ISO 26262 and continues to support partners in their certification processes of Arm-based devices. The Arm Safety Ready Program includes a portfolio of Arm IP that includes ISO 26262-certified software tools and components and safety documentation to make it easier for our partners to develop and certify their safety-capable solutions. In addition, the Arm Functional Safety Partnership Program continues to ensure our ecosystem can connect with the right partners specializing in the software, tools, design services and training needed to support functional safety development and deployment.”
To accelerate the software-defined future for the automotive industry, Arm recently announced it is delivering critical resources through SOAFEE, a new software architecture and open-source reference implementation that brings real-time and safety needs of automotive together with the advantages of a cloud-native approach. Because there has been growing momentum for SOAFEE, a special interest group of industry leaders has been formed to spearhead and define the cloud-native development paradigm, as well as the strategic direction of the SOAFEE project.
Continuing growth and evolution
Unlike other markets, where funding and activity levels out after a few years, there appears to be no let-up in startup funding or in the number of big companies getting involved in automotive.
“This activity still seems to be going,” said Shuler. “There are companies doing all kinds of cool, different sensors, and lidars, RF SoC — basically active scan phased-array radars on a chip. There are more and more companies coming out with these devices. While the problems aren’t anywhere near solved, there seems to be more and more people still coming into the market to try to solve things. There’s still tons of engineering work being done, even for safety-related aspects of autonomous vehicles. The standards of how to do things evolve, as architectures evolve, and it’s Darwinian. You can tell when a new technology has become a commodity when you look at all the competitors block diagrams, and they all look the same. For example, in 2011, 2012, and 2013, cellular phone modem diagrams all started to look the same. Or if you look at a cellular phone application processor, they all started to look the same, and that means the problem is pretty much solved. Then it’s just a Darwinian thing where there may be 20 or 40 companies fighting it out, down to 2, 3 or 4 remaining. There’s so much processing that has to go in automotive, and it’s not just ADAS. It’s about bringing many of the systems from the Dark Ages into today’s technology, and it’s going to be a long time before the problems have been solved.”
Willard Tu, senior director, automotive business unit at Xilinx, has a similar view. “Never before have I seen so much disruption in the automotive industry,” he said. “You’ve got connected vehicles, you’ve got a bunch of startups that never were part of the automotive ecosystem, and now they’re everywhere. There’s so much funding going into automotive startups, it’s crazy. Then, of course, there’s the move toward electrification, thanks to Elon Musk, and everybody’s trying to play catch up. Another significant change for the automotive ecosystem is hardware versus software approach. Carmakers always relied on making the car, and following that with a transaction. ‘I sold you a car. I made my profit.’ Now they all want to copy the mobile phone market and have recurring revenues. It’s definitely the future, but it’s hard to do at scale. For a premium car, I can understand it. For an affordable entry-level car, are you going to put all that electronics in there? It’s baby steps. It’s easy for a Tesla. It’s easy for a Rivian or somebody who’s brand new that has no volume. But can you imagine an OEM saying, ‘I’m going to put it in every vehicle and see if anybody’s going to give me money for this?’ I’m convinced it will happen. It’s just a matter of when.”
The relationships between OEMs and Tier 1s is changing, as well. “It used to be the Tier 1s really dictated what’s going on,” Tu said. “These OEMs want differentiation, and the software business model really resides with them. So they’re getting a lot more active in electronics than they used to be. This adds uncertainty into the market, so it is open to newcomers that can provide answers to the uncertainty with flexible platforms to solve it.”
 
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