A new technology partnership among carmakers and their electronics suppliers, dubbed Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR), is trying to tame the onward creep of complexity that's causing a wave of warranty claims due to REFUS (really fucked-up systems) in new cars. It could save millions in development costs, but will the changeover require a Y2K-style effort?
According to AUTOSAR, replacing an evil stew of proprietary automotive software with open code could save OEMs and suppliers millions of dollars and improve systems' efficacy and functionality. What's more, if vehicles' discrete systems were able to share standardized data, a car would become a kind of distributed computing platform — rather than a series of independent modules — allowing for far more efficient processes.
The group says body-level systems, like those to manage cars' remote entry, could be ready as early as 2008. Engine-control systems, with reams of legacy code in place, are likely to stay proprietary for years. Full adoption on all of a car's systems, including multimedia, is likely at least a decade away.
Toward the Plug-and-Play Car [Automotive Design and Production]
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