CESA speeds up with a programme meeting

Back to business after holidays... CESA programme committee has set up a meeting today in order to fill the blanks and to discuss in depth about round tables (that will have a lot of speakers). An updated version will be available soon on SIA web site.
Around Jochen Langheim, Chairman of CESA 2012 and from ST, we could see Jérome Perrin (VeDeCom and Renault), Daniel Pfrimmer and Pauline Senis (SIA), Eric Della Vecchia (Bosch), Michel Valette (NXP), Pierre-Yves Geels (AVL), Thierry Seynaeve (ESG France), Andy Toulemonde (Infineon), Igor Demay (PSA), as well as Nelly Dimey (STMicroelectronics).
On phone were Hans-Gerd Krekels (TRW), Gilles Zeppa (Delphi), Khamis Kadiri (PSA) and Emilie Bonnet (SIA).
 For sure, CESA 2012 will be a successful edition with a high level programme.

Jérôme Perrin (Mov'eo Tec) : a flying start for VeDeCom

CESA 2012 interview

General Manager of Mov'eo Tec foundation and member of the programme committee of CESA 2012, Jérôme Perrin discusses the creation of VeDeCom institute in France.

"In late july, the french governement announced the creation at the end of the year of a R&D center dedicated to carbon free vehicles. It was actually the VeDeCom institute, that has been chosen amongst seven projects. This center is still on the paper. However, we already fill all the conditions for a flying start in early september.
VeDeCom relies on the Mov'eo Tec foundation and has strong partners, such as Mov'eo automotive cluster and Yvelines district in west part of Paris.
The members from VedeCom are from PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Valeo, STMicroelectronics, Continental, utilities such as EDF, or even aeronautics companies such as Safran. We also have research institutes, like IFSTTAR, INRIA and CEA.
This intitute will cover clean energies, new mobilities (infrastructure and services) and automated driving.
The steering committee is ready and has already chosen the 13 projects for the next three years. There will be a first visible project of VeDeCom in late 2013".

For when Zombies attack! Get back with a 6x6 F250

This is just the thing for a zombie apocalypse. What's better than a diesel powered, 6x6 driven, quad headlight, Ford F250 crew cab for you and your family to cruise in? I spotted this behemoth on the back of a flat bed trailer parked on the side of the road outside of Zelienople Pennsylvania. No one was available at the shop it was outside of to get details as to what exactly this truck was built for. A few friends on facebook have said they've seen it at mud bogs and tractor pulls in the area, but no one has ever seen it run. Here's what we can tell though. Whoever built it, really took their time to create something that doesn't really look home built. The bed has been professionally finished to look like a factory piece. Same with the grille and second set of headlights which instantly make you think of a pickup from the fictitious "Wagon Queen" brand from the National Lampoon movies. Even to the point of adding the fender and hood edges from the donor truck to make a finished front fascia. They were likely added for height limitations for lights so the truck can be driven on the road.

The body appears to be resting on a military style 6x6 chassis and and powered by likely the same diesel engine from the view I had through the fender well. And of course there's the air horn trumpets and the twin giant fuel tanks mounted in between the axles and the the twin big rig exhaust stacks in the bed. The truck also appears to have an air suspension added to raise and lower the truck. When I initially spotted this truck I first thought it was an old monster truck, and then an F150 mounted to a big rig frame, but closer inspection revealed the 6x6 chassis.  I'm trying to dig up some more details on this truck as it's just too cool to look away from.

Automotive Ethernet, a holistic approach to a next generation In-Vehicle Networking Standard

CESA 2012 abstract

For the next generation In-Vehicle Networking infrastructure beyond CAN and FlexRay, the automotive industry has identified Ethernet as a very promising candidate.
Being a standard and commonly used in consumer and industry domains it provides a high re-use factor for components, software and tools. In addition, Ethernet has the required bandwidth capabilities needed for e.g. new driver assistance systems and infotainment.
However, to become a success story, solutions for automotive have to be further optimized in terms of scalability, low cost, low power and robustness. First optimization steps on Physical Layer level have been already made but more innovations are needed and streamlined for automotive use cases.
This paper discusses new topologies and components and describes an evolutionary path starting from available technology made for consumer domains to advanced systems for automotive applications.

By Steffen Müller, NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH

Developing embedded user experiences - challenges and success factors in automotive environment.

CESA abstract

Automotive product development is based on proven processes and development time that allows carmakers to respond to drivers needs in regards to quality, feature availability and look and feel of the device in the car.
When talking about user experience, driver’s expectations are influenced by consumer electronic devices, from interaction point of view (speech and/or gesture recognition) as well as content (graphic attractiveness, apps). Drivers are expecting the same seamless, simple, easy to use phone and tablet features in their car, while still requiring automotive quality in term of system stability, low driver distraction and updateability during automotive life-time.
With over a decade of experience in developing multimodal HMI, EB GUIDE – industry recognized HMI development products suite and speech dialog platform - has been proved reliable in more than a million vehicles on the road and in the upcoming year more vehicles will come to market using the EB GUIDE HMI technology.
During the presentation, you will learn about market trends in HMI, the market interest for a modelbased approach, quick UI simulation for user-acceptance evaluation, how to easily enable early and agile development, as well as integrating latest technologies to handle gesture/speech recognition and graphics challenges into the vehicle.

By Bruno Abou (Director - Elektrobit France), Thomas Fleischmann (EB GUIDE Product Manager - Elektrobit Automotive GmbH) and Franck Desaulty (Infotainment Business Manager – Elektrobit France)

Austria special guest of CESA 2012

For the first time, Austrian companies* will showcase their cutting-edge technology and high-quality products in the field of automotive electronics in Paris, during CESA 2012. ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Paris (Austrian Trade Commission) will be hosting an Austrian Pavilion.
Through innovative product ideas, engineering expertise and the fulfillment of the highest quality standards, the companies in the Austrian automotive industry and its component suppliers have continuously strengthened their position on the global market and established a fine reputation as reliable development and production partner for vehicle manufacturers all over the world.
The domestic supplier industry comprises approximately 700 companies with more than 175,000 employees. Close co-operation between R&D facilities and the universities and technical colleges provide for the rapid implementation of the very latest technologies among supplier companies. With all these plus points on their side, the firms in the supply industry are more than ready to meet the challenges of the future from the automobile industry, and can react very swiftly to any changes in market needs and requirements.

*ACstyria Autocluster GmbH, Automotive Cluster in Upper Austria, Automotive Cluster Vienna Region, Austrian Automotive Association.

Link : http://www.advantageaustria.org/international/zentral/events/CESA-Congress-2012.en.html

Ford unveils 2013 GT500 tribute to Carroll Shelby

Ol' Carroll Shelby may no longer be with us. But his name and legend (good or bad) lives on. As part of this weeks events in Monterey, California, Friends of Carroll Shelby has unveiled this special four wheeled tribute to Shelby in the form of the 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra. Packing the punch of 663 horsepower, a Whipple supercharger ups the output to over 850 horsepower.

Ok, enough with the horsepower. How about the trick wide body thanks to Ice Nine Group of Detroit, Michigan. And of course there's the classic Shelby GT350 hoot scoop and a few other retro Mustang touches. Then there's the 20x10 and 20x13 wheels to fill out the wheel wells. Now I'm not usually a fan of 20 inch wheels, but they just seem to really work on this car. The Cobra was painted classic Shelby Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White dual racing stripes, one of my all time favorite color combinations and really shows off the lines of the new Mustang.

Now of course, this car is technically a concept car. I wouldn't expect to see this on dealer showrooms any time soon.


Source: Ford Motor Company

Press Release:

MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 17, 2012 – Friends of Carroll Shelby, including Ford Motor Company, Shelby American, Ford Racing and many others have built a unique 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra as a tribute to the late Carroll Shelby.

 

Ford is also announcing a renamed road at its Product Development Center in Dearborn, Mich., as a tribute to Shelby as well. Cobra has been the consistent performance label as Shelby worked with Ford for most of the last 60 years, and Shelby was instrumental in the creation of Ford performance vehicles including Cobras, the GT40 and Mustangs since the mid-1960s.

 

2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra

The unique tribute car was unveiled by Ford Motor Company board member Edsel Ford II, Ford’s group vice president for sales and marketing Jim Farley, and Shelby American president John Luft at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion where Cobra is the marque of show for 2012.

 

“Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” says Farley. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The one-off car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.”

 

Using the 662-horsepower 2013 Shelby GT500 as a foundation, “Friends of Carroll” created the one-of-a-kind 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra wide-body Mustang that now generates more than 850 horsepower with the help of a Ford Racing 4.0-liter Whipple supercharger.

 

Putting that much power to the ground requires plenty of traction, so the 13-inch-wide rear wheels are wrapped in massive 345-section high-performance tires for extra grip.

 

Ford Motor Company teamed up with Shelby American for several key components on the Carroll Shelby tribute car. Shelby American provided a specially designed hood, new rear wide-body kit, Shelby Wilwood brakes and new 20x13-inch rear and 20x10-inch front wheels. The bodywork is finished in the same Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes that graced so many of the Cobra roadsters built in the 1960s.

 

“Carroll Shelby changed the performance world forever,” says Luft. “And while he was proud of Shelby American’s achievements, Carroll was far more interested in the next car we would build. You will find the spirit and influence of Carroll Shelby in every future vehicle we build just as you’ll find it in the rear wide-body kit and hood integrated into the 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra.”

 

“You might also know that Carroll was a philanthropist, noted for supporting causes that moved him,” adds Farley. “In that spirit, this car will be taken on tour around the country, and hopefully will be used in a special way at the end of its tour –  a way Carroll would appreciate.”

 

Before the 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra hits the road, it will be shown at the Ford display in the expo area at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion this weekend.

 

Carroll Shelby Way

For more than half a century, Carroll Shelby inspired designers and engineers throughout the extended Ford family. As a teenager, Edsel Ford II worked for Shelby doing a variety of jobs including cleaning transmission parts.

 

Countless engineers crossed paths with Shelby over the years, from those who crafted the original GT40 to those working on the 2013 Shelby GT500. Up until his death, Carroll Shelby remained committed to developing great performance cars. Even at the age of 88, he spent more than five hours driving the most powerful production Mustang ever during engineering validation sessions at Sebring and the Arizona Proving Grounds in late 2011.

 

During and after test sessions, Carroll spent hours discussing with engineers what he liked and what needed improvement. No one who worked with Carroll will ever forget it, and his lessons in vehicle dynamics will be passed along to coming generations.

 

Ford product development engineers now will get a daily reminder of Carroll’s way as they traverse the newly renamed Carroll Shelby Way through the heart of the Product Development Center in Dearborn, Mich., to the entrance of the proving ground.

 

“Sadly, Carroll Shelby is no longer with us, but his spirit lives on with the designers and engineers he interacted with over the years and he will continue to influence Ford performance cars for many years to come,” says Farley.