OSDEVELOPMENT GOES IN-HOUSE
VOLVO Cars has announced that its own operating system (OS) software called VolvoCars.OS will be developed in-house. The carmaker said going in-house would allow for a faster and more flexible overall development, in line with its aim to make cars better by the day.
It added that a car’s appeal had become increasingly more defined by software-driven functions and features, rather than the traditional automotive attributes.
“By developing the software inhouse, we can boost the development speed and improve our car faster,” said Volvo chief technology officer Henrik Green.
“Just like the smartphone or computer, new software and features can be rolled out swiftly through over-theair updates, making your Volvo better and even more enjoyable over time.”
The VolvoCars.OS will act as an umbrella system for electric Volvo cars as it incorporates the company’s various operating systems to create one coherent software OS environment.
The underlying operating systems will include Android Automotive
OS, QNX, AUTOSAR and Linux.
It will run on Volvo’s nextgeneration of pure electric models, including its first sport utility vehicle on a completely new electriconly technology base.
Through a variety of application programming interfaces (APIs), including the previously announced Extended Vehicle API, VolvoCars.OS will give developers access to in-car features such as vehicle sensor data, user interfaces and cloud-based features such as fleet data (subject to customer consent).
This allows developers to create new services and applications for the brand’s cars.
Additionally, to truly benefit from in-house software development, the company is also centralising computing inside its fully electric cars into a core system rather than relying on the multiple electronic control units.
The core computing system will be introduced on a new Volvo model next year. It is made up of three main computers supporting each other in operating vision processing and artificial intelligence, general computing and infotainment.
The shift will have Volvo work together with technology firms including NVIDIA (with whom the company is working with on the core systems) and Google (its codevelopment partner for its infotainment systems).
“We have a deliberate strategy of partnering with true technology leaders where it makes sense,” added Green.
“Google is a true leader in user experience and services, from Google Maps to Google Assistant, while NVIDIA gives us access to some of the fastest and best computing available. This approach of selecting strategic partnerships is much more effective than trying to do everything on our own.”
The shift to centralised computing also allows Volvo to gradually separate hardware from software.
This means it can introduce more frequent hardware cycles, so that new Volvo models can be equipped with the latest available hardware.