AGENDAV

Clouds are embracing all new lines of business, conquering new markets. The automotive industry is no exception. In this industry, the cloud successfully solves various tasks – from banal vehicle tracking to searching for potholes on the roads.

An in-house vehicle monitoring system

The desire to keep track of one’s own vehicles is natural for company owners. If the size of the fleet is small, it is reasonable to use monitoring systems which provide information on the location and movement of vehicles for a fee. But if the fleet is large, the subscription fee will be considerable, and optimization is worth considering.

One solution is to use an open (free) monitoring system. But to install this system you need to buy your own server, the cost of which is comparable to the cost of small cars. In addition using your own monitoring server will have to ensure its continuous operation, and this requires organizing the backup power, backup Internet channel, install air conditioning system to avoid overheating the server in summer – in general, the cost is still a lot.

As a way out of the situation and for even greater savings, you can use cloud technology, namely, to rent a virtual server and deploy OpenGTS on it. For a very reasonable amount of money, you get to install your own (and free!) monitoring system. The benefit is obvious, and now we calculate it. The subscription fee depends on the monitoring system used and the set of additional services provided. Cloud + OpenGTS will be more profitable already with 10 cars, and with 50 cars the savings will be quite significant. Read here about equipment-requirements-for-windshields.

Pothole detection

Tata Motors, India’s largest automaker, which once bought out Jaguar and Land Rover (a kind of revenge against India for its years of colonization) uses the cloud as its technological foundation.

The cloud helps the company cope with resource constraints, a problem the institution has faced for a long time. Cloud technology has made it possible to experiment and not have to worry about running out of resources. In addition, the cloud reduces the cost of implementing new projects. In particular, the company has developed Pothole Alert road pothole detection technology, implemented by Land Rover and Jaguar’s daughter companies – as Tata Motors hopes the problem of bad roads will be finally solved in the near future.

The main task of the new technology is to detect the type of damage to the road surface. The system is able to recognise potholes, potholes, open manholes and other nuisances that the driver might encounter on his way. Information received from the system can be used to alert the driver in advance.

To scan the road surface, a sensor is installed on the vehicle, fixing the problem and determining its location. Information about the problem area is entered into a database, so information about the track condition becomes available to all drivers using Pothole Alert. As a result, this technology will reduce the number of accidents and save lives.

Your car diagnostics in the cloud

With the help of the cloud, it is possible not only to establish the location of the car, but also to diagnose it. The solution is quite simple: an OBD2 device is connected to the car, reading the error memory and obtaining information on the main operating parameters. The collected information is sent to the cloud, which the user can connect to, for example through a smartphone or tablet, and get the diagnostic results.

Cloud carsharing

Carsharing (short-term car rentals) is a big surprise these days. This is how the problem of scaling is solved – the cloud allows for rapid adaptation to the changing workload and saves the company money.

The service consists of several modules, each of which is responsible for its own task, such as rental, telematics, billing, etc. Modules are encapsulated as much as possible, which eliminates the direct dependence of modules on each other and simplifies their improvement. The cloud supports the selected scheme, solves the problem of horizontal scaling, increasing the number of resources used to improve performance. Read more here.

Conclusion

The cloud is not just a great way to save on hardware, but also a powerful tool that can help you solve many business tasks. The use of cloud services allows you to quickly adapt to changing conditions and workloads, which is very important in a rapidly developing automotive industry market.