Experts predict that we’ll be surrounded by autonomous vehicles in less than a decade. Yet on the road to self-driving cars, we’re still stuck in the stage of connected vehicles, figuring out how to make use of this brand new technology.
Thanks to the Internet of Things, vehicles are now connected to the network. This allows us to have internet access and download apps right direct to our vehicle’s infotainment system. Of course, with this comes the increased popularity of particular apps and automotive software. One of the spheres that have gained the most popular in recent years is navigation.
Navigation apps and software for connected cars are very popular. The number of users, as well as people who use location-based services in general, is expected to continue to rise over the next decade. Onboard navigation is a complex system. It must be connected to the cloud in order to provide an online and offline location and real-time traffic information.
An in-vehicle navigation software includes route instructions, GPS receiver, calculation of time and distance, and voice guidance. Connected vehicles provide us with advanced navigation. We’re going to share 5 techniques you’d like to see included in in-vehicle navigation software.
Voice Assistance
You see the message popping up every time you start your car. It reminds you not to use an entry option while driving. Now imagine pulling over every time you need to check for direction or change your destination. Impossible, isn’t it?
In-vehicle navigation is extremely simple and avoids distraction. Apple and Google have integrated their own voice assistants into dashboards. Apple’s CarPlay even includes voice recognition as an embedded feature of an infotainment system. Toyota Avalon 2019 provides it.
There are alternative versions of voice assistants as well, such as Cortana or Alexa. They are also easy to integrate with the car’s API. Such voice assistance solutions are being improved to offer a human-like experience.
Emerging technologies such as and Big Data allow better accuracy of in-vehicle navigation systems. However, voice recognition technology still needs enhancement, which will help with the replacement of traditional destination entry methods.
FM Radio For Real-Time Traffic
Modern guidance software now functions with the help of the maps and data available on your smartphone. Smartphones can’t provide real-time data on traffic when offline. In-vehicle navigation utilizes TMC (Traffic Message Channel) technology.
This allows encoded traffic information to be delivered to FM radio broadcasts with the help of RDS (Radio Data System). This system collects traffic information from police stations and traffic control centers. This is the best back up for a connected vehicle when it doesn’t have network access, to receive crucial data about road conditions and traffic.
Destination Entry
Destination entry is one of the main navigation features, which allows you to plan an entire route. Drivers set their destinations by entering different patterns. Usually, they type the address or ZIP code or use the voice assistant to do it.
Destination entries should be as simple as possible. An example of a non-effective entry is if you need to go through several screens to add all the data needed. Any complicated menus should be avoided as they might spoil the driving experience and may even cause accidents if a person is changing the final destination while driving
Predictive Navigation
To meet customers’ growing expectations, automotive software developers try to provide the same functionality and mobility of embedded navigation systems, like the ones in smartphones. That’s why route prediction features are now a fact for Google Maps and Waze users.
The new smart navigation systems, whether embedded or integrated, are able to predict your final destination while analyzing your driving habits and most visited places. It personalizes the experience on a whole new level, based on the driver’s most common decisions.
Yet with the introduction of this feature, manufacturers will have to deal with some privacy issues. By saving all of their private data in the cloud, including driving habits, visited places and favorite roads, user data is put at risk.
Advanced Driver Assistance System
Before vehicles become fully autonomous, they will need to adopt the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). Then the in-vehicle navigation software will provide the accuracy of positioning and necessary guidance for the rest of ADAS control points.
Combined with all the sensors in modern vehicles, the navigation is an additional virtual sensor, providing the context of the surrounding road.
Yet maps alone weren’t enough to cover trajectory issues as they didn’t adapt to all road attributes and contexts. To deal with the problem HD maps were created. They provide high precision of the road geometry and overall representation of surroundings. HD mapping uses advanced technology like deep learning and Artificial intelligence, as well as simultaneous localization. All this helps in determining the vehicle’s position in 3D space and its surroundings.
For best accuracy in HD maps, a number of sensors and cameras in specific zones are used. It’s predicted that further implementation of these mapping technologies will make the existence of autonomous driving systems possible.
Today’s GPS
GPS navigation has become a part of our daily routines. There are a number of apps that have shaken the market and we can expect plenty more developments as investment grows.
In-vehicle navigation software development techniques are affected by the new trends in the industry, including IoT and the appearance of autonomous driving. With its introduction, 3D HD mapping fundamentally changed the concept of navigation systems. Developing such software is a complex task. Above are only five of the techniques one could include to make AR products better, but of course, the task requires professional skill and detailed research.