'Automotive Grade Linux' Will Promote Open Source Program Offices for Automakers (prnewswire.com) 28
Automotive Grade Linux is a collaborative open source project developing "an open platform from the ground up that can serve as the de facto industry standard" for fast development of new features. Automakers have joined with tech companies and suppliers to speed up development (and adoption) of "a fully open software stack for the connected car" — hosted at the Linux Foundation, and "with Linux at its core..."
And this week they created a new Open Source Program Office expert group, led by Toyota, to promote the establishment of Open Source Program Offices within the automotive industry, "and encourage the sharing of information and best practices between them." Open source software has become more prevalent across the automotive industry as automakers invest more time and resources into software development. Automakers like Toyota and Subaru are using open source software for infotainment and instrument cluster applications. Other open source applications across the automotive industry include R&D, testing, vehicle-to-cloud and fleet management. "Historically, there has been little code contributed back to the open source community," said Dan Cauchy, Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux. "Often, this was because the internal procedures or IT infrastructure weren't in place to support open source contributions. The rise of software-defined vehicles has led to a growing trend of automakers not just using, but also contributing, to open source software. Many organizations are also establishing Open Source Program Offices to streamline and organize open source activities to better support business goals."
Automakers including Toyota, Honda, and Volvo have already established Open Source Program Offices. The new AGL OSPO Expert Group provides a neutral space for them to share pain points and collaborate on solutions, exchange information, and develop best practices that can help other automakers build their own OSPOs. "Toyota has been participating in AGL and the broader open source community for over a decade," said Masato Endo, Group Manager of Open Source Program Group, Toyota. "We established an OSPO earlier this year to promote the use of open source software internally and to help guide how and where we contribute. We are looking forward to working with other open source leaders to solve common problems, collaborate on best practices, and invigorate open source activities in the automotive industry."
The AGL OSPO EG is led by Toyota with support from Panasonic and AISIN Corporation.
And this week they created a new Open Source Program Office expert group, led by Toyota, to promote the establishment of Open Source Program Offices within the automotive industry, "and encourage the sharing of information and best practices between them." Open source software has become more prevalent across the automotive industry as automakers invest more time and resources into software development. Automakers like Toyota and Subaru are using open source software for infotainment and instrument cluster applications. Other open source applications across the automotive industry include R&D, testing, vehicle-to-cloud and fleet management. "Historically, there has been little code contributed back to the open source community," said Dan Cauchy, Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux. "Often, this was because the internal procedures or IT infrastructure weren't in place to support open source contributions. The rise of software-defined vehicles has led to a growing trend of automakers not just using, but also contributing, to open source software. Many organizations are also establishing Open Source Program Offices to streamline and organize open source activities to better support business goals."
Automakers including Toyota, Honda, and Volvo have already established Open Source Program Offices. The new AGL OSPO Expert Group provides a neutral space for them to share pain points and collaborate on solutions, exchange information, and develop best practices that can help other automakers build their own OSPOs. "Toyota has been participating in AGL and the broader open source community for over a decade," said Masato Endo, Group Manager of Open Source Program Group, Toyota. "We established an OSPO earlier this year to promote the use of open source software internally and to help guide how and where we contribute. We are looking forward to working with other open source leaders to solve common problems, collaborate on best practices, and invigorate open source activities in the automotive industry."
The AGL OSPO EG is led by Toyota with support from Panasonic and AISIN Corporation.
BMW and Rolling releases (Score:3)
De-computering (Score:2)
The auto industry keeps adding more computers to cars for 25 years and making the computer system more complicated and now ironically wants something simpler and possibly an external third party to blame for failures and security failures.
How about lowering the number of computer controlled systems on the car because, at some point, adding yet another computer will add no value and subtract value?
There's an opportunity for one of the manufacturers to start with the equivalent of a stripped down 1972 Ford F1
No thanks (Score:3, Funny)
So we're going to take the questionable engineering skills of people like Jeep/Fiat and Ford, and apply them to open source software??
Pardon me while I go tune up my bicycle.
Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)
All bugs are shallow when you apply a bunch of incompetent eyes. Increase the incompetence, you get fewer bugs! Problem solved.
I can't wait to hear all the arguments to apply GPLv3 to cars, those dirty corporations TiVoizing their cars to deny you your freedumbs. Also, a continuous stream of exploits as OSS "Automotive Grade" codebases are compromised and then adopted, kind of like what's been experienced with Tesla already.
All this amounts to is an effort to convert cars to same mile-high pile of shit s
Re:No thanks (Score:4, Interesting)
So we're going to take the questionable engineering skills of people like Jeep/Fiat and Ford, and apply them to open source software??
Pardon me while I go tune up my bicycle.
We're going to take an industry where quality management means people don't die and apply Linus Torvald's system of project management by throwing a tantrum?
There will be tears, but they won't be caused by the automotive side.
Re: (Score:2)
Open Source is used everywhere, the only part this is talking about is the kernel itself.
My cynical view is that the car manufacturer will conveniently stop producing the electronics, so you'll struggle to find replacement components that burn out without replacing the whole damned ECU and centre console. Pretty much writing the car off because a small irreplaceable component fails.
Linux has damned good backward compatibility, but not always forward compatible, and that's where I think the manufacturers wil
what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:1)
"The rise of software-defined vehicles has led to a growing trend of automakers not just using, but also contributing, to open source software."
There is no such thing as a software-defined vehicle. Whoever said this doesn't know what that term means.
Cars have been dominated by software for a long, long time. What has changed are only the human interface portions, mostly for the worse. Android is used in a number of cars now, that's already Linux as far as Linux goes. "Automotive Grade" means nothing, it
Re:what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:4, Interesting)
Android is used in a number of cars now, that's already Linux as far as Linux goes.
Not really. Linux merely hosts Android. Android itself is a complete OS from the programmer's perspective. Linux a behind the scenes implementation detail.
Re: (Score:1)
Not really. Linux merely hosts Android. Android itself is a complete OS from the programmer's perspective. Linux a behind the scenes implementation detail.
My Sparc server has Linux on an internal card that does system checks before it hands off the boot to Solaris.
Re:what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:5, Informative)
What has changed are only the human interface portions
That's really not true. The level and sophistication of the backend compute in vehicles has increased drastically in the past decade. Most new cars are running on systems with a hypervisor at their core (such as https://www.visteon.com/produc... [visteon.com] or https://blackberry.qnx.com/en/... [qnx.com]). Control modules have gotten more powerful as more systems go electronic. I bought a new truck in 2022 to replace my 2008 and the differences are startling. Steering, e-brake, 4wd are all electronic or electronic assisted now. The car's computer can control basically everything. It can steer by itself (lane assist), apply brakes (emergency braking, brake hold), apply the ebrake by itself, shift to park by itself (if you open the door when it's stopped and not in park it will set the ebrake and shift into park), change transmission shift points (performance mode/eco mode/tow mode/etc), and on and on. All that on what is one model above base.
There is no such thing as a software-defined vehicle. Whoever said this doesn't know what that term means.
Seems pretty prevalent in the industry. I'm going to assume they know more that you on the subject, unless you can provide some credentials to prove otherwise: https://blackberry.qnx.com/en/... [qnx.com]
https://www.keysight.com/us/en... [keysight.com]
https://www.bosch-mobility.com... [bosch-mobility.com]
https://www.renaultgroup.com/e... [renaultgroup.com]
https://www.ptc.com/en/blogs/a... [ptc.com]
https://www.sw.siemens.com/en-... [siemens.com]
https://www.nxp.com/applicatio... [nxp.com]
Re:what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:5, Informative)
Seems pretty prevalent in the industry. I'm going to assume they know more that you on the subject, unless you can provide some credentials to prove otherwise:
I'm in the industry, along with several friends and family members, directly and indirectly.
It's so much of a thing that AIAG is changing how the standardized product procurement and quality guidelines are defined to include software testing and quality assurance.
The tl;dr version of what it means is that car companies can push newly developed features to cars after they are sold via software updates. It may not seem like a big deal, but it's a *radical* departure from the existing product development cycle, which is long and complicated. For reference, a complete type acceptance cycle for a new platform can take two or three years. A new drivetrain could six years.
Re:what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:4, Insightful)
The tl;dr version of what it means is that car companies can push newly developed features to cars after they are sold via software updates.
Because that's what everyone wants on the road: An incomplete, glitch-filled, rushed-out-to-meet-management's-deadlines, car with Day-1 DLC, subscription pricing, and multi gigabyte update patches weighing in over a few tons, and moving down the road at 75 MPh.
And I haven't even mentioned the driver yet.....
Re: (Score:2)
Because that's what everyone wants on the road:
That's how Tesla does it, and the only non-truck that sells better than the Model Y is the RAV-4. So, yeah, people are buying the heck out of software-defined cars.
I would like an agile car... (Score:2)
...but I sure as hell don't want an Agile car!
Re: (Score:3)
There is no such thing as a software-defined vehicle. Whoever said this doesn't know what that term means.
Here's more if you want to learn about SDV:
https://www.bosch-mobility.com... [bosch-mobility.com]
Re: what's a software-defined vehicle? (Score:4, Funny)
Software defined vehicle: take away the software and it's not a vehicle anymore. Contrast with a software-free vehicle which does not require 15k lines of code for the engine to turn over and 20k lines of code to apply the brakes.
A free-software vehicle, btw, would be similar to a software defined vehicle except it's double or triple the lines of code and they're all copy-pasted python from stackoverflow.
Re: (Score:2)
It isn't. Right now, Linux is only good enough for non-critical parts of the car - which basically limits it to the infotainment system.
All the other parts are running under a safety critical OS, with Linux/Android running in a VM on QNX, for example.
Automotive grade means Linux gets to graduate from untrusted to Quality Managed on the ASIL ratings, and maybe even higher. This means it's not good enough for safety critical things like the dash
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
This is going to tarnish Linux (Score:3)
Opinion (Score:2)
"Automotive Grade" fills me with the same existential dread as "Military Grade". i.e. built by the lowest bidder whose primary expertise is NOT manufacturing product XYZ, but is in fact the ability to navigate bureaucracy, with actual manufacturing, engineering, or design ability FAR down on their list of competencies if present at all.