Wire & Cable Asia September 2017

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100 Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2017
From the Americas
Automotive
Automotive electrics, in all its forms,
can’t stay out of the news
Globetouch Inc has acquired the IoT solutions provider
Teramatrix Technologies Ltd. The aim is to integrate the
Teramatrix xFusion platform to create high value IoT
applications that support connected cars, autonomous
driving, predictive maintenance and edge intelligence.
Teramatrix’s xFusion is a software platform that enables
cross-industry enterprise applications to enhance
operational intelligence. The system collects, aggregates
and analyses contextual data from devices, sensors,
enterprise apps, workforce and customers.
“The addition of Teramatrix significantly improves our IoT
and connected car strategies,” said Riccardo Di Blasio,
CEO of Globetouch. “We will be using our Cloud SIM
and xFusion IoT technologies to enable the future of
autonomous cars.”
End in sight for the internal combustion
engine?
The Chinese owners of Sweden-based Volvo have
announced that all new Volvo models launched after 2019
will be either electric or hybrids. The move sets Zhejiang
Geely Holding Group apart as the first traditional motor
manufacturer to confirm a date for phasing out vehicles
powered solely by an internal combustion engine. While
electric and hybrid vehicles are still only a small fraction
of new cars sales, they are gaining ground at the premium
end of the market where Volvo operates. As technology
improves and prices fall, many in the automotive
industry expect mass-market adoption to follow. “This
announcement marks the end of the solely combustion
engine-powered car,” predicted Volvo Cars CEO Hakan
Samuelsson.
Volvo has invested heavily in new models and plants since
being bought by Geely in 2010, establishing a niche in
a premium auto market dominated by larger rivals such
as Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Part of Geely’s
strategy has been to embrace emerging technologies
that allow higher performance electric vehicles as well as,
eventually, self-driving cars.
 And the self-driving car may soon be coming to a
highway near you. The Tech Blog reports that General
Motors is rolling out cars to test on the roads in San
Francisco, Arizona and Detroit, looking to debut “in
the near future” what could be the first self-driving car
to come to market. Impressive that such a first could
be coming from a traditional auto manufacturer, rather
than a new, dedicated high-tech developer. GM has a
fleet of around 180 Bolt EVs, using software from San
Francisco’s Cruise Automation to keep its self-driving
technology on track.
VentureBeat observed: “The car has multiple cameras,
and 40 sensors are installed across the vehicle. A radar
system detects oncoming traffic. LIDAR (light detection
and ranging) sensors on top of the car use lasers to
make a three-dimensional map of the area when driving.
“With the 10.2-inch screen, you have the ability to watch
your car drive from a bird’s eye view – seeing your car
plus the area behind and around you – but only if you’re
travelling at low speeds.”
 All that technology has to go somewhere. Reuters
recently reported the findings of USA auto supplier
Visteon Corp, when they looked behind the sleek
instrument panels on new cars. As automotive cockpits
become crammed with ever more digital features
such as navigation and entertainment systems, the
electronics holding it all together have become, quote:
“A rat’s nest of components made by different parts
makers.”
Visteon is among a number of suppliers aiming to
make dashboard wiring simpler, cheaper and lighter as
the industry moves towards the all-digital dashboard
of self-driving cars. Among Visteon’s solutions is
its SmartCore computer module, a cockpit domain
controller that operates a vehicle’s instrument cluster,
infotainment system and other features, all on the same
tiny piece of silicon. Research firm IHS Markit estimates
that the $37 billion cockpit electronics market could
nearly double to $62 billion by 2022, while accounting
firm PwC estimates that electronics could account for
up to 20 per cent of a car’s value in the next two years
(compared to 13 per cent in 2015).
Meanwhile, the number of suppliers for those
components is likely to dwindle as automakers look
to work with fewer companies capable of doing more,
according to Mark Boyadjis, principal automotive
analyst at IHS Markit. “The complexity of engineering
ten different systems from ten different suppliers is
no longer something an automaker wants to do,” Mr
Boyadjis said. He estimates manufacturers eventually
will work with two to three cockpit suppliers for each
model, down from the six to ten suppliers typically
employed at present.
“You have to be changing and adapting fast. If not,
you’re not going to keep up in this market,” said
Tim Yerdon, Visteon’s head of global marketing. “It’s
about reinventing yourself to stay ahead. Five years
ago, the dashboard was a plastic moulded cockpit
that we stuffed electronics into,” he continued. “Now
it’s more about an electronic architecture that’s
experience-driven, and we mould plastic around it.”
Internet of Things
Security
IT security firm Trend Micro has launched a corporate
venture fund with initial investments of $100 million on offer
to technology startups, especially those involved with the
Internet of Things (IoT). Trend Micro seeks to ensure safe
digital exchange of information, and with an estimated
26 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2020,
BigStockPhoto.com Photographer: Aispl