A Multi Computer On Wheels.

[jimbg]

Spot on!!

[neon]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Can he help to get new features added? I would really like to be able to disable the airkick on the bootlid. I have accidently triggered it when hoovering in the boot and it came down on my head. I also have accidently triggered it when plugging in my bike rack electrics and of course it opened and clattered the bike rack.......

May be worth a go, his name is GrecianVolvo and he focuses on USA customers.

[neon]

Originally Posted by tankplanker

I work in software development and software bugs are not about the size or quality of the development team, they are more about the time and resource allocated to testing.

Given an infinite period of testing you will get the majority of bugs out, given a sufficiently small period of time for testing or too small a testing team and you'll get hardly any bugs out.

I would hope Volvo are using an automated testing system for the repeated use cases and regression tests so that the likes of edge and boundary cases can be tested by hand.

Multi vendor development is not a new concept, I've been building apps from a stack of products for more than a decade now. Sky's Sky+ box is a good example of a multi vendor stack that has been in widespread use for a long time.

The important thing is to have appropriate SLAs and QA in place with the different vendors to make sure you get the right response in a timely fashion. If Volvo do not manage the relationship properly then it will go south very quickly.

A regular patch cycle is important to resolve niggly issues. The fact that the car can be updated over the air makes it far easier to resolve and improve as we go along. I really like the Google method for deploying Android updates, start small then double the roll out rate every so many days as the patch is proven to be successful over a larger and larger user base. I do not like the Apple way of a big bang with iOS, something goes wrong and all your user base is affected.

Great explanation. So how well would you say Volvo have done with their all new brave step into all this new technology with the XC90. Are customers expecting too much or have they just become beta testers but paying full price.

[tankplanker]

Originally Posted by neon

Great explanation. So how well would you say Volvo have done with their all new brave step into all this new technology with the XC90. Are customers expecting too much or have they just become beta testers but paying full price.

The problem with technology with the availability of instant feedback via the Internet is that those who suffer failures are more prominent, you are less likely to read endless stories of how happy customers are rather than people who have genuine faults regardless of the prevalence of either.

I would need to see the breakdown of faults against the entire XC90 (and soon to be S/V90s) to understand how well the platform is performing. However I suspect the number of owners actually using all the functionality outside the enthusiasts who post about their cars online is quite low, and thus problems in certain areas will be under reported as that functionality has never been used.

I consider Tesla to be the gold standard (at present) for technology in cars, even they had a recent issue that locked people out of their cars with a recent update. I think issues are to be expected as we move towards autonomous driving over the next decade, new functionality can never be fully tested and end users will hit problems.


Its a bit of a cop out but I think we lack the evidence to understand if Volvo have over or under the industry average (or if indeed the whole industry has a problem). It is how well Volvo respond to the problems over the next couple of years that will make up my mind on how well they have done.

[BTXC90]

Originally Posted by tankplanker

The problem with technology with the availability of instant feedback via the Internet is that those who suffer failures are more prominent, you are less likely to read endless stories of how happy customers are rather than people who have genuine faults regardless of the prevalence of either.

I would need to see the breakdown of faults against the entire XC90 (and soon to be S/V90s) to understand how well the platform is performing. However I suspect the number of owners actually using all the functionality outside the enthusiasts who post about their cars online is quite low, and thus problems in certain areas will be under reported as that functionality has never been used.

I consider Tesla to be the gold standard (at present) for technology in cars, even they had a recent issue that locked people out of their cars with a recent update. I think issues are to be expected as we move towards autonomous driving over the next decade, new functionality can never be fully tested and end users will hit problems.


Its a bit of a cop out but I think we lack the evidence to understand if Volvo have over or under the industry average (or if indeed the whole industry has a problem). It is how well Volvo respond to the problems over the next couple of years that will make up my mind on how well they have done.

Good point.
I totally agree with your point in terms of a Software development and existence of bugs, which happens in the most sophisticated areas like banking and finance as well.

Things do improve with time as products mature.

I guess where the 'members/Volvo users' have been unhappy (globally) it was more to do with the knowledge levels of the dealers (not all) and the communication while the issues are being looked at.

That makes a lot of difference to the customer experience.

(PS : I am yet to enter this phase of Volvo post sale experience)

[canis]

Perhaps even more interesting, at least from my perspective, will be the expeirence of owning these cars second-hand in another ten years time. Will the manufacturers (and not just Volvo) simply wash their hands of it and say "We no longer support that software" leaving what is to all intents and purposes a perfectly good car suddenly useless because the software has broken.

Bit-rot does occur. ROM chips can break. I own a V40, 1999 model, and I love how robust the computer is. But if the motor trade is going to go the same way as a lot of software development has (and by that I mean rushed production, poor code, lack of testing), and there's no reason to assume it won't, we could end up with a lot of electronically broken cars on the road. And a lot of vehicles becomming prematurely scrapped, which kinda puts the whole "new cars are greener" thing into a different perspective.

That said, Volvo have a great reputation. I am extremely fond of our V40. It's part of the family, I doubt many other makes of motor-car earn that acolade so easily. It would be extremely foolish if Volvo were to throw that away for the sake of crappy code, and I'm optimistic that isn't going to happen. The bugs will be sorted over time, I expect.

[neon]

Originally Posted by canis

Perhaps even more interesting, at least from my perspective, will be the expeirence of owning these cars second-hand in another ten years time. Will the manufacturers (and not just Volvo) simply wash their hands of it and say "We no longer support that software" leaving what is to all intents and purposes a perfectly good car suddenly useless because the software has broken.

Bit-rot does occur. ROM chips can break. I own a V40, 1999 model, and I love how robust the computer is. But if the motor trade is going to go the same way as a lot of software development has (and by that I mean rushed production, poor code, lack of testing), and there's no reason to assume it won't, we could end up with a lot of electronically broken cars on the road. And a lot of vehicles becomming prematurely scrapped, which kinda puts the whole "new cars are greener" thing into a different perspective.

That said, Volvo have a great reputation. I am extremely fond of our V40. It's part of the family, I doubt many other makes of motor-car earn that acolade so easily. It would be extremely foolish if Volvo were to throw that away for the sake of crappy code, and I'm optimistic that isn't going to happen. The bugs will be sorted over time, I expect.

The technology in the cars today that we think is complex will probably be childs play compared to that of 10 years time.