A Multi Computer On Wheels.

[tem]

When I was speaking to my dealer yesterday, regarding the software updates that the XC90 required, I said that I thought the car had more computers than a Boeing Dreamliner.
His reply, do not know about the Dreamliner, but the new Volvo XC90 has three times the number of computers, that the 1st edition had.
This prompted me to look further and I came across the article below.

You will note that Volvo have their own team of software engineers, but they also rely on other manufactures for software.
With at least 107 computers onboard, it is little wonder that there are teething problems.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2015...-computer-chip

Would welcome comments, from Software Engineers/IT Experts.

tem.

[tem]

Something has gone wrong with the link?

tem.

[tem]

Originally Posted by tem

Something has gone wrong with the link?

tem.

It looks like I can only get one view of the article, without having to subscribe.
Hope others can view it.

tem.

[172navigator]

A paste of the article:-

To understand a vehicle's computing power nowadays, consider the redesigned 2016 Volvo XC90.

When the XC90 was introduced in 2002, it had as many as 38 electronic control units -- small computers that receive data from sensors and components and issue control instructions. Now, it has as many as 107, says Kent Melin, Volvo's senior technical leader.

The vehicle has 1 gigabyte of memory -- 200 times more than the original. Eighty percent of that memory is for infotainment, 10 percent for safety and the rest for all other functions.

Volvo's software engineers write about 30 percent of the XC90's code, focusing on core functions such as analyzing data from radar, lidar (laser-based radar) and cameras to identify road obstacles.

"We want to keep core knowledge in-house," Melin said. "We have a couple of hundred software engineers, and we are expanding quite a lot."

Suppliers handle the rest. Delphi Automotive, for example, provides radar and cameras for the XC90, along with software to operate them.

Suppliers also are developing software for previously "dumb" components that now sport sensors. The XC90's windshield wipers, supplied by Robert Bosch GmbH, are a case in point. Using data from the windshield's rain sensor, the vehicle's body control module sets the appropriate speed for the wiper blades.

Once the wiper blades have their own microcontroller, one can easily add functions, said Kyle Williams, Bosch's director for automotive systems integration. For instance, by collecting data on external temperature, the microcontroller could automatically turn on the windshield defroster.

The computer also could determine whether the road is likely to be icy. With adaptive cruise control, the vehicle can maintain a safer distance from the vehicle ahead.

[neon]

Well, couple hundred software engineers, great to hear. Wonder how much resource they have maintaining websites as My Volvo is down again since yesterday, not critical I know. The website when you are looking to buy seems very reliable.

[AB-UK]

Originally Posted by neon

Well, couple hundred software engineers, great to hear. Wonder how much resource they have maintaining websites as My Volvo is down again since yesterday, not critical I know. The website when you are looking to buy seems very reliable.

Reflects on their priorities I suppose!

[ChrisSW]

Originally Posted by tem

When I was speaking to my dealer yesterday, regarding the software updates that the XC90 required, I said that I thought the car had more computers than a Boeing Dreamliner.
His reply, do not know about the Dreamliner, but the new Volvo XC90 has three times the number of computers, that the 1st edition had.
This prompted me to look further and I came across the article below.

You will note that Volvo have their own team of software engineers, but they also rely on other manufactures for software.
With at least 107 computers onboard, it is little wonder that there are teething problems.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2015...-computer-chip

Would welcome comments, from Software Engineers/IT Experts.

tem.

The simple fact is that no software is bug free. There are too many variables to be able to test every conceivable combination. So testing can only find - hopefully - a high percentage of them. In normal situations - if A AND B happen then do C - the system will work. If however, you have less than normal situations, and far more variables - if A happens, and B happens, and C happens, but D doesn't happen (as it should) but E happens - then those situations are sorted as and when they happen... Otherwise no software would ever get released (I once heard it said that software isn't released...it escapes.) On the positive side, those computers in your car are dealing with hundreds or thousands of inputs in microseconds, all helping you to drive the Volvo safely and efficiently.

[neon]

There is a guy on Swede Speed who works for Volvo and really seems to get things done. When I put it on there he must have followed it through and confirmed it was down and let everyone know when it was fixed. And that is on a Sunday. Good work.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by neon

There is a guy on Swede Speed who works for Volvo and really seems to get things done. When I put it on there he must have followed it through and confirmed it was down and let everyone know when it was fixed. And that is on a Sunday. Good work.

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.......

[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.