Qualcomm has celebrated 20 years in the automotive industry with several announcements about the future of the driving experience.
The automobile sector is changing, and we are not just talking about the electric car. When a technology company like Xiaomi achieves the same interest as brands that have been established for more than a century, something is changing. And Qualcomm is at the center of that change.
Although that is a name more recognizable due to the chips that our mobile phones use, in reality Qualcomm has been in the automotive sector for 20 years, and in its presentation at CES 2024 it boasted that 350 million vehicles already use Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions . In 2023 alone, 75 new car models were launched with its technologies, and there are already 40 million vehicles with Snapdragon Cockpit; In other words, it’s not the future, it’s the now.
He also talked about the future, of course, with the big announcement being the launch of a new central computer for cars , which is capable of controlling all aspects of the car directly with a single SoC (system-on-chip); It is the result of a collaboration with Bosch, and is the first of its kind. This central computer will be able to control both the infotainment system (the dashboard screen) and the driving assistance systems (ADAS); So car manufacturers don’t have to source both systems separately and rely solely on one integrated system that can scale from cheap cars to ‘premium’ cars.
The computer is based on the Snapdragon Flex platform and allows you to implement experiences and functions related to entertainment, vehicle management, the instrument panel and driving assistance functions; The latter includes object detection, traffic and lane light detection, automatic parking, personalized navigation, voice assistant and processing of the car’s radars and cameras.
To demonstrate this, Qualcomm has presented its own car; or rather, a prototype that integrates this central computer and the technologies that it is capable of taking advantage of. Unfortunately, this futuristic car will not see the roads, but future models from manufacturers will be able to use the same advances it already has.
Among these advances is the use of generative Artificial Intelligence, the three words that have been the most talked about in 2023. Qualcomm wants to take advantage of its experience by implementing this technology in other systems such as smartphones to get ahead of the rest in cars.
To demonstrate this, he has shown several examples, such as a personal assistant that creates a travel plan for us taking into account our preferences. Generative AI also has potential for car maintenance, as it will be able to review the manual for instructions for tasks such as changing the tire or installing a baby seat. It would also be able to interpret the car’s warning lights and present the solution or the shortest route to the workshop or dealership.
