Telematics maps the road to the future

Automotive Industries,  Nov, 1999  by Paul A. Eisenstein

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Parked in a Dearborn, Mich., garage, Ken Schmitt starts his Jeep Grand Cherokee and wakes up the silicon co-pilot folks have developed a habit of referring to as Hal. "Check e-mail," orders the Lear Corp. engineer. "You have two messages," comes the cheerful, if faintly mechanical reply. "Read e-mail," Schmitt continues, and a moment later the first message is being translated from text to synthetic speech.

Arthur C. Clarke, the visionary author of "2001: A Space Odyssey," got it wrong. It won't take a NASA-sized budget to afford a computer with the capabilities of HAL 9000. Indeed, such technology could soon prove as ubiquitous as automotive cassette and CD players are today.

There's been a long list of major technological advances since Karl Benz built his first internal combustion engine more than a century ago: the self-starter, electric lights, the all-steel body. Call them "trigger technologies," breakthroughs that have transformed the auto industry. Since the end of World War II, two stand out. The high-compression engine is one, the microprocessor the other. Indeed, today's automobile is already a vast network of interconnected silicon chips, controlling everything from airbags to engine operations. Microprocessors have produced a wide range of benefits, improving fuel economy, enhancing safety and reducing emissions, among other things.

Until now, this silicon hardware has largely been invisible from the consumer's point of view. But that's about to change with the emergence of a third trigger technology -- telematics.

By the most precise, though narrowest definition, telematics is "the convergence of telecommunications and the microprocessor," says John Correia, Visteon's supervisor of wireless communications, "using a computer and a phone to do something." This takes in a host of new features and services, such as onboard Internet access, real-time traffic advisories and satellite-fed audio and video. "The car of the future," suggests Scott McNealy, chairman and chief executive of Sun Microsystems Inc., "is going to be ... a browser on wheels."

There are those who prefer a broader definition of telematics, one that takes in such things as stand-alone navigation and "infotainment" systems, even such technology as adaptive cruise control.

"Telematics is really about fundamentally changing the driving experience. It's something that's fundamentally changing the way the car functions, and the way the driver or passengers interface with the vehicle," says Brian Gratch, director of marketing for the Telematics Group at Motorola.

Manufacturers already have begun rolling out automotive personal computer technology in affordable bits and pieces. The 2000 Jaguar S-Type sedan features a sophisticated voice control system that lets the driver operate everything from the climate control to the car's navigation system simply by memorizing a list of spoken commands. The programming task was enormous, and Jaguar engineers worked with thousands of people from all over the English-speaking world developing a system that could recognize and respond to commands spoken in countless different accents.

General Motors Corp.'s OnStar system is another example. At its heart, it's a cellular phone, but the system adds a variety of driver-friendly features. Motorists can use it to get directions, schedule airline reservations or find a local dealer should they break down while traveling. Accidentally lock your keys in the car, and OnStar's service center can transmit a signal telling your car to unlock its doors. OnStar even sends an automatic alert to authorities in the event of an accident serious enough to trigger a car's airbag.

The potential market for telematic hardware, software and services could be enormous, according to. industry analysts. "Within a decade," predicts Ron Knockeart, vice president of Intelligent Transportation Systems for Siemens Automotive, navigation and automotive PC technology will be installed in "one-third of all cars" sold in the United States. On a global basis the market for such technology could reach $56 billion a year, "half for hardware, half for services," forecasts Jean-Francois Pripinel, chairman and CEO of ERTICO, a European industry-government consortium studying and promoting in-car technology.

Telematics will offer automakers tremendous opportunities to expand their brand identity. They'll be able to stay in touch with owners, even after a vehicle goes off warranty, then sell services to motorists in the used car market.

But that's only part of the picture. Telematics "will make our transportation system safer, more efficient and ... more productive," proclaims Kenneth Wyckle, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Wyckle notes traffic tie-ups cost the nation billions each year in lost productivity, never mind the impact on frayed nerves.

Despite all the promise, there are plenty of challenges. There are a number of technological issues before telematics lives up to its promise. Better, cheaper hardware is needed, along with common industry standards. Improved wireless communications systems are a must.