Download The Ford 24*7 Concept Car

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Java Technology Hits the Road
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by Steven Meloan
August 29, 2000 -- The automobile first burst upon the scene nearly a century ago, and some may still
believe that Henry Ford invented the car. In reality, what Ford did was nearly as important -- bringing the
automobile within affordable reach of the common man. He promised that if he were to build a car for the
masses, it would be so low in price that no one would be unable to own one. By 1913, using innovative
mass production techniques, Ford Motor Company was delivering a fully assembled Model T chassis off the
assembly line every hour and a half.
But affordability was only half the battle in the evolution of the automobile.
Reliability was the next step forward. Even back in the '50s and '60s, it was
not uncommon to find overheated cars sidelined on the interstates, spouting
white plumes of radiator steam.
These days, everyone expects his or her car to simply work -- as a matter of
course. Which brings us to the present, with Ford Motor Company once again
moving the automobile forward to the next conceptual plateau. With
Americans now spending an average of 80 minutes a day commuting to and
from work, Ford hopes to redefine the entire relationship between customer
and car, providing on-board access to information, people, and places -- 24
hours a day, seven days a week. And as part of Ford's move toward taking
the automobile "online," it forayed into the realm of Java technology.
The 24*7 car at the 2000
JavaOne developer
conference
The Ford 24*7 Concept Car
Driving directions are brought up on the dashboard
display
If "The Network Is The Computer," then part of that
network will soon be your automobile, if Ford Motor
Company has anything to say about it. "Meeting
consumer needs requires reaching beyond the
traditional boundaries of reliable, functional
transportation," explains J. Mays, Ford's vice
president of design. "Your life doesn't stop when
you step into your vehicle." In essence, Ford wants
to do for the automobile what the day planner and
the PC have done for the office space -- helping
people to better manage their time through
increased efficiency.
Ford's cutting-edge 24*7 concept car -- brimming with demos of the latest advances in voice-activated
technologies -- was demonstrated at the 2000 JavaOne developer conference.
Automotive Industry Java Technology
Acceptance
While AMI-C (Automotive Multi-media
Interface Collaboration) moves steadily
along in its attempt to create industry
specifications for an open, standard
The 24*7 concept car offers prototypes of Visteon
Automotive Systems' hands-free, voice-driven facility to
access email, mobile phone technology, real-time route
assistance, weather reports, and stock information.
Meanwhile, Visteon's high-definition instrument panel offers
a voice-configurable display of gauges -- speedometer, oil,
fuel, GPS/map, Internet, email, mobile phone, compact disc,
and clock -- as well as the facility for additional features
such as GPS and videophone technology.
The original Ford Model T, in the interest of streamlining the
production process, was jokingly promised to be available
"in any color, so long as it is black." But the 24*7 car
promises a polar opposite world of options. By being
extensively configurable and customizable, the 24*7 car
allows each member of the family to interact with and
configure the car in their own individualized fashion. And
some elements of these telematics features will begin
appearing in Ford production cars as early as 2001,
expanding from there to virtually all Ford vehicles over the
next several years. Telematics refers to advanced in-vehicle
communications and information technologies and services - from navigational aids to wireless phones, to Internet
connectivity.
The Car and Java Technology
As automobiles become ever more high-tech -- filled with
diverse embedded, networked, and after-factory add-on
devices -- Ford is increasingly exploring the extensible,
interoperable, cross-platform power of Java technology as a
means of bringing their automotive visions to the showroom
floor.
Intelligent Networked Vehicle (INV)
software platform, a few automotive
electronics suppliers are understandably
responding to today's customer demand by
offering their own interpretation of a Java
platform-based implementation.
However, industry agreed-upon standard
specifications and certified technology
components, such as a Java virtual
machine, are essential to ensure the
openness which results in a truly
competitive market, and software
applications which deliver on the promise of
"Write Once, Run Anywhere".
Sun Microsystem's emphasis has been on
coordinating with these leading
implementors, key automakers, and
standards organizations, such as OSGI, to
help converge their efforts towards a single
solution which would best serve the needs
of the industry at large. Consistency with
existing Java technology-based mobile
devices, such as cell phones, PDAs, set-top
boxes and games is part of the overall goal.
Technologies such as Jini technology, Java
Embedded Server software and the Java
Media Framework API would build upon the
capability provided by the underlying
standard Java technology-based framework
to be specified for the automotive industry.
"Ford wanted to figure out a way to future-proof their cars,"
says Larry Mitchell, of Sun Professional Services. Mitchell,
and his co-developer, Ben Griffin, are working with Ford as the company explores ways to incorporate Java
technology in their re-invention of the automobile. "The biggest problem they have," says Mitchell, "is that it
takes several years to develop a car. But then you want to be able to extend it functionally -- to be able to
add after-market devices and services, but without having to write any new code." The wrong platform
choice, particularly at the current frantic pace of technological development, could translate into the need to
upgrade millions of vehicles down the road. "Not an easy thing to do!" says Mitchell.
Jini connection technology is proving to be an important area of exploration. "The idea is to have an
architecture where one can add devices and services in a completely spontaneous way," explains Mitchell.
"When a new device or a new service comes in, a Jini technology-enabled service browser can effectively
say to it -- 'Do you have a voice interface? Do you have a graphical interface? Do you have an icon?' And
the browser will then simply add that service. It doesn't necessarily even know what it's added. But the client
interface knows how to communicate with the back end service. This eliminates the need to worry about the
protocol between the client and the server, which typically comes into play in such interactions."
Car statistics and a voice-activated cell phone can be seen on the dashboard
display
Jini Technology Community
The Jini technology community was instrumental in the early stages of Ford's development efforts. "We used
the Service User Interface (UI) specification, which came from Bill Venners' work with the Jini technology
community," explains Mitchell, "as well as the Jini Surrogate Architecture, which was (Distinguished Sun
Engineer) Jim Waldo's idea."
The Service UI specification was particularly key in helping Ford to explore future-proofing their cars. "The
Java and Jini technologies-enabled framework, which allows you to build the service browser once, was key
in our success," explains Mitchell. "It's a means of having a completely generic user interface. Any new
services that we want to hook into the car can be seamlessly integrated because they follow the openstandards Service UI specification of Jini and Java technologies. The browser delegates all responsibility for
the interaction with a service to the interface that it got from the service."
Sun Professional Services and Ford
Motor Company
Sun Professional Services has proven to be
of vital importance in Ford's development
efforts utilizing Java and Jini technologies.
"Several members of Ford's upper
management team had listened to a
presentation given by Scott McNealy on the
innovative use of Java and Jini
technologies," reports Larry Mitchell of Sun
Professional Services' Java Center.
"Piquing their interest, they thought it might
fit in well with their future development
plans."
Ford ultimately opted to schedule a full-day
executive summit with Bill Joy, Pat Sueltz,
Rob Gingell, and others from Sun. "Ford
had all of the senior vice presidents there,"
says Mitchell. "Jini technology clearly
captured the imagination of the upper
management team, and they subsequently
decided to go forward with a number of
development efforts."
From there, Sun Professional Services -the consulting organization of Sun -entered the picture, presenting Ford with
the specifics of what actually could be
achieved by using Java technology in a
vehicle. "Ford didn't just want prototypes
that would be delivered to them," says
Mitchell. "It wanted an active partner in the
development -- and that's why Sun
Professional Services was brought into the
conversation."
Sun Professional Services interfaced with
Ford's Scientific Research Laboratories, the
company's in-house research arm. Both the
automotive practice group and the Java
Center from Sun Professional Services
were involved in working with Ford Labs.
Meanwhile, the Jini Surrogate Architecture was vital to
establishing the workability of integrating devices without
Jini technology into the Jini technology-enabled world of the
car of the future. "It's like a proxy mechanism," says Mitchell,
"to support devices that are currently too small to support
any real kind of Java software environment. The Palm
device that we interfaced with the car didn't know anything
about Jini or Java technology, but the surrogate architecture
allowed it to appear as if it was a Jini technology-enabled
service."
"The role of Sun Professional Services,"
says Mitchell, "is to provide Java
technology specialists to work with clients
at their sites. And within that department, is
the Sun Java Center, which specializes in
in-depth elements of Java technology -such as Jini connection technology, J2EE
technology, etc."
Such is the beauty of the community paradigm -- sparking
innovations in new and unexpected directions. And the Jini
technology community remains of vital importance to Ford
and Sun's future plans. "One of the reasons Ford brought
the 24*7 car to JavaOne," says Mitchell, "was because they
wanted to solicit interest from the Jini technology community
as a whole, to develop third-party services and mechanisms
for that environment. If you go to jini.org, and sign up as a
developer, you'll see that there are a number of active
projects, and one of them is the 24*7 car."
And the results of this association have
ultimately left Ford more than satisfied as a
customer. "The marriage of Sun's dot-com
consulting expertise, their professional
services expertise, and our automotive
expertise," says K. Venkatesh Prasad,
project leader for Ford's Infotronics
Technologies group, "is what made this
whole thing really click. It's been an
outstanding partnership. I would strongly
recommend the experience to anyone
considering it."
Satellites, Bluetooth, and More
And the 24*7 car is only just the beginning. In partnership with Sirius, Ford will be the first auto company to
offer 100 channels of satellite-delivered radio programming. The uninterrupted CD-quality programming will
be offered coast-to-coast beginning in early 2001.
Meanwhile, increased bandwidth will eventually enable on-board Web surfing and downloads of music. And
emerging Bluetooth technologies (utilizing short-range wireless connections) will enable synchronization of
automobile telematics systems with customer laptop and palm computing devices.
"With a Bluetooth and Jini technology-enabled phone," explains Mitchell, "the mere fact of my getting into
the car would load a client interface from the phone into the car's telematics system. From the car
manufacturer perspective, I wouldn't have had to re-write any code -- it would be completely automatic. And
the same would be true if I brought my CD player into the car, or pulled up alongside a Bluetooth-enabled
McDonald's kiosk. The car would seamlessly be aware of these services, and enable me to access them."
"I believe that there's a law of conservation of complexity," says K. Venkatesh Prasad, project leader for
Ford's Infotronics Technologies group. "To get a system functioning, the complexity has to reside
somewhere. But we feel the complexity should be hidden from the user. That's what attracted us to Jini
connection technology."
Ford wants their telematics systems to simply work -- as simply and as reliably as today's automobile
provides transportation from one point to another. "Using Jini technology," says Prasad, "we can have the
vehicle environment detect not just a palm device, but the kinds of services that the device brings to the
vehicle environment -- like an address book, or a to-do list. So there's a sort of mapping in terms of who you
are. Then when you say 'call home,' the car knows who to call."
And the beauty of a system based upon Java technology, is that it is extensible toward the future -- able to
easily coordinate with other services down the line. "In addition to knowing who you are," says Prasad,
"using something like GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, the car can also know where you are.
For example, you might be driving home from work, and say 'I want pizza,' and the car would find your
favorite pizza based on your location at that particular moment. Meanwhile, the car can even engage
navigational capabilities to tell you how to get there. And you don't even need to know whether the store is
open or closed -- such can be built into the available services."
While such scenarios might sound far in the future, they are not. "These are the kinds of enhanced services
that are really doable," says Prasad, "with services blending together in a seamless fashion."
But through all of the technology, in the end, it's still the people that matter. "We're building a conduit to the
consumer," says Prasad. "A car is simply a concept that is realized to provide a complete transportation
experience. We want to offer -- not just the technologies of tomorrow -- but the mobility experience of
tomorrow."
See Also
Ford Motor Company
(http://media.ford.com/)
Visteon Automotive Systems
(http://www.visteon.com/index1.html)
Jini Technology FAQ
(http://www.sun.com/jini/faqs/index.html)
Bluetooth FAQ
(http://www.bluetooth.com/bluetoothguide/faq/1.asp)
Jini technology community
(http://www.jini.org/)
Bill Venners' Resource for Java and Jini Technology Developers
(http://www.artima.com/)
Sun Professional Services
(http://sun.com/service/sunps/)
Ford is introdiucing it’s new 24x7 car which is totally network enabled using java
technology. They say that the java technology will be able to upgrade itself for future
technologies and be able to use an interface that will be able to detect any peripheral
devices (palm, phone…)
Ford claims that with the improvements of cars, people just assume that they will work.
They get in and drive and assume that everything will work just fine. Such is the motto fir
the new network enabled car… with Java Jini, everything will just work with little or no
interaction from the user.