SAN FRANCISCO — With Ford SYNC successfully giving millions of customers the in-car connectivity they crave, Ford and Bug Labs are together exploring the next frontier in how to make connectivity more available, affordable and personalized for the hundreds of millions of consumers expected to buy a vehicle across the globe by 2020.
This week, at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Ford and Bug Labs, an open-source hardware and software provider that offers the tools and support needed to prototype, pilot and produce innovative networked devices, announced a joint development agreement to collaborate on a new in-car research platform named OpenXC.
Based on Bug Labs’ groundbreaking Bug System, OpenXC transforms the car into a plug-and-play platform where interchangeable open-source hardware and software modules can be quickly and easily customized to perform tasks deemed previously unimaginable by developers. With OpenXC, consumers can truly create a personalized driving experience through the addition of countless add-ons, Ford says.
Innovations such as new visual and audio feedback interfaces, environmental sensors and safety devices can be implemented quickly by snapping Bug Labs’ hardware modules directly into Ford vehicles.
"OpenXC is about creating a platform that is totally accessible to the developer community and quickly incorporates local market needs to offer innovative solutions at an affordable price point," said K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader, Infotronics, Ford Research and Innovation. "The platform is designed to help us answer the question of how Ford can accelerate the car connectivity experience around the globe, at a value proposition, for both mature and emerging markets."
Peter Semmelhack, founder and CEO of Bug Labs, agrees that an open-source platform approach such as OpenXC offers up limitless possibilities for customizing the in-car experience to meet the different market needs around the globe.
"Combining open, modular hardware and software innovation with the next generation of vehicles reinforces Ford’s position as the world’s automotive technology leader," said Semmelhack. "We are thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate with Ford on such a pioneering project."
Ford is the first automotive OEM to collaborate with Bug Labs, a company that Semmelhack founded in 2006 as a way for individuals and companies to break traditional barriers associated with new hardware development. Since then, Bug Labs has helped developers and enterprises such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, Accenture, Pitney Bowes and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to conceive of, design, test and deploy innovative devices.
Ford researchers hope that lessons learned through the OpenXC research project will help prepare the company for such unique market conditions around the globe as diverse local languages and dialects, fast-changing content preferences and the need for affordable "buy as you can" or even rental app solutions. For Bug Labs, involvement in OpenXC signifies a paradigm shift in the way that automotive companies are exploring new ways to meet consumer demands.
The opportunity for automotive connectivity is tremendous. According to IHS Automotive, potential future global vehicle sales could reach nearly 110 million units per year by 2020, a nearly 30-million jump from where global sales stand today. The biggest climber over the next nine years: Asia, with nearly 20 million more units expected to be sold in 2020 compared with 2011.