Use case

Empowering digital services

There is a huge innovation potential for accessing vehicle signals beyond what is available in Android Automotive. A new approach incorporating gRPC and VISS together with RemotiveLabs technology was jointly discussed by representatives from the COVESA Alliance and Volvo Cars at a recent event in Gothenburg. This is also a way of supporting the upcoming EU rules regarding exposing vehicle data to 3rd parties.

Picture from the presentation at COVESA AMM April 2024
July 8, 2024
RemotiveLabs
Android Automotive

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An open Vehicle API ecosystem

Building services and experiences interacting with a larger portion of signals than the ones available in Android Automotive has a lot of potential. One possible solution is an open and standardized gRPC enabled VISS (Vehicle Information Service Specification) API. This API caters to Android Properties as well as other signals, in an environment where recompiles are quick.

The combined approach with gRPC API, VISS and RemotiveLabs technology can enable new use cases which was outlined by Renjith Rajagopal, Peter Winzell, Kristoffer Nilsson (all from Volvo Cars) and Emil Dautovic (RemotiveLabs). The solution gives easy access to a broader range of vehicle signals enabling innovation of new and exciting use cases flexibly. 

The signals available through Android are not enough for innovative use cases, hence use of VISS and new ways of working are needed. The example above shows a driver behavior report that could be used for pay-as-you-drive car insurance.
Schematic overview - public VISS API how to connect ecosystem
The presentation incorporates the first step toward an expansive, reputable & industry adopted open Vehicle API ecosystem. The public VISS API can be supported by RemotiveCloud as vehicle data feeder. There are some security features built into VISS and when complemented with privacy & consent, this solution enables new innovations within digital services.
Meeting room during presentation COVESA Empowering digital services
Parts of the presenting team at COVESA Gothenburg – to the left with Kristoffer Nilsson, Renjith Rajagopal and Peter Winzell (all from Volvo Cars) and Emil Dautovic (RemotiveLabs).

Use case example – safety reports

How could an OEM enable access to certain vehicle datasets to digital partners that want to accurately calculate safety scores based on driving behavior? In combination with RemotiveCloud to playback existing vehicle recordings, the developers have access to the relevant data for innovation and their prototyping environments. This use case is an exploratory proof of concept and does not represent the Volvo Cars product roadmap. 

Demo of potential use case by Renjith Rajagopal, Volvo Cars using vehicle data recordings in RemotiveCloud to develop a solution for calculating safety score using signals from the vehicle.

Demo content

  • Safety Score Android application/service: Runs on AAOS generic emulator. Request AG token (HTTP) -Authentication/AuthorisationRequest AT token with AG token (HTTP) -Validate access Subscribe Multiple VSS data with AT token (gRPC).
  • VISS + AT server: Runs on local host PC as docker container, VSS datasets tagged with ‘validate’ attribute with access-control mode – “read-write”.
  • AGT server: Runs on Local host as docker container, Authentication & Authorisation of client
  • RemotiveLabs tooling: Runs in cloud, pre-recorded real vehicle datasets collected from Volvo XC90 PHEV.

This collaborative session was held at the COVESA AMM conference in Gothenburg in April 2024, presentation available at Empowering digital services.

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