Rapid Android Automotive development

Android Automotive OS is a flexible platform for infotainment in automotive enabling app customization in the vehicle dashboard. The open and scalable system supports a customizable user experience and was developed by Google and Intel together with car manufacturers including Volvo and Audi. 

The project provides an operating system codebase for vehicle manufacturers to develop their own version of an OEM customized infotainment system. As a car is more complicated than a mobile phone with up to a hundred electrical units / ECUs, the infotainment system needs to exist in a larger context and send/receive a lot of information on the vehicle data buses from other ECUs.

RemotiveBroker is a helpful tool for speed and collaboration when integrating Android Automotive, for in-vehicle development as well as in test rigs. RemotiveLabs platform helps developers get an overview of what is happening – including VHAL layer, gateways, connected buses and ECUs. If an issue is detected, the automotive engineers need fast feedback and support in root-cause analysis on where things went wrong. Further the RemotiveBroker creates a collaboration area in the cloud for internal teams and third-party developers to further smooth the process of debugging and checking interoperability. Listen in to all relevant buses and ECUs all the way up to VHAL:

• The RemotiveBroker stores the recordings of all signals for a certain amount of time before/after an issue.
• The recording is uploaded to the cloud with a description, to easily share relevant background data with all involved parties. 

The VHAL plugin to the RemotiveBroker is available on RemotiveLabs GitHub. It allows you to:

• Replay the recordings (drive cycles) from the cloud into a developer’s Android Automotive stack in the office.
• Check whether the correct signals between the ECUs on the buses are scaled right and with the right frequency.
• Runway to check where an issue is occurring.

Further, the RemotiveLabs platform makes it easy to collaborate in the cloud, invite 3rd parties to the relevant signal data they need in the VHAL layer or wherever they contribute, use VSS filter for signals to avoid sharing proprietary information and make the signal data more developer-friendly.
A 30 day free evaluation license is available for the RemotiveBroker. Find our Android VHAL integration on our GitHub or contact us to find out more.