Cummins, in collaboration with the Eclipse Foundation, Microsoft and other industry partners, released the Open Telematics Framework on Monday.
It is designed to allow companies accelerate time to market and reduce costs in writing their own telematics application and deploy it to any hardware running the Open Telematics Framework. The companies say it will eliminate the complex customization and reprogramming efforts that have historically burdened telematics application developers.
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"We believe there is a better way for the industry to advance digital technologies by removing much of the costly and time-consuming development efforts that most companies experience when bringing new telematics applications and features to market," says Sherry Aaholm, vice president and chief digital officer at Cummins. "We are contributing this open telematics infrastructure through a non-commercial license because we believe having a common telematics environment will enable the industry to develop customer-facing applications more quickly and easily, bringing the value to our customers sooner."
Cummins will release the framework through the Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group. The SDV includes 38 automotive and technology companies.
"We welcome [Cummins'] participation and view this as another exciting milestone towards building an automotive software ecosystem delivering production-ready technology the industry can use to implement the future of the connected vehicle," says Executive Director Mike Milinkovich, the Eclipse Foundation.
For Microsoft's part, the company is working on cloud management capabilities that, when combined with Cummins' in-vehicle capabilities, will result in an open and comprehensive end-to-end solution.
"We believe our Software Defined Vehicle collaboration at The Eclipse Foundation will help simplify and accelerate the transformation of our automotive customers," says Brian Willson, vice president of the west and midwest region at Microsoft. "We are thrilled that Cummins is joining this initiative to lead the transformation in the commercial vehicle space. Their experience and open-source contribution will help the commercial vehicle space at large."
The goal of the Open Telematics Framework project is for companies to collaborate on a solution to grow capabilities, enhancing the framework to serve an even broader range of developers, OEMs and aftermarket telematics providers, including Saucon Technologies and Platform Science, the companies say.
"Saucon Technologies has been in collaboration with Cummins for many years through innovative hardware designs, software development and integration expertise. The participation in the Open Telematics Framework, via the Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle project, is a further testament to Saucon and Cummins' shared commitement to innovation and driving the industry forward alongside other industry leaders," says Bill French, CEO and founder, Saucon Technologies. "This open framework will allow the industry to provide more cost-effective solutions in a fraction of the time while delivering seamless connectivity and unparalleled advancements in the world of mobility."
At Platform Science, CTO and cofounder Jake Fields says the company is excited to be involved in the intiative.
"Along with Virtual Vehicle, it allows OEMs to substantially reduce the time and effort required to implement core standardized capabilities on their connected vehicles," Fields says. "These foundational connected vehicle elements continue to further partner, developer and customer efforts to push the innovation envelope."
Bosch is a founding member of the Eclipse SDV Working Group and a partner in the Open Telematics Framework.
"Bosch and its subsidiary ETAs have a strong history collaborating across the commercial vehicle industry with OEM and Tier 1 partners. As a founding member of the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle Working Group, we have shown our commitment to open-source software solutions that can readily be implemented across industry ecosystems," says Ansgar Lindwedel, director of SDV ecosystem and development ETAs at Bosch. "We look forward to collaborating with Cummins and other organizations to bring this framework to the commercial vehicle segment and appreciate Cummins' engagement within this important open-source community."
