CES 2023 unveiled a joint venture by two Japanese tech giants, and electrification from John Deere.
The 2023 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show had its share of innovations, and many are far outside the strict realm of consumer electronics. Sony and Honda announced a major tie up to produce electric cars that are as much entertainment platforms as personal transportation, and John Deere won awards for self-driving tractors and a novel electric excavator.
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Episode Transcript:
Even before electrification promised to transform the automotive industry, more and more of the engineering focus on the consumer value of cars and light trucks was moving toward electronics. And while computer engine and chassis control modules proliferated, the real increase in features has been inside the cabin.
Connectivity is a must in modern autos, and as self-driving becomes standard across all major automakers, a way to entertain drivers and passengers is increasingly important, as well.
At this year’s edition of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, two major Japanese firms announced a new joint venture. Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corporation unveiled Sony Honda Mobility Inc., which will manufacture and market electric vehicles under the Afeela brand.
The focus for the joint venture will be on the user experience, and the prototype on display at CES was equipped with 45 cameras and sensors feeding information to an ECU running at 800 tera operations per second. While TOPS is not an absolute measure of throughput or inference efficiency for an AI system, Sony Honda Mobility has revealed that the vehicle will use SoCs from Qualcomm Technologies Snapdragon digital chassis for driver assistance, the human machine interface and telematics.
Of course, there will be self-driving, initially at SAE Level II for urban use and Level III for highways.
Sony Honda intends to launch the product with intuitive navigation through an augmented reality system, and significantly, has partnered with Epic Games to create what the company calls an “entertainment and emotional space” using the metaverse for new entertainment possibilities enroute.
Sony Honda will accept preorders in the first half of 2025, and expects to deliver from spring of 2026 in North America, using an online ordering system and a dedicated service and support network. The car of the future may not be about transportation, but about serving value-added information and entertainment services during the trip.
John Deere manufacturers vehicles where entertainment for the user is just about as far from the minds of engineers as imaginable, and the company won two innovation awards this year for some very interesting technologies.
One is an electric excavator powered with a battery-electric drivetrain developed with Kreisel. Kreisel, an Austrian battery maker acquired last year by Deere, will be investing in additional battery production facilities to bring the company’s immersion cooled battery production capacity to two gigawatt hours in European production. The electric excavator is expected to be the first of a wide range of electric off-highway equipment for the construction sector.
In autonomy, Deere was recognized for the company’s 8R autonomous tractor. Autonomy is expected to be a major paradigm shift in farming, addressing the chronic labour shortage in the industry and allowing operators to run in the field 24/7, improving OEE and return on investment, as well as reducing risk when planning critical cycles such as planting and harvest around weather. Combined with complementary advanced technologies in fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide application, and the company expects that farmers of the future will dramatically reduce chemical use while maintaining or improving crop yields. A cleaner environment is a bonus.
Perhaps the farmer of the future will need that fully immersive gaming experience to entertain themselves while artificial intelligence works in the field.
