#CES2023 Round-up - Sony Honda Mobility's AFEELA, Bosch Sensors, Forvia Debut, ZF's AVs, & More...

The automotive news conferences at CES 2023 in Las Vegas reflect the latest trends in automotive and mobility. Automotive suppliers Bosch, Forvia, ZF, Valeo and Continental showed their latest innovations. News conferences ended with Sony Honda Mobility revealing the AFEELA.

Steve Koenig, CTA Vice President of Market Research in a presentation 'Tech Trends to Watch' reported the trends to watch in automotive are EVs and the evolution of the electrification ecosystem, advancement of autonomous applications and the transformation of the in-vehicle experience. CES news conferences on Wednesday reflected these trends.

Sony Honda Mobility Intros AFEELA Based on Qualcomm Digital Chassis 

At the Sony CES news conference, the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture car was presented.

"Our innovation and mobility will be based on autonomy augmentation and affinity, a very new experience model. It is also focused on ensuring safety and security. Our organization is about evolving conventional concepts of space and transforming the mobility space into a moving entertainment," said Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno.

The new vehicle is named AFEELA. "AFEELA represents the concept of our interactional relationships where people feel the sensation of intelligent mobility, where mobility can detect and understand the people and society by utilizing sensing technologies," said Mizuno

He said the company is working with Qualcomm Technologies and will deploy Qualcomm's SoC and Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

"Sony Honda Mobility is one of the companies that really understand the potential of this technology and how to bring our technology consumer experiences," explained Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm.

A digital display runs across the front in the area formerly used as a grille for communication or displaying Epic Game characters. The AFEELA website shows a "Fornite" line of characters and logo on the display.

The vehicle will have 45 sensors and a massive display for showing movies and or games. The model shown was a prototype. The company will continue to develop the vehicle and expects to take pre-orders in the first half of 2025 with deliveries in 2026.

The vehicle will feature intuitive interactive photo-realistic augmented reality. Sony Honda Mobility is partnering with Sony's Epic games using the Unreal Engine for development.

"In the future, the automobile will become a continuum of digital lives. At Sony Honda Mobility, we look forward to revolutionizing the space," said Mizuno.

Bosch Sensors Make Sense

The Bosch presentation started off with a funny dance video. Dr Tanja Rückert, Chief Digital Officer for the Bosch group and Mike Mansuetti, President Bosch North America, focused on what Bosch sensors can do.

Bosch makes sensors that detect the quality of the air as well as wildfires in the forest. It made the first sensors for automotive-enabled driver assistance functions.

"Sensors are indispensable for automated driving. As trailblazers, Bosch sensors are taking us ever closer to autonomous driving," said Rückert. Bosch offers a wide range of sensors, radar video and automotive-grade LiDAR.

"A great example of what sensors are enabling us to achieve in this domain is the automated valet parking function we developed together with Mercedes Benz. In fact, we just passed a major milestone in November. Germany's Federal Transport Authority approved Bosch for our highly automated parking system for use in the parking garage at the Stuttgart Airport. This makes it the world's first SAE Level 4 parking function to be officially approved for commercial use," said Mansuetti.

The company announced a connected two-way dashcam, RideCare Companion. It records video and when the SOS button is pushed, the remote operator can view what is inside the vehicles and provide active help, said Rückert.

Bosch also introduced eBike ABS.

"ABS not only helps maintain stability and durability, but it also reduces the probability of rear wheel lift. This is life-saving technology. Our research shows that equipping all e-Bikes with this system could reduce accidents involving them by nearly a third," said Rückert.

Software innovation enables Bosch's new uses of sensors in off-zone crashes.

"Off-zone crash detection is designed to help protect vehicle occupants during so-called off-zone collisions. These are side impacts to the front or the rear of the car. What's happened most often during a lane change and manoeuvring and merging manoeuvres and which traditional safety systems can fail to detect. This idea came from one of our US engineers who had this kind of accident and discovered that it didn't trigger his occupant protection system. He came up with a clever solution that repurposed our airbag sensors, in conjunction with a new software algorithm to reliably detect these types of impacts," explained Mansuetti.

"In everything we do, we strive to bring about a better tomorrow with our innovations,” he added.

Forvia Debut at CES

It was the first appearance at CES since Faurecia and Hella combined forces to form Forvia. Patrick Koller, Forvia CEO, said: "The one thing that is certain the world is concerned about is climate change."

He talked about the Forvia company initiatives for reducing energy consumption and new materials.

"We don't know how to make small electric vehicles affordable. Innovation must and has to be affordable. We have to find solutions for mobility to access the vast majority of people," he said.

Forvia plans to invite community input for future innovations.

The Forvia CES exhibits Forvia products such as brake by wire, steeri by wire, flat light, small headlight, animated digital panels and electric drive systems. The Forvia electric drive system enables fuel cell, battery electric and hybrid vehicles.

To upgrade to future interiors and recycling, Forvia is showing a Modular Seat Architecture, a simplified, flexible, upgradable design and a compact seat structure, noted Koller.

FORVIA's new MATERI'ACT brand aims to produce sustainable material at scale, reported Koller.

ZF Everything for Mobility from AB to Z 

During the ZF news conference, ZF Board of Management Member, Martin Fischer, showed all the aspects of technology offered by ZF for software-defined cars such as ZF cubiX software.

"The latest innovation is the ZF heated seat belt, using only 70 watts. It is simple to install and easy to scale," said Fischer.

He showed a multidomain computer that can run ADAS functions with QNX and HMI using Android, the ZF ProAI high-performance computer. He noted that ZF ProConnect offers seamless connectivity through LTE 5G and satellites. ZF is showing steer-by-wire products and autonomous vehicle technology.

ZF offers all aspects of autonomous driving. The big reveal was their new autonomous shuttle for urban streets with US Partner, Beep. Oxbotica co-developed the autonomous features.

"Today's announcement is a major step in advancing the use of a very appropriate place to reinforce this "ACES" acronym--for Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared people movers that are going to advance mobility across our world, most specifically here in the US market," said Beep CEO Joe Moye.

ZF also announced it is supplying sensors and an advanced ZF central control units for Vinfast. The companies plan to deliver L2+ functions and later updates for Traffic Jam Pilot, Highway Driving Chauffeur and Automated Valet Parking.

Valeo Tech for V2V, Lawnmowers & Reading Hand Signals

Christophe Périllat, Chief Executive Officer and Director Valeo, mentioned that Valeo offers a new charger with vehicle-to-grid capabilities. He recapped all the technological innovations the company has achieved.

Geoffrey Bouquot, Chief Technological Officer and Vice President of Strategy, said that Valeo will provide technology for electric lawnmowers. ICE lawnmowers produce more Nox than commercial vehicles. Périllat reported that Valeo's latest LiDAR can detect a black tire at a distance of 500 feet.

Bouquot talked about the latest Pantomime software for autonomous vehicles. The system interprets signals from humans and can obey police officers' hand signals. Périllat concluded that further research will include the ability to understand more kinds of human movements.

Continental Partnerships, Displays & Detectable Jackets

A team of representatives from Continental talked about Continental products and systems. Continental CEO, Nikolai Setzer, announced that Continental is forming partnerships with OEMs, suppliers and semiconductor companies.

Gilles Mabire, Chief Technology Officer, Continental Automotive, said: "Software is a game changer in the mobile space."

"The user experience is a key differentiator for car buyers," said Philipp von Hirschheydt, Head of Business Area User Experience.

He showed a 47" wide pillar-to-pillar display, "turning the car into a living room on wheels."

Continental and Urban Circus designed the world's first detectable jacket with fluorescent and reflective inserts that increase visibility for the human eye and vehicle sensors. The jacket was modelled by Frank Petznick, Head of the Autonomous Mobility Business Area at Continental.

Continental offers LIDAR, High-Performance Computers, software frameworks and sensors.

He said Continental is integrating Ambarella 'CV3' SoC family with artificial intelligence (AI) into its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

"We now completed our portfolio by adding a very powerful and energy-efficient system from Ambarella to our ADAS systems to collect all the data from the sensors and to create a very comprehensive environmental perception for safer mobility," said Petznik.

He reported that with less power consumption and the lighter weight of the battery, the Ambarella chipset can also contribute to an increased range of electric vehicles. Continental plans to scale up with Ambarella to offer a full self-driving stack.