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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @04:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-a-convertible dept.

Bruce Perens is organizing a conference on Open Cars. It will take place Tuesday, November 6th, 2018 in Orlando, Florida, USA. The concept behind Open Cars, is the idea that the hardware as well as the software conform to open standards and that, as an automotive product, it must be sufficiently accessible and modular to enable technology upgrades, aftermarket products, and testing by security researchers. The interfaces must be openly documented and be backed by openly disclosed APIs and hardware interfaces. It would not have to run on open data, but could nonetheless protect data privacy and security as well as or better than proprietary automotive products do today. As the emphasis is on the standards and interfaces, both hardware and software, it would not necessarily require that manufacturers base their vehicles on open source software.

The automobile industry thinks they have a solution: lease rather than sell autonomous cars, lock the hood shut, and maintain them exclusively through their dealers.

That works great for the 1%. But what about the rest of us? The folks who drive a dented, 10-year-old car? We should have the option to drive autonomous cars, and to participate in the same world as the more wealthy folks.

Open Cars will be the solution. These are automobiles sold with standard fittings, plugs and standards, so that an autonomous driving computer can be purchased in the aftermarket, installed and tested by a certified mechanic, and put on the road. Similarly, the on-board computer, communication, navigation, and entertainment system on an Open Car will be pluggable, purchased on the aftermarket, and will fit into well-defined niches in the vehicle.


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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @05:32PM (3 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday July 17 2018, @05:32PM (#708426) Journal

    Thanks, Bruce, for getting the ball rolling. I look forward to the standards Open Car comes out with.

    It will be particularly interesting to see how people come to customize vehicles using the open standard. I don't know how it will get past regulators, but I hope it does.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 17 2018, @05:36PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 17 2018, @05:36PM (#708429) Journal

    Do you mean lobbyists instead of regulators?

    It won't get past regulators because of the regulators have an undocumented protocol violating the spirit of open cars. Would removing the regulator cause the vehicle to operate in a way not conforming to the law?

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @06:52PM (1 child)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday July 17 2018, @06:52PM (#708465) Journal

      Your first question as a stand-alone seems like a good correction to what I said. Regulators have rather morphed into lobbyists.

      Your second paragraph makes me wonder if that's what you meant, though.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 17 2018, @08:15PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 17 2018, @08:15PM (#708497) Journal

        The first question is the one to pay attention to. :-)

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.