SmartThings + BMW - January 5, 2016

pete_c

Guru
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BMW can take you anywhere, and starting today, SmartThings can bring you home.
 
We’re excited to unveil a brand-new integration that will enable you to control and monitor your smart home from your BMW. By accessing your SmartThings account from your BMW, you will be able to trigger preset and custom Routines, stay connected with family members by seeing who’s home, and get important alerts about what’s happening in and around your home through the Smart Home Monitor feature of SmartThings–all on your BMW in-car display. Your BMW will also sense when it comes within close range of your home and can trigger your garage door to open.
 
The integration will be demoed live at this week’s CES and is available now as part of the 2.0.7 version of the free SmartThings app for Android (the iOS version will follow). Any BMW vehicles that are equipped with the ConnectedDrive Services feature (in vehicles from the model year 2013 and newer) will be able to access the SmartThings integration.
 
While the ability to manage your smart home directly from your BMW is available today, BMW is also building a second set of features that will be available shortly. As part of it, you will be able to access your BMW as a Thing within the SmartThings app, and access important information like its mileage, range, battery charge state, location, and whether any car doors are open. In addition, you’ll also be able to do things like turn on the A/C, honk the horn, lock/unlock the doors, turn on its lights, and incorporate these actions into custom Routines or SmartApps.
 
This integration is the latest example of the power of the SmartThings open platform. By enabling innovative brands to join forces and build unique customer experiences, we can make our lives and our world a lot smarter.
 
Cool. CES always makes some interesting news. Here's another:
 
AT&T Inc. will provide its fastest mobile service to Ford Motor Co. vehicles, starting with the Escape, as the company expands in the connected-car market.
The nation's second-largest carrier will use its LTE network to power Ford's SYNC Connect app for Escapes set to be released this spring, with other models to follow. Drivers will be able to use their phones to lock and unlock car doors, check fuel levels and locate where they parked. The service is free for five years though doesn't include Wi-Fi access.
 
Mike.
 
Thank you Mike. 
 
Mostly here interested in the evolution of the integration of the internet in to the OS of the BMW.  I do know that it is Intel chipset based and thinking too it is a proprietary OS at this time. 
 
Back in ~2007 BMW partnered with Intel.  I had the opportunity to attend one combo Intel / BMW thing and had some fun with it.
 
ConnectedDrive is the Internet and smartphone component of iDrive, BMW’s all-encompassing infotainment system, which relies heavily on the rotary wheel in the centre console for navigating menus on the 7-inch display.
 
Other German automakers, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Hyundai, Mazda and Infiniti have all copied or expanded on the same concept since BMW first rolled it out in 2001.
 
You can today remote park via key FOB 2016 BMW or do internal remote functions via a console connected tablet.
 
remoteparking.jpgtabletremote.jpg
 
It's amazing just how much these types of systems can now affect one's experience with a car. I drive a Volvo with their ConnectSys Infotainment system, which is perhaps the worst system of its type in any vehicle I have ever driven. It's one year old and has a 3G connection, making it dramatically slower than my phone. Using it to stream Pandora means a wait of sometimes more than a minute if you want to just skip to the next song. And they wanted $250 per year for me to renew their "Volvo on Call" service, which allows me to remotely start the vehicle, but does not allow it to continue running when you open the door to get in I passed).

It's an otherwise fantastic vehicle, with an Infotainment / IoT system apparently designed by a team of exceptionally stupid engineers with what appears to have been a goal of using the most ready-to-be-obsolete equipment they could source. Most recently it has developed the fun little trick of sometimes opening the rear gate when I sit down in the driver's seat, randomly turning off the rear camera, and resetting the clock to military time every once in a while (but still at the correct time). When I go to look for another vehicle in a couple of years, they will have placed that business in jeopardy solely because they released such a poor system (and no, the dealer says no firmware upgrades have been released). THAT's what doing this poorly can do to a car company, for a vehicle that the customer otherwise greatly enjoys. I looked at a Beamer and was very close to going that way. If this works, it might clinch the deal next time.
 
A bit more automotive  / CES news on 6 January 2016 By Jane Wakefield from the BBC....at LAS
 
Note that there were more automotive companies attending that was is mentioned in this article.
 
CES: What is driving car makers to attend tech show?
 
Car manufacturers have been exhibiting at CES since 2007 - but, this year, there seems to be a fresh determination to merge automotive and technology.
 
No-one took that message more seriously than Volkswagen, a company mired in scandal over how it measured its emissions, and, when he took the stage at CES, chief executive Dr Herbert Diess was keen to apologise once again.
 
Personally and historically Porsche (356-911) - Ferdinand Porsche was probably the best production automobile ever made...so sad too bad for them...
 
The event launching the much-hyped car from mysterious Chinese-backed Faraday Future was one of CES's most anticipated and best attended.
 
In a hard-to-find car park off the Las Vegas strip, the Batmobile-like vehicle was unveiled in a manner previously reserved for shiny gadgets.
 
FF.jpg
 
"We want to be a technology company rather than an automotive company," senior vice-president Nick Sampson told the audience.
 
Ford started with Microsoft in 2007, then went to Google and now is partnering up with Amazon.
 
Ford did, however, announce a tie-up with technology company Amazon, using its voice-activated speaker Echo to enhance communication between homes and cars - allowing motorists to open their garage before they arrive home, or turn the lights off from the car.
 
During its press launch, Toyota concentrated on its $1bn investment the Toyota Research Institute.
 
Led by ex-Darpa project manager Dr Gill Pratt, the artificial intelligence research lab will have close ties with Stanford and MIT and Facebook's head of AI Yann LeCun as an adviser.
 
It will concentrate on teaching autonomous vehicles to respond to unexpected events, such as cargo falling out of a van travelling in front.
 
 
Guessing soon that there will be new automotive companies may be sometime in the future...IE: Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Apple cars...imagine an a literal Amazon Dash Button...or creating your own vehicle via a web link and using 3D printer technology...
 
John Curran, an analyst with consultancy company Accenture, said: "A consensus is forming among auto experts that driverless technology will reach widespread adoption by 2030. For these vehicles, car companies will focus on driver security and safety."
 
I have no credence in Accenture (a shame) as they have been trying unsuccessfully (the hole is too deep now) to fix up broken healthcare and broken taxes (everybody's got everybody's SS number now) but not death yet...treating the employees to working in Hawaii didn't work (what a joke that is/was).
 
I had the chance to play with the computer in a C class Mercedes and liked it a lot. The joystick was pretty intuitive and easy to use  unlike my new Ford's touch screen. The My Touch Ford Sync system in a 2015 F-150 is a PIA. It's the only thing that I am disappointed in with the truck. The radio controls are OK but the navigation stinks by today's standards.
 
Then a couple of weeks ago I installed a Ford firmware upgrade that allows me to talk to SIRI on my bluetooth-connected Iphone and I love it. I can navigate hands-free and eyes-free by pushing a button on the steering wheel and asking SIRI to "take me to" wherever I want to go. It then uses the Iphone navigation system and gives me turn-by-turn voice directions.
 
Mike.
 
Yeah the MB E class HVAC system (well controller module you see) is a (sub)computer in itself where as you can push the buttons on it such that it does lots of diagnostics (well its a secret though for your eyes only)....it was low on the WAF using the dishwasher to clean plastic stuff on E300TD....well and using the washing machine to wash my rags is very low on the WAF...friend told me to just take them to a laundry mat...
 
Don't know if I like the touch screen or the joystick or the voice/vr better as primarily prefer to listen to music just drive and feel the road...personally enjoy getting lost where I have never been to (IE did that on a Caribbean island once) and not using a GPS until it is absolutely necessary (well that and it is very low WAF with my guru navigator (wife)).
 
Oh man, this is cool!  I may have to look at a SmartThings hub now.... I'd stayed away because I was happy with my rock solid ISY/ELK combo, but if there's an integration between Elk & smartthings, I may look at testing it out...
 
CES 2016: BMW shows off gesture-controlled concept car
8 January 2016 Last updated at 02:39 GMT
 
BMW is showing off a concept car at CES that lets its occupants use hand gestures to control its entertainment system and heating, and even send commands to their smart home kit from afar.
 
The idea is to let the owners have a more relaxed experienced when the vehicle is in self-drive mode.
 
The automaker's head of user experience Holger Kampf showed the BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones how it works.
 
[youtube]http://youtu.be/wUbR5Y9bUFU[/youtube]
 
I watched the video and I don't see a big advantage to hovering your hand over the screen as opposed to touching the screen with a finger. And as he hovers over the screen to choose an area he has to also push a button on the steering wheel to make a selection which involves two hands as opposed to just touching the screen with one hand. I think I like the touch-screen better.
 
Mike.
 
Yes; personally here would not like gesturing unless the car was in auto pilot mode. 
 
That said I also do not like VR, touch screen or space navigator relating to the HU computer display on my little older project car.
 
Telsa sales appear to be related to incentives per state back in 2013.
 
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10/16/2014 | 10:00 am.

Until recently, tiny Norway (population 5 million) has been the second largest market for Teslas (after the U.S.). Earlier this year, Tesla's Model S became the best-selling car in the country ever for a one-month period.Oct 16, 2014
 
Well some more automotive news; relating to making the Telsa a thing. (sort of related to CES 2016).  Note this is similar to what BMW has done with the remote parking FOB for their car.
 
Tesla Software Update Lets You 'Summon' Your Model S
By David Murphy   January 9, 2016 08:54pm EST
 
Your Model S can now pull in and out of your garage without needing you in the car.
 
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Tesla has started to roll out a software update to its Model S all-electric car. The update, version 7.1, comes with a number of tweaks to the car's automatic features, as well as one brand-new beta addition that allows owners to park their vehicles when they're standing outside of the car: Summon mode.
 
"To prepare to park your vehicle, align Model S within 39 feet of the final parking space so Model S can move straight into the space in either Drive or Reverse. With Model S in Park, stand within 10 feet of the vehicle and press and hold the center button on your key fob until the hazard lights flash continuously. While the hazard lights are flashing, press the trunk button once on the key fob to drive Model S forward into the parking space or the trunk button once on the key fob to back Model S into the marking space. Model S will move up to 39 feet or until the sensors detect an obstacle, at which point parking is considered completed and Autopark will shift the car to Park," reads Tesla's update notes.
 
Before you bust out your key fob and give it a shot, know that Summon mode comes with a few nuances. First off, you have to enable the feature within your Tesla's control panel before it'll even work (found within the Driver Assistance section of the Settings menu). It's also important to know that the Summon mode isn't perfect; it might not detect certain objects in your garage, for example, which could lead to an unpleasant scratching of your car's paint job (or worse) if you aren't paying attention. Tesla also suggests that its cars' owners only use the mode on flat driveways.
 
Though Summon mode can also open and shut your garage door once your car is safely in or out—if your garage door supports HomeLink—Tesla urges owners to not treat the feature as a hit-the-button, walk-inside kind of a convenience.
"You must stay in proximity to your vehicle and continually monitor and maintain control of it when using this feature. You should only use this feature on private property," reads Tesla's notes.
 
Other updates arriving as part of Tesla's software update include new restrictions for the car's Autosteer capabilities. Now, if you flip on the car's Autosteer mode on residential roads or roads without a center divider, your Model S will only go five miles above the speed limit at most. It won't work to try and push the car faster via cruise control, either.
 
Tesla has also tweaked the car's Autoparking function so it now works with parking spots that happen to be perpendicular to the curb, and the software update adds new information to the car's real-time road visualizations: multiple vehicles around the car's front, as well as the specific type of vehicles that are travelling near you.
 
Noticed a couple of articles recently relating to lithium-ion cells....( and the Tesla's battery charging - 2 styles today which are $10 K different - 60-kWh and 85-kWh versions)
 
Above is mentioned how popular the Tesla is in Norway.
 
First Supercharger fire burns up Tesla Model S in Norway
Jan 5th 2016 at 7:56AM
 
Tesla Says It Is Working On A 'Full Investigation'

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This past weekend, a 2014 Tesla Model S caught fire and burnt to a crisp while charging at a Supercharger in Norway. Details about the exact cause of the blaze are scarce, but a Tesla spokesperson told AutoblogGreen, "Nobody was harmed. We are undergoing a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible." No one was in the car when it caught fire at the Brokelandsheia station in Gjerstad. That station will be closed until further notice.

As you might suspect, the owner plugged the car in and then walked away, according a police officer who spoke to NRK (in Norwegian but translated with Google). Local authorities are investigating along with Tesla. The local fire department was able to douse the fire using foam rather than water, which would have made the fire worse.

A few other Tesla electric vehicles have caught fire (see here and here), but far more gas-powered cars burn up every year. Authorities around the world have prepared for the shift to plug-in vehicles and the potential risk to first responders with specialized safety seminars for years. Other plug-in vehicles have caught fire when wired to home chargers, but we cannot remember any previous incident where a Tesla vehicle caught fire while connected to a company Supercharger. Wikipedia lists one Tesla fire while plugged in at home, but otherwise has no other Supercharger fires.

As for the potential fallout of this fire, the investor website The Motley Fool says that, "While it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the investigation, there's no reason to worry at this point." That seems right.

 
Really it's more about skateboards on planes than the automobile at this time (back to the future stuff).
 
Fast and reversible thermoresponsive polymer switching materials for safer batteries

Zheng Chen, Po-Chun Hsu, Jeffrey Lopez, Yuzhang Li, John W. F. To, Nan Liu, Chao Wang, Sean C. Andrews, Jia Liu, Yi Cui & Zhenan Bao

Nature Energy 1, Article number: 15009 (2016)
doi:10.1038/nenergy.2015.9
Download Citation
Batteries | Electronic properties and materials

Received:
    15 August 2015
Accepted:
    12 November 2015
Published online:
    11 January 2016
 
Safety issues have been a long-standing obstacle impeding large-scale adoption of next-generation high-energy-density batteries. Materials solutions to battery safety management are limited by slow response and small operating voltage windows. Here we report a fast and reversible thermoresponsive polymer switching material that can be incorporated inside batteries to prevent thermal runaway. This material consists of electrochemically stable graphene-coated spiky nickel nanoparticles mixed in a polymer matrix with a high thermal expansion coefficient. The as-fabricated polymer composite films show high electrical conductivity of up to 50 S cm−1 at room temperature. Importantly, the conductivity decreases within one second by seven to eight orders of magnitude on reaching the transition temperature and spontaneously recovers at room temperature. Batteries with this self-regulating material built in the electrode can rapidly shut down under abnormal conditions such as overheating and shorting, and are able to resume their normal function without performance compromise or detrimental thermal runaway. Our approach offers 103–104 times higher sensitivity to temperature changes than previous switching devices.

Reliable and high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are highly desirable for consumer electronics, electrical vehicles and grid energy storage. Whereas the energy density, power density and cycling life of LIBs have been significantly improved in the past two decades, battery safety remains an important and unresolved issue. A high battery specific energy density generally increases the energetic response when the batteries are subjected to abuse. Safety issues have become a major obstacle impeding the large-scale application of high-energy-density LIBs.

To ensure good performance, LIBs generally operate within a limited range of current density, voltage and temperature. However, at an abnormal temperature (for example, >150 ∘C), typically caused by shorting, overcharging or other abuse conditions, a series of exothermic reactions can be initiated and rapidly propagate to further increase the internal cell temperature and pressure, which results in catastrophic battery explosion and fire. Commercial LIBs are equipped with external pressure release vents and positive temperature coefficient (PTC) resistors on their cases to prevent overpressure and overheating. However, pressure and temperature increases inside cells can occur at much higher speeds than can be detected by these external devices. Thus, internal safety strategies are more effective in preventing thermal runaway.

There have been considerable efforts to design internal functional components to address battery safety issues, including novel separators, electrolyte additives and PTC-modified current collectors. Several novel separator approaches, including bilayer or trilayer separators, thermoresponsive microspheres and ceramic particle coating, are effective in shutting down batteries or improving their thermal tolerance. However, the process is irreversible and the battery is no longer functional afterwards. On the other hand, electroactive polymer separator coatings for overcharge protection have limited operating voltages. Additives (for example, flame retardants, redox shuttles) to electrolytes still need to improve their operating voltage range and cycling stability. Non-flammable or solid-state electrolytes can avoid volatile solvents, although the battery performance is generally decreased owing to their low ionic conductivity. PTC-modified current collectors are a promising approach owing to their simplicity and reversible operation. However, their application has been limited by low room-temperature conductivity and a considerable leakage current. Other approaches such cathode doping and electrode coating have also led to some improved safety properties in certain conditions. Clearly, in spite of efforts made thus far, battery safety remains an important concern, thus calling for new approaches.

Here, we report fast and reversible thermoresponsive polymer switching (TRPS) incorporated internally into electrodes. Our material consists of conductive graphene-coated spiky nanostructured (nano-spiky) nickel particles as the conductive filler and a polymer matrix with a large thermal expansion coefficient. The nano-spikes on the particle surface enable a high electrical conductivity (σ) at a low filler fraction and a high thermal sensitivity, which is not possible with conventional spherical fillers such as carbon black (CB) or metal particles. The graphene coating stabilizes the metal particle surface, providing high electrochemical stability towards oxidation and electrolyte decomposition. The as-fabricated polymer composite films show values of σ of up to 50 S cm−1 at room temperature, about 102 times higher than common conductive polymer composites. The value of σ decreases in less than a second by seven to eight orders of magnitude on approaching the transition temperature and returns to high conductivity after cooling. Our TRPS device is 103–104 times more sensitive to temperature change than previous switching devices. Batteries with this internally incorporated TRPS show excellent cell function in a wide voltage window at normal temperature, and rapid shut-down at abnormal conditions (for example, overheating, shorting). They can also resume normal function repeatedly without performance compromise even after multiple overheating events. This is the first time that an approach has provided a combination of reliability, fast response time, and reversibility without sacrificing battery performance.
Safe battery design

A typical LIB comprises a flammable organic electrolyte and electrode materials (often metal oxides), which are separated by a porous polyolefin separator with a melting point (Tm) of ∼130 to 160 ∘C. Such a battery is typically operated under a large cell voltage (∼3.5–4.2 V) that exceeds the thermodynamic stability window. When a large amount of heat is generated by shorting or overcharging, the battery separator will melt, which triggers and accelerates exothermic reactions between two electrodes and the electrolyte, leading to the catastrophic ‘thermal runaway’.

 
nenergy20159-f1.jpg

 
A normal LIB consists of an anode (for example, graphite coated on Cu), a separator (for example, porous polyolefin), a cathode (for example, LiCoO2 coated on Al) and a flammable electrolyte. On abnormal heating, the separator will melt, resulting in internal shorting of the battery. The marked increase in temperature will cause thermal runaway and permanently damage the battery structure. b, The safe battery has one or two current collectors coated with a thin TRPS layer. It operates normally at room temperature. However, in the case of a high temperature or a large current, the TRPS will be activated, greatly increasing its resistance and shutting down the battery. The battery structure can thus be protected without damage. c, Thermal switching mechanism of the TRPS material. The polymer composite film has a high electrical conductivity at room temperature due to the quantum tunnelling effect enabled by the spiky nanostructure (GrNi). On heating, the polymer matrix expands, thus separating the conductive particles, which can decrease the value of σ by a factor of 107–108. On cooling, the polymer shrinks and regains the original conductive pathways. The symbol (×) illustrates blocking of electron or ion transport.


In this design, a TRPS layer is added to at least one of the current collectors (here we use the cathode as an example) to form a hybrid current collector. As further illustrated our proposed TRPS film is based on a modified quantum tunnelling composite (QTC) made from nanostructured metal particles with a graphene coating as the filler and a polymer with a high thermal expansion coefficient (for example, semi-crystalline polymer) as the matrix. The nanostructures on the surface of the metal particles are essential as high σ can be obtained on this QTC-based TRPS film at normal operating temperatures (for example, <60 ∘C) owing to the enhanced electrical tunnelling due to the nano-spikes. Such a tunnelling effect can provide a much higher local electrical field at the nano-spikes than that at the surface of regular spherical particles, thus enhancing the conductive percolation. The TRPS film instantaneously becomes insulating and shuts down the battery above its switching temperature (Ts) as a result of volume expansion of the polymer matrix that separates the conductive particles and breaks the conductive pathways. When the temperature cools to below Ts, the TRPS film contracts and recovers its high σ. Because the conductivity change of the TRPS film is reversible, the battery can be repeatedly shut down and revived.

One attractive feature of this approach is that the Ts value of TRPS can be rationally designed to meet the requirement of a desirable battery operating temperature by adjusting its composition. In real battery modules, the TRPS can also be used to monitor the internal temperature of a battery and allow an external control system to take action to further protect batteries. Once the normal temperature is reached after intervention, the internal cell resistance returns to a small value and the battery can be operated again as usual. Such TRPS allows a fast and reversible shut-down of LIBs before dangerous events start, without structural damage to the battery or performance degradation.

 
 
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