Tata Technologies made a spectacular debut on the Indian stock market this year, with its share price soaring within minutes to 180% above its initial public offering (IPO) price. Its stellar debut is underpinned by a strong focus on technological innovation and a commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions in rapidly evolving situations.
Started in 1989 as the automotive design arm of Tata Motors, the company has over the years emerged as one of the world’s leading engineering, research and development (ER&D) companies.
The company is currently working with automakers around the world to develop an AI-powered connected car platform that provides drivers with real-time information about traffic, weather, and road conditions. recently, target We spoke to Sriram Lakshminarayan, President and Chief Technology Officer of Tata Technologies. He believes generative AI will revolutionize the automotive industry.
“AI plays a very important role in the industries we work with, particularly in automotive, aerospace, and heavy industrial equipment. Throughout, we are seeing remarkable integration of generative AI and other cutting-edge technologies,” Lakshminarayan said.
AI will revolutionize the automotive industry
AI is revolutionizing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) by enabling real-time analysis of complex driving scenarios. AI algorithms enhance object detection, lane keeping, and adaptive cruise control to help you drive safer and more efficiently.
“While cruise control was once thought of as a feature exclusive to luxury cars, it has now evolved into a common feature across a wide variety of vehicle models. “It will become a standard feature in vehicles. This change signifies a broader trend of integrating advanced technology into the mainstream automotive market,” he said.
In recent years, AI-powered ADAS technology has played an increasingly important role in mitigating risk, reducing accidents, and driving the evolution of self-driving cars, which are already on the roads in many Western countries.
Furthermore, technology, especially AI, will have a significant impact on the way we buy cars. Consumers will increasingly choose vehicles based on AI-powered features, reflecting their increased reliance on advanced technology in their decision-making processes.
“As things become more digital, the role of dealers will also be redefined. The move to a more digital approach is becoming increasingly common, especially in tech-savvy countries like India. Consumers here have been quick to embrace technology, with digital platforms becoming a central aspect of the evolving car buying environment.”
Building a software-defined vehicle
Modern cars have evolved significantly over the past few years, with traditional hardware-centric approaches being replaced by software-oriented approaches in cars. Earlier this year, Tata Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TiHAN IIT Hyderabad to develop software defined vehicles (SDV) and ADAS.
“In the context of SDV, it is essential to consider four key features. Firstly, we have a cockpit solution that encompasses the entire vertical cockpit experience.”
He believes that the way we interact with cars will change from an infotainment perspective. Today’s cars often have personalized recognition features that adjust settings such as mirrors based on the user’s preferences. You can also greet users individually.
“The next step is intuitive communication. For example, if I’m going to pick up my son from school and he texts me that he’s going to be late, the system doesn’t just notify me. Instead, it interprets the message. , notify you of delays, and calculate the resulting availability to provide a seamless experience.”
“Secondly, there is the vehicle calculation aspect, which manages calculations related to functions such as brakes and makes sure the vehicle stops properly.”
Cars with AI at the edge can perform complex calculations on-board, contributing to a safer, more responsive, and personalized driving experience. But for that to happen, Lakshminarayan believes a specialized chip is needed to enable AI to run at the edge of the car.
“Third, incorporating ADAS will be critical. And finally, given the software-centric nature of these functions, cybersecurity will play a vital role.”
How Tata Technologies is driving change
Tata Technologies counts global automobile giant Tata Motors as a customer. The company’s extensive customer base consists of over 35 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with names such as McLaren, VinFast and Honda. Additionally, Tata Technologies is actively collaborating with 7 of the top 10 automotive engineering, research and development (ER&D) spenders and the top 5 new energy ER&D spenders in 2022.
“We help our customers transform their concepts from the initial design stage on paper to complete end-to-end aftermarket implementation. It is our role to leverage and apply our expertise to deliver these products to our customers.”
“The core of our business revolves around new product introduction (NPI). We help our customers transform concepts from the initial design stage on paper to complete end-to-end aftermarket implementation. We support.”
Automotive companies around the world are looking to harness the power of AI to improve vehicle performance, improve safety features, optimize fuel efficiency, and provide innovative and personalized experiences for drivers and passengers. Masu.
To achieve this, OEMs are actively seeking innovative solutions and accelerators that help minimize both technology development time and costs. Lakshminarayan believes Tata Technologies has the industry knowledge and necessary technical expertise for OEMs to seamlessly integrate his AI into real-world use cases.
At the recently held International Conference on Automotive Electronics (ELIV) event in Bonn, Germany, Tata Technologies introduced three different solutions. “We collaborated with Intel to showcase our cockpit solution. The ADAS solution demonstration featured a combination of Qualcomm and AWS. For vehicle computing, we combined NXP and ARM with AWS on the cloud. We introduced a solution that can be used in
According to Lakshminarayan, the reason for this demonstration was to highlight the flexibility of choosing different best-of-breed solutions for a specific function or opting for a unified approach. As a systems integrator, the company focuses on seamlessly integrating all these diverse components.
Realization of autonomous driving
Car companies are working to develop SDVs with self-driving technology. “Our current focus includes significant enablement of autonomous systems, particularly in areas such as image processing and annotation.”
The company is actively working with customers on use cases that require detailed image analysis, considering the diverse elements encountered on the roads of countries like India. This includes developing AI models that can predict and respond to such scenarios.
“Autonomous systems need to process terabytes of data every hour, requiring sophisticated analysis and annotation. While our role does not directly include creating L2 autonomous solutions, for example, we play a key role in enabling our customers to move forward on this transformation journey. ”
Lakshminarayan expects new use cases to emerge in the Indian market. “Predicting for India, autonomous driving applications are expected to grow significantly. Different levels of autonomy exist, but in the Indian context, given the unique dynamics and challenges of the region, at most L2 We expect it to reach a positive level.”