AWS has launched a service for car makers and fleet operators to collect and process automotive data in real time. Among early adopters of the new AWS IoT FleetWise service are Bridgestone, Hyundai Motor Group, LG CNS, and Renesas Electronics Corporation.

AWS IoT FleetWise is designed to collect and organise vehicle data and store that data in a standardised way for data analysis in the cloud. The service allows automotive companies to transfer data to the cloud in near real time using the service’s intelligent data-collection capabilities. These capabilities allow developers to reduce the amount of data transferred to the cloud by defining rules for when to collect and transfer it based on configurable parameters such as vehicle temperature, speed, and type.

Once the data is in the cloud, automotive companies can use it for applications that analyse vehicle fleet health to more quickly identify potential recalls or safety issues, make in-vehicle infotainment systems smarter, or improve advanced technologies like autonomous driving and advanced driver-assistance systems with analytics and machine learning.

AWS says that there are no upfront costs to use AWS IoT FleetWise, and customers pay only for the underlying services used.

“Automotive companies want to use the broad portfolio of AWS services to help manage the vast amounts of data coming from connected vehicles, but they have lacked a solution that made it easier to collect, transform, and transfer data to the cloud,” said Mike Tzamaloukas, general manager of IoT automotive at AWS. “Now, with AWS IoT FleetWise, customers can easily pinpoint the exact vehicle data they need and analyse it in a standardised format to gain actionable insights into the vehicle’s health status and performance. Automotive companies can now use the data extracted through AWS IoT FleetWise to help improve vehicle quality, safety, and autonomy.”

The new service is designed to address the increasingly large data transfer requirements of automotive companies in collecting data from advanced vehicle sensors. Vehicles with advanced sensors such as radar and cameras can generate up to 2 terabytes of data every hour. Collecting, transforming, and analysing this data requires automotive companies to build custom data-collection systems. The challenge of managing the volume and complexity of sensor generated vehicle data can mean that automotive companies become unable to use the data to help solve common problems like spotting fleet-wide issues before they become a bigger problem.

AWS IoT FleetWise is designed to allow automotive companies to access, structure, and standardise proprietary vehicle data without needing to develop custom data-collection systems. Automotive companies can get started in the AWS Management Console by defining and modelling vehicle attributes such as a two-door coupe, and the sensors associated with the car’s make, model, and trims such as engine temperature, front-impact warning, parking assist system, for individual vehicle types or multiple vehicle types across their entire fleet.

After vehicle modeling, automotive companies can connect the AWS IoT FleetWise application via the vehicle gateway (i.e., in-vehicle communications hub that monitors and collects data) or other data collection hubs in the vehicle, so it can read, decode, and transmit information to and from AWS.

“Bridgestone has been working with AWS to transform the digital services we provide to our automotive manufacturer, fleet, and retail customers,” said Brian Goldstine, president, mobility solutions and fleet management at Bridgestone Americas, Inc. “We look forward to exploring how AWS IoT FleetWise will make it easier for our customers to collect detailed tire data, which can provide new insights for their products and applications.”

“As a leading global vehicle manufacturer, we have come to appreciate the breadth and depth of AWS services to help create new connected vehicle capabilities,” said HaeYoung Kwon, vice president and head of the infotainment development group at HMG. “With more data available from our expanding global fleet of connected cars, we look forward to leveraging AWS IoT FleetWise to discover how we can build more personalised ownership experiences for our customers.”

“The volume of connected vehicle data is forecast to increase dramatically over the next few years, driven by new and evolving customer expectations. As a result, Renesas is focused on addressing the needs of automotive engineers facing increasing system complexity,” said Yusuke Kawasaki, director at Renesas Electronics Corporation. “Incorporating AWS IoT FleetWise into our vehicle gateway solution will enable our customers to enjoy our market-ready approach for large-scale data collection and accelerate their cloud development strategy.”