Devcon India 2016 highlights Renesas’ ADAS capabilities

The concept of autonomous cars is being actively pursued, particularly in the developed economies. It is also a field that has drawn companies dealing electronics and software.

Being a core research field, Japanese semiconductor major Renesas has taken it up and is developing products in several verticals of the autonomous car concept including in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) using its existing capabilities in the automotive sector.

The company recently showcased its capabilities in autonomous cars and ADAS at its biennial technology conference – Devcon India 2016 – held in Bangalore from January 20-21. It also used the event to showcase many of its India-specific automotive solutions in four wheeler and two wheeler sectors.

The Renesas conference comprised a number of technical sessions in which the one titled ‘Advance Driver Assistance Systems – From Adaptive Cruise Control to Self-Driving Cars’ threw much light on the company’s ADAS-related technology and solutions.

Amrit Vivekanand, vice-president, Automotive Unit, Renesas Electronics America, in his presentation on ADAS/Autonomous Car technology, said the recent advances in vision, radar, connectivity and vehicle control technologies are transforming the safety and convenience of the driving experience. This rapid evolution of the automobile is built on dramatic increases in processing power, demanding functional safety and full operational standards and enhanced interaction between multiple systems both on and off the vehicle.

The new developments in the automotive cockpit, instrumentation cluster and infotainment systems demand ever- higher levels of graphics, connectivity and processing performance. To meet these new requirements, automotive designers need feature-rich SOCs and MCUs that can deliver high performance while dissipating minimal power.

At the same time the new automotive cockpit requires new investments in software. Renesas has been creating solutions to help automotive designers take a comprehensive, scalable approach to Driver Information Cockpit solutions which encompasses competitive roadmaps in both hardware and software.

Renesas has also used the Devcon India platform to introduce its latest tools and techniques and available from its partner companies. The session on software solutions used in the auto industry saw a good audience turnout as software is the biggest single challenge facing the auto industry. Innovation functionality, quality, time to market and development cost are driven more by software than by any other factor, said Ashwani Saxena, assistant manager – Marketing, Auto Sales & Marketing Division, who made presentation in the session titled ‘Renesas Automotive - A Guided Tour’.

Talking to Autocar Professional, Avinash Gupta, senior expert, Auto Sales & Marketing Division, Renesas Electronics India, said the company has achieved what it intended to through Devcon India 2016.

The first edition of the conference saw participation from 263 technology leaders; in 2016, this count had doubled.

According to Gupta, Renesas solutions are quite popular in the Indian two-wheeler segment as most OEMs are engaged with Renesas as also the Tier 1 suppliers. The penetration of  electronic parts in both two-wheelers and four-wheelers in India has been growing since the past five years. For instance, the power window option has become a basic feature now. This spells good news for Renesas as it has solutions and products to offer in almost all automotive electronics.

The company’s products cater to parts like the ignition, speedometer, dashboard and lighting in two-wheelers. Now Renesas is looking to address engine-related issues with low-cost solutions in line with the new emission standards.

According to Kenji Akai, director, Automotive Sales & Marketing Division, the volumes in the Indian two-wheeler market are huge and most OEMs locally design their products. This trend has paved the way for more R&D activity, which in turn creates more opportunities for companies like Renesas.

Currently, the bulk of Renesas’ automotive business comes from Japan, followed by European, North America and China while India is in fast-growth mode, said Akai. He added that along with India, Thailand and Indonesia are future growth markets in Asia.

The company is present in consumer and industrial segments too  while a majority of business share comes from the automotive industry in India,” he added.

“Many government regulations across the globe will drive up the business growth of Renesas. For an instance, the safety regulations as well as emission regulations being implemented across the world including in India will force the car makers to adopt higher technologies. This will result in the car makers seeking the technology backed solutions from Tier 1s, who inturn will expect high-tech product and solutions from Renesas like companies. This creates us an opportunity to introduce new technologies. And also the new government regulation gives us directions about the future trend in the automotive industry,” Akai added.

The regulations on two wheeler emission standards in India is good example as it will give good opportunities in fuel injection business. Devcon is basically to introduce our technology and knowledge to engineering side of the industry, he added.

Speaking at the event, Sunil Dhar, President ofRenesasElectronics Indiasaid,“India is a home of 600 million millennials and yet counting. These millennials are impatient, digital as well as value and experience seekers. We will create products and solutions seeking their future requirements. DevCon offers an excellent platform to showcase and discuss solutions for today and tomorrow of India.”

In total the Devcon India 2016 organised by Renesas Electronics India, a subsidiary ofRenesas Electronics Singapore Pte. Ltd., has focused on embedded technologies that provided system engineers direct access to view, study and experienceRenesas’ latest devices and technology, including microcontrollers (MCUs), analog and power devices, and system solution technologies, among others.

Renesas has also displayed more than 50 its solutions developed for automotive and other sectors during the conference.

The notable automobile solutions that attracted the participants include automotive lighting solution with RoSA IPD, Controlled Power Window Lifting solution with ‘anti-pinch’ function for safety and Advance Graphics for Cluster using RH850.

Renesas Electronics was established in India 2010 with the full fledged subsidiary established in April 2014.