Porsche Engineering Unveils ComBox App: Revolutionizing Vehicle Testing with AI and Edge Computing

Porsche Engineering has developed the innovative ComBox app, a digital assistant designed to streamline the complex process of evaluating measurement data during vehicle testing. Leveraging the power of smartphones and artificial intelligence, the app significantly reduces manual workload, minimizes human error, and accelerates the identification and resolution of technical abnormalities in new vehicle functions.

Key Takeaways

• The ComBox app transforms a standard smartphone into a powerful testing tool.

• It utilizes AI and edge computing to analyze data directly within the vehicle.

• Six distinct modes cater to various testing needs, from general data logging to acoustic and infotainment issue detection.

• The app simplifies documentation and reporting, enhancing efficiency and accuracy.

Simplifying the Testing Process

Testing new vehicle functions, particularly advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and drive systems, is a time-consuming task for development drivers. They must identify, document, and report technical issues. The ComBox app aims to alleviate this burden by acting as a digital companion. It performs numerous calculations directly in the vehicle, identifying crucial scenarios within the measurement data without requiring driver intervention. This edge computing approach drastically reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent to the cloud for analysis.

Six Specialized Modes for Comprehensive Testing

The ComBox app operates on a high-end smartphone, dedicating most of its processing power to the assistance software. Users can select from six distinct modes:

• Standard / Single: Allows manual triggering of measurement for vehicle control unit data, recording it for cloud upload.

• Scene Recognition: Captures general traffic scenarios relevant for ADAS functions.

• Acoustic Detection: Employs AI to identify distracting noises within the vehicle.

• Infotainment Recording: Assists in diagnosing and correcting display problems.

• Shift Report: Simplifies the creation of test logs after drives by partially automating report generation.

Modes like Standard/Single, Scene Recognition, Acoustic Detection, and Infotainment Recording capture patterns or errors after a manual or automatic trigger and send the data to the cloud. The Shift Report mode focuses on post-drive documentation.

Accessing Vehicle Data and Edge Computing

To function, the ComBox app requires access to the vehicle's data buses (CAN, LIN, FlexRay, Automotive Ethernet) via a data logger, such as Porsche Engineering's Car Data Box. This data is then forwarded to the smartphone, either via cable or Wi-Fi. The Standard/Single mode allows drivers to manually trigger data recording around an anomaly, including a voice explanation that is converted to text and sent with the data. This immediate, detailed information aids downstream error analysis.

The Acoustic Detection mode leverages the smartphone's microphone and AI to identify unwanted noises, such as turbocharger howling or wind noise. It analyzes audio recordings directly in the vehicle using a trained neural network, significantly reducing the effort previously required to recreate and record such issues. Similarly, Infotainment Recording captures screen content to help document fleeting display problems.

Future Potential and Industrial Offering

Scene Recognition mode is still under development but aims to automatically detect complex traffic scenarios relevant for ADAS testing. The app can receive specific scenario patterns from the cloud, enabling any vehicle equipped with ComBox to search for these patterns during regular drives, saving dedicated test drives. The Shift Report mode automates parts of the documentation for endurance tests, reducing manual effort and potential errors.

Porsche Engineering plans to offer the ComBox app, including its cloud backend, as a self-contained product to industrial customers in the future, with customizable modes available based on specific requirements.