Staying entertained and informed

German company, Telemotive AG specializes in engineering services and the development of automotive infotainment, entertainment and telematic systems. The company provides premium car manufacturers and automobile suppliers with products such as car PCs, audio systems, high-end navigation systems, multimedia head units, tele-diagnosis systems and speech recognition software. Telemotive is also an associate member of the FlexRay consortium as well as the MOST cooperation.

“Our intention is to become a full service supplier to support our customers from concept to mass production” says the company. “Reliability and flexibility in association with an affiliated network are our strengths. Our employees are highly specialized experts in hardware and software with OEM total system experience.”

FlexRay is a high-speed serial communication system for in-vehicle networks. It enhances control intelligence, reduces wiring requirements and reduces the overall weight of networked subsystems. The MOST Cooperation is the organization through which the technology is standardized and refined so that it continues to stay abreast of the latest requirements.

Apart from implementing complete OEM projects, Telemotive’s hardware and software departments also undertake contract projects. The company says it has the requisite R&D skills to offer a broad spectrum of expertise in various technologies.

Automotive Industries caught up with Armin Stark and Peter Kersten, both on the board of management of Telemotive AG. 

AI: Why did you choose the two business segments of engineering services and product development? 

Kersten: There is a synergy between these two segments. Our engineering services provide support to automobile manufacturers in the areas of project management and system integration. Our product development services help automobile suppliers provide custom-made products to their customers. Both of our services are integrated, and we use the knowledge of each of them to develop a deeper understanding of customers’ needs so that we can provide state-of-the-art customized products.

AI: Please tell us a little bit about the latest products Telemotive offers customers?

Stark: Besides the multimedia products, Telemotive offers a range of test tools for the automotive industry. Our multi-data logger, Blue PiraT (Processing, Information Recording, and Analyzing Tool), is an example of a product which covers the overall system. The multi-data logger can be installed directly into a car, and can record data from most bus (bidirectional universal switch) systems including MOST, CAN, LIN or FlexRay. With its synchronized time stamps, the data from each system can be correlated very easily and problems in control units can be recorded and eliminated before mass production of the automobile. Telemotive AG also designs custom test racks for the laboratory, making comfortable testing possible.

AI: LIN and FlexRay are two bus systems which are different from the automotive multimedia area. Why are these bus systems important for you? 

Stark: LIN and FlexRay are important bus systems for the automotive network, and are an integral part of the future of automotive technology. Telemotive AG is planning to launch an upgraded Blue PiraT with FlexRay at the beginning of 2008
Kersten: We are also working on a number of projects in the engineering services.

AI: Why do you attach importance to topics like test automation? Isn’t that a problem for your engineering services? 

Kersten: This is how we add value to our products. We help our customers by setting up systems that will help make future projects reproducible and efficient. Automotive systems will become more and more complex in the future.