Vehicle software leader delivers solution to prototyping, vehicle testing, and post-sales innovation in software-defined vehicles

Sonatus, a leading automotive software company that is accelerating the
transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs), today announced Sonatus
Automator, its newest product, which enables vehicle functions to be
deployed without the burden of a full software development and validation
cycle. Automator is designed to enable use cases spanning prototyping,
feature personalization, production testing, post-sales service and
maintenance, and downstream value-added services such as fleet management
and other vehicle monetization.

“Most automakers and their partners have yet to truly unlock the potential
of the software-defined vehicle”

A component of the Sonatus Vehicle Platform, Automator follows the
successful production deployment of Sonatus Collector, which provides
dynamically configurable data collection. Automator extends this capability
by activating functions in the vehicle to trigger features or perform tests
and diagnostics. It can also take actions outside the vehicle such as
invoking APIs, sending notifications, and integrating with services like
home automation. Automator’s lightweight policy updates are measured in
kilobytes, and can be deployed across individual vehicles or an entire
fleet, reducing the frequency of complex OTA updates.

“OEMs, tier-1s, and consumers all benefit from the ability to easily and
cost-efficiently extend vehicle functionality, which will be a growing
requirement from vehicle software in the coming years,” says Jeff Chou,
co-founder and CEO of Sonatus. “Sonatus Automator builds on our proven
production experience, adding the ability to augment capabilities in
vehicles throughout their lifecycle, enhancing value in countless ways.”

Automator enables innovation by many different sub-groups across OEMs,
tier-1s, as well as downstream service providers:

Product managers can rapidly prototype new features, including personalized
experiences based on customer preferences.
Production engineers can deploy vehicle-run self-test capabilities both
during production and before sale to ensure strong test coverage and initial
quality.
Post-sales diagnostics engineers or dealer service technicians can deploy
capabilities to detect and respond to faults, helping avoid or minimize
recalls.
Downstream service providers such as fleet managers can create value-added
services without the risk of disrupting safety-critical vehicle functions.
A critical component of automation in vehicles is ensuring capabilities are
only exposed to authorized users. Automator incorporates role-based access
control to ensure users at different roles-ranging from those in the
production process to downstream post-sales agents-are each given
appropriate authority. This enables rich testing capabilities during
manufacture and pre-sales, while restricting access post-sales to ensure
certification and safety are not disrupted.

“Most automakers and their partners have yet to truly unlock the potential
of the software-defined vehicle,” said Alex Oyler, director at SBD
Automotive, a global automotive technology research and consulting firm.
“Ultimately, the automakers who have the prudence to blend the right mix of
silicon, software, and development tools now will be able to build and
support the most differentiating mobility experiences while optimizing costs
throughout the development lifecycle. Bridging data collection with
intelligent automation within the vehicle represents a key near-term
opportunity to empower different areas of automaker businesses to truly
capitalize on the benefits of software-defined vehicles.”

Automator will be launched in production vehicles in 2024, and builds on
Sonatus’ achievement in production deployment of prior technologies. This
new product empowers the automotive ecosystem by providing a powerful and
flexible tool to address a range of needs, while retaining their
differentiation and relationship with customers. Sonatus’ proven track
record of collaboration with OEMs and tier-1 suppliers can pave the way for
Automator to be easily incorporated into existing software infrastructure,
or to be built on top of Sonatus Foundation, providing critical fundamental
capabilities to enable software-defined vehicles.

ABOUT SONATUS

Sonatus is accelerating vehicle software innovation and the transition
towards software-defined vehicles. The diverse products comprising the
Sonatus Vehicle Platform serve as the key building blocks that allow
automotive companies and their ecosystem to fast forward to the future of
mobility and deliver continuous improvements in costs, capabilities,
reliability, and user experience over the vehicle lifespan. Sonatus’
award-winning software platform is in mass production vehicles from Hyundai,
Kia, and Genesis today and will grow to millions of cars by 2024. The
company has raised more than $110 million USD with world-class automotive,
technology, and venture investors including Foxconn, Hyundai Motor Group’s
Kia Corporation, LG Electronics, Marvell, SAIC Capital, Translink Capital,
UMC Capital, and Wanxiang Group Company. Sonatus is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, CA (Silicon Valley), with offices in Paris, Shanghai, Seoul,
Taiwan, and Tokyo. Sonatus is a trademark of Sonatus, Inc. For more
information visit www.sonatus.com.