ŠKODA AUTO has been presented with the Pioneer Award for its use of artificial intelligence in vehicle diagnostics. At this year’s CONNECTED CAR Awards, the trade magazines Auto Bild and Computer Bild chose ŠKODA’s Sound Analyser app as the winner of the editorial prize reserved for particularly innovative ideas. Using a smartphone or tablet, the noises a car makes while in operation can be recorded and compared with stored sound patterns. On this basis, the software can quickly and reliably detect if the vehicle in question requires any maintenance.
ŠKODA AUTO has been using AI technologies for even more accurate car diagnostics in terms of servicing since June 2019. The Sound Analyser app, which runs on standard smartphones or tablets, is just one example. It records the noises a car makes while it is running and compares them with stored sound patterns. In the event of any discrepancies, the app uses an algorithm to determine what they are and how they can be resolved. In this way, Sound Analyser helps to make vehicle maintenance more efficient, reduce the time a car spends at the garage and achieve even higher levels of customer satisfaction.
The smartphone app was developed by ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab, the Czech carmaker’s innovation workshop, and was initially trialled with a total of 245 ŠKODA dealers across 14 countries in June 2019. With ongoing use, the AI-based app continuously recognises and learns new sound patterns. The software can identify the sounds produced by components such as the steering system, the air conditioning compressor or the clutches in the direct-shift gearbox with an accuracy of over 90 per cent.
The Pioneer Award is part of the CONNECTED CAR Awards, which was hosted by Auto Bild and Computer Bild for the seventh time. The readers are invited to vote for tomorrow’s most promising trends and the biggest innovations. Special ideas, projects and concepts are presented with the two trade journals’ editorial Pioneer Award.
Technologies based on artificial intelligence perform cognitive functions that otherwise only humans are capable of. In addition to Sound Analyser, ŠKODA AUTO is exploring numerous other applications for AI-based technologies. The ‘Follow the Vehicle’ project sees the car manufacturer, together with the VŠB Technical University of Ostrava, test passenger car convoys, in which autonomous cars follow a lead vehicle with a driver. The company also uses imaging technology to identify available parking spaces at its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav.
SOURCE: ŠKODA
