CADILLAC CUE
Background:
GM needed a next generation infotainment platform to—once again—differentiate itself from others in the telematics/infotainment space that were closing in fast with offerings similar to OnStar.
Substantial work had already been done to experiment with different ways to separate the in-vehicle infotainment life cycle from the vehicle itself, which is generally in a 4-year development cycle.
Additionally, there was substantial pressure from the market to provide the driver and passengers with services available via their mobile devices.
Emerging from all the ideas, prototypes, and market analysis was the Cadillac CUE, which continues to be a masterpiece of the infotainment world.
Challenges:
- New in-vehicle hardware existed that had been designed specifically for the customer but never used
- Testing against function specs had not yet been done
- Integration with multiple smartphones introduced complexities
- Sustained high performance over the Bluetooth channel was required
- iOS multitasking issues needed to be overcome
- A multilingual system that included Chinese Mandarin was needed
How the challenges were overcome:
A great team of expert developers was brought on board, along with a technical Scrum master who was able to manage the multiple teams in Detroit, Atlanta, South Korea and India.
A highly experienced technician who was especially familiar with the Bluetooth protocol and iOS platform was brought on board, along with a number of highly experienced HTML5 developers with expertise in low-level languages.
An exceptionally talented Chinese designer was also brought on board to help with both the look and feel aspects of the product and the Mandarin language translation.
The team put in place a fast-paced two-week sprint cycle and they began development and integration of the components assigned to Persis.
The team discovered spec problems with the hardware and software that had been shipped and dispatched a team to resolve the issues with the vendors. A team was also assigned to develop prototypes to resolve issues related to iOS multitasking and Bluetooth pairing and performance. Yet another team interfaced on a regular basis with teams in South Korea and India to offer solutions to challenges with their systems.
Results:
Persis was able to successfully develop prototypes that showcased the capabilities and functionalities of the integrated system in a controlled environment. The production system was left to each hardware vendor to deliver.
Persis was involved with development of Cadillac CUE in the following capacities:
- Enabling users to tie their online accounts—and more importantly, their mobile devices—to their vehicle
- Integration of vehicle services with core backend services
- Architecture/design review
- Testing and guidance on embedded software on multiple target hardware platforms
- Integration of the vehicle with multiple mobile platforms (Android, iOS, BlackBerry)
- Testing, root cause analysis, and bug resolution on the E2E system, directly engaging hardware manufacturers