Overview

Our partnership with General Motors resulted in development of the industry-leading Performance Data Recorder (PDR) becoming an integrated part of its high-performance vehicles including the latest Corvette. The PDR allows drivers to capture their driving data, along with high quality video for analysis and sharing purposes.

The system comprises an ECU calibrated to manufacturer-specific sensors, on-board camera and industry-leading software that is being utilised in a number of different ways; embedded into the infotainment stack, within the ECU and our latest development, the AliveDrive Race app.

Challenge

With current trends within the tech industry and our heavily interconnected world, the automotive industry must find new ways to keep up with the relentless developments on how we interact and share experiences with each other on digital platforms. We were met with a challenge of how to take drivers’ PDR data and make it easily sharable between driver coaches, friends and also available on the user’s range of portable devices. The answer is our AliveDrive Race app. We wanted to ensure that ease of use remained a priority, to create an app and the infrastructure around it to be simple and intuitive to use, fitting seamlessly within the PDR package.

Solution

We needed to focus on two main task areas for the app: the importing and synchronising of data, as well as analysis and comparison of imported data. All of the PDR data has been made available using cloud-based storage and can be synced to the user’s cloud storage provider of choice. The app is also compatible with the majority of Apple and Android devices making it extremely adaptable for almost any user and giving the ability to view videos and data across all devices.

Analysis is the primary function of the PDR system so we decided that the AliveDrive Race app must have equivalent levels of functionality. Users have the ability to compare two laps side-by-side or they can analyse a single lap in detail and can pick out notable moments using data charts. We have included the ability to run onboard video alongside the data to give drivers and coaches a better understanding of the data and what is happening out on track. Lastly, the app can display racing lines using 10Hz GPS overlayed onto ariel maps allowing the user to understand where their driving style needs adapting to maximise corner speeds.

We are continuing the development of the AliveDrive and PDR ecosystems to improve the capabilities on offer to users and provide new safety solutions to road users using connected data and the already existing features of the products associated with the system.