Even though the car industry has been, and still is, quite slow on innovation, cars are now packed with electronics. The systems range from entertainment to keeping track of components and helping you drive safely – or not at all. Ever since Tesla included a tablet instead of instruments, the major manufacturers have been trying to keep up.
The Linux Foundation has joined this race by building the Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) distribution that was established in 2014. Designed to be run in a car (obviously) and available at all times, this means a small, embedded system for which there are plenty of options. AGL chose Yocto as an underlying build system as it’s already aimed at embedded systems and commonly used in IoT and other systems.
Choosing Yocto means all the communication protocols that an in-car system will need are included. Since these are for embedded systems, they already support the majority of buses and interfaces. Included in the distribution are many subsystems including infotainment, instrument clusters and more. As a project, they aim to have the base for all parts needed for a modern car. This also includes telematics and all the sophisticated stuff an autonomous vehicle needs.
Before you jump to the conclusion that this is a niche project not used in any actual cars, be aware that this is already running in many models from Subaru, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz. The project enjoys wide industry supports as the value to manufacturers is huge, saving them millions in development costs.
This story is from the December 2021 edition of Linux Format.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2021 edition of Linux Format.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Create your first WebSocket service
Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.
Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.
Jump to a federated social network
Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.
Free our SOFTWARE!
Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!
Master RPI.GPIO
Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.
Linux-Mandrake 7
Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.
