Bridging the Gap Between Consumer Electronics and the Automotive Industry w/ Thomas Bock of Porsche Digital

OEMs can differentiate themselves from competitors by customizing technologies like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to their needs and brand image; making it easy for customers to access and use these services is a differentiator. Building a platform on top of Apple or Google's technologies is a good option, but it requires much effort and resources. OEMs invest in making it a customer choice by providing onboard systems that can use CarPlay or Android Auto to help customers switch to connected services. The ease of access to these technologies allows OEMs to differentiate themselves.

The automotive industry needs to focus on updated ability and flexible software. This includes bridging the gap between consumer electronics and the automotive industry. However, upgrading hardware without adding complexity to the overall system is challenging. It isn't easy to achieve a universal platform across the industry.

Thomas Bock is the Sr. Engineering Manager at Porsche Digital Inc. where he guides engineering teams building Porsche’s next- generation digital products. Recently his team has launched two products: Apple® Maps EV Routing and My Porsche in Apple CarPlay®

Previously, Bock was the Director of Vehicle Integration & Testing at Samsung Smart Machines, a part of Samsung Electronics, that developed a full-stack SoC- based ADAS platform solution for Tier1s and OEMs. He led teams responsible for the integration of the platform into the development & test vehicles, the data collection software and data collection operation as well as the validation and verification of the platform through Software-in-the-Loop (SiL), Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) to Vehicle-in-the-loop (ViL) testing. In addition, he contributed to the SAE/DIN spec. 91381 as well as to a handful of SAE EDGE™ Research Reports about automated driving simulation & testing, HD Maps, and In-Vehicle User experience.

Bock has 20+ years of experience within the automotive industry. Prior to joining Samsung and Porsche, he worked at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America (1998-2018) where he contributed on the original Mercedes prototype for Internet in the vehicle, wireless communication for safety and infotainment (early DSRC), connected navigation, first iPod integration and multiple telematics concepts for show cars.

Bock was part of the team that developed the Mercedes-Benz Apps and launched them as a product in 2011. In the years following the launch, he worked on expanding the services and bringing them to all carlines and markets. From 2014 on he worked on the specification and pre-development of HD Maps and Localization for the Level 3 Highway Chauffeur Mercedes product, that was successfully handed over for development to the engineering group in Germany and is now in current S-Class as Drive Pilot product. After that, he worked on the Daimler/ Bosch project for “Urban Automated Driving” where he led the team on HD Maps and services for Level 4 Automated Driving.

Bock is originally from Germany and earned his Dipl.-Ing. (U.S. equivalent - Master of Science) in Computer Science & Electrical Engineering from University of Siegen, Germany. 

·         Company -> https://www.porsche.digital/

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