January 7, 2010 by admin_stacy
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Fifteen years after OnStar hit the road in GM vehicles, we filed our 500th patent this summer. That milestone really speaks to the sense of commitment and pride among our engineering staff, who work to maintain a competitive edge by keeping people safe, secure and on the right road.
As someone who helped develop and oversee OnStar’s easy-to-use three-button system, I can say that our near-constant technological evolution speaks to the talents and dedication of our engineers and partners in the emergency response fields.
Our first features and inventions
OnStar engineers have led this evolution not only for our company, but also within the telematics industry. When OnStar first launched, we had Air Bag Notification, Remote Door Unlock, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, Roadside Assistance and verbal driving directions. OnStar grew further when engineers evolved verbal driving directions from Advisors into the Turn-by-Turn Navigation service. We invented new services like OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics, where your vehicle emails you a health report once a month. We have evolved these services — like our Stolen Vehicle Assistance service. Once you report your vehicle as stolen, we can help law enforcement locate the vehicle — and if that vehicle is moving, the police have line-of-sight on the vehicle and conditions are safe, we can remotely slow the vehicle down. Additionally, we can prevent the vehicle from starting.
We’re really like most engineers: excited about technology and what we can do with it. We want to build products that will make a difference in people’s lives.
We won’t compromise safety and security
However, none of us develops new technology just for its own sake. Each innovation has to contribute to your safety and convenience. That’s really what drives us to invent new features.
In doing this, OnStar’s engineers have a key philosophical, rather than technological, hurdle to overcome: We will add a new feature only if it does not diminish core services. We won’t compromise safety and security — everything has to keep working with any enhancement we make. When we developed Automatic Crash Response, for example, we did so without reducing the effectiveness of Air Bag Notification, which has been a core service since the start. So, even with the addition of Automatic Crash Response, Advisors continue to receive air bag signals and process them.
We’ll be taking Automatic Crash Response one step further next year with new systems that will help anticipate if there are injuries or not. By capturing more complete crash data and working in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OnStar will be able to determine if the probability of injury is high and will send this information directly to emergency service first responders. This will help emergency personnel better formulate their response by deciding whether to alert a trauma center or a less critical facility.
Our close ties with law enforcement have always helped shape much of this innovation. In 2008, for example, we held a series of meetings with police and other emergency officials in 29 cities to fine-tune Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, which debuted this year with the goal of reducing high-speed chases. Based on their feedback, we refined and streamlined communications processes for a more seamless way for OnStar to receive instructions from police to slow vehicles being driven by thieves.
Events like Katrina shape engineers
Specific events can also shape how engineers evolve OnStar.
OnStar provided invaluable service to people trying to flee from Houston during Hurricane Rita and from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. After reviewing our response, we have been working to automate evacuation routes for subscribers during future crises.
With all of OnStar’s technology offered as standard on most new GM vehicles, any competitor is going to be hard-pressed to duplicate our service.
Even as we welcome any competition, OnStar’s engineers will continue to drive innovation and know-how in this industry — and we’ll be doing so for a long time to come.
OnStar is a simple, secure and safe piece of technology. What would you do to make OnStar even better? Share your ideas in the OnStar Connections forum.
No Related Posts
Tags: Automatic Crash Response, Crisis Assist, OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics, Remote Door Unlock, Roadside Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, Turn-by-Turn Navigation