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Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

media.mbusa.com

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Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#171
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some Mercedes also have the bug where the sign classifiers somewhat regularly mis-read 80 as 60 for speed limits, causing cruise control to arbitrarily slam on the brakes in some parts of the country. You would think that they would catch these things with rudimentary quality control. The automotive code for many of these systems is incomprehensibly awful but the entire process of how it is made virtually guarantees…

I just ran into this issue in Montana the other day. Weird thing was that it’d sometimes read the 80 mph limit correctly, then a second or two later revert to 60. My Sprinter just beeps at me, though. No brake action if it thinks I’m speeding.

Wonder if the “80” is from maps, which is then overridden by buggy vision?

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#172
post #5

I was recently an owner of a Merced-Benz commercial van, and the software was by far the worst part of that whole experience. It had obvious race-condition type bugs when it came to the user interface layer, but most frustrating was its tendency to succumb to some kind of memory leak on long drives where the entire head unit would just lock up and crash to a black screen after 6-7 hours of being turned on. Because th…

Your final conclusion surprised me. All of the software woes you describe sound like they come from insufficient foundational technology, so why not be pleased that they are now investing in those foundations?

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#173
Mercedes has been disappointing me over and over again. Their car body designs are becoming difficult to look at, especially the electric range (the EQS is one ugly car). Their software is HORRENDOUSLY buggy. Their 2007 S-Class is a smoother ride than their 2022 model.

I love what Mercedes used to stand for, but right now they are pretty much selling cars on brand value, not because they're actually great cars.

The new S-class even feels like a step back from the previous model in terms of basic aesthetics. Plus, loaded up with cheap electronics, ready to break before your next service.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#174

Lots of negative comments in this thread, which I can understand. But let’s be fair, for a car manufacturer, carplay is the kiss of death.

Android Automotive is now the native OS for new Volvo and Polestar vehicles. A far better option than anything custom from the manufacturer.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#176
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if the system fails to detect any other vehicles for a period of more than about 90 minutes, it assumes that there is a sensor fault, and refuses to operate I have a current model Sprinter and this behavior is frustrating (thanks for the explanation, by the way, I thought it was a random bug). Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow, with the system saying the sensor is dirty. It wouldn’t be so bad if trad…

> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow That’s what it should do, honestly. It’s not safe to drive with cruise control in low traction conditions.

Well... there is another problem obviously apart of low traction, which car cannot sense directly. Accumulation of water or snow obstruct the radar. Actually a car with no camera would report exactly that just from radar readout alone, since it can detect worse signal-to-noise due to too much reflection in its readings.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#177

Why does the automobile industry insist on keeping these things in-house when they are clearly terrible at them? I recall an interview with a Ford manager a few years back where they were asked something about adopting Car Play and the response was something like “we have people that can write software for us, so we won’t be using that.”

Money. Why give that up when the customer is really only going to use bluetooth audio anyway? Anyone who cares enough about navigation is gonna use an app on their phone. Native car navigation is a superficial value-feature not a use feature. The edge that Carplay gets is really minimal. I'm repulsed by the new car market, its many multiples over-connected anyway. When it comes to digital features my gut says only th…

In that case, why even spend money trying? Just deliver cars with room for the customer to add what they want.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they are not a software company at the core. They need to be to pull this off.

Both Mercedes and Volkswagen have absolutely massive software divisions, easily 10k+ people. They pay really well for German standards and have access to a large talent pool of people that would like to live in Germany.

Most of their software is done outside of Germany.

MBRDI, known for its engineering innovations, has grown to a team of over 6,000 employees and is one of the earliest technology and innovation center of a global automotive company to set up a strong presence in India.

https://www.mbrdi.co.in

At Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, we develop and certify cars for the U.S. and the world in six locations. Our work ranges from powertrain development and vehicle certification, to autonomous driving technology and in-car user experiences including advanced interior and exterior design. It is not just about cars, it is also about creating the latest and greatest software, cutting-edge technology, and groundbreaking innovation.

Locations:

Ann Arbor, MI Carlsbad, CA Long Beach, CA Redford, MI Seattle, WA Sunnyvale, CA

https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/north-america/merced...

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#179

I just found this presentation with technical details: https://group.mercedes-benz.com/dokumente/investoren/praesen... I guess it is not a typical OS, but more like a collection of tools that build on already existing OSs. This is comparable to ROS (Robotic Operating System), which are just some programs, middleware, services and conventions to build software for robots on Linux. It seems like this should integrate a…

Just a nitpic, Linux can run on CPUs without MMUs, and it has APIs for locking memory and real time scheduling but that's not why it is not a hard-realtime OS.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#180
> The next generation of SAE Level 2 automated driving will start in the Entry segment, leveraging the full potential of machine learning.

Forgive me, but my expectations for the "full potential" of machine learning are not so high. They're definitely not high enough to trust my life with.

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