[GTALUG] Car chips [was OT: NYT article "How To Construct a Chip Factory"]

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

4| From: Stewart C. Russell via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

| On 2022-04-08 19:46, William Park via talk wrote:
| > Why do cars need 2nm chips?
| 
| There's a surprising amount of processing power required in a modern car.
| Android Auto uses a tablet-class CPU, and Android Automotive (the lower level
| OS that does more than infotainment) is similar. Electric cars can have even
| more complex requirements.

There is definitely a push for AI in cars.  The closer to self-driving, 
the more processing power is needed.

Also: electronic features are a lot cheaper than mechanical features.  So 
there is a tendency to add as many of those as can be imagined.  Features 
seem to be what sell cars.

Also: processors are cheaper than wires.  So sensors need to talk to 
shared buses, not simple wires.  So each sensor needs something 
approaching a processor.

I understood most things about my early cars.  My recent car is another 
matter.  I'm pretty sure it has a lot of features that I haven't even 
imagined.  And it has a tablet-like control/display unit in the middle of 
the dashboard.  Much of the interface seems too complicated to operate 
while one is driving.

I guess I'll learn about the controls of my first self-driving car because 
I won't be distracted by driving it myself.

Simplicity is sophisticated.  It's hard to sell.  Apple tries sometimes.

Some AI that I'd like in cars:

When I'm driving, I can often tell something is wrong by the noise or 
vibration or smell.  AI could monitor all these signals and try to infer 
problems that might require attention.