This document summarizes a presentation given by Agustín Benito Bethencourt from Codethink Ltd on autonomous vehicle software. The presentation discusses how embracing open source will be key for automotive companies to develop software for autonomous vehicles. It hypothesizes that current software development practices will not be sufficient and companies need to learn faster by embracing open source practices. The presentation recommends automotive companies embrace the open source journey, learn from other industries, adopt continuous delivery principles, treat software as a portfolio, and view software development as an ecosystem rather than a supply chain.

1. Systems Software Experts
www.codethink.co.uk

2. Producing systems that
enable the innovation
that autonomous vehicles
will require
Agustín Benito Bethencourt
Principal Consultant
Codethink Ltd
© Codethink 2018
Event: Autonomous Vehicle Software Symposium 2018
Schedule: Wednesday, 6th June 2018
License: CC BY-SA

3. About Codethink
© Codethink 2018

4. About Codethink
● Founded 2007 as an expert provider of Open Source, Linux and
embedded software services.
● 90+ staff. Headquartered in Manchester, UK.
● Owner-managed, independent, unbiased and ethical.
● System software engineering and consultancy services.
© Codethink 2018

5. © Codethink 2018
Why Codethink?
Open Source company.
+
Embedded experience.
+
Passionate about developing, delivering and maintaining
complex Linux systems.

6. About the speaker
© Codethink 2018

7. © Codethink 2018
The speaker: @toscalix
● Principal Consultant - FOSS at Codethink Ltd
○ Consultancy for automotive/industrial/embedded companies.
● Experienced working in the open and managing development,
delivery and maintenance of complex FOSS based systems.
● Contributor to FOSS communities.
● More about Agustín at his site.

8. Let’s start!
© Codethink 2018

9. © Codethink 2018
Session structure
When producing systems for automotive...
1. Disruption.
2. Hypothesis.
3. What to do
4. What to do then.
5. Takeaways. Total: 20 minutes

10. Disruption
© Codethink 2018

11. © Codethink 2018
Disruption
2018 FROM TO AND THEN
Mobile
Phone that “does
multiple other
things”.
Device you can
make phone calls
with.
Computer that
connects people.
Automobile
Car that “does
multiple other
things”.
Device you can
drive.
Data/computing
Center that
connects people
(digitally and
physically)...
autonomously.

12. © Codethink 2018
FLOSS revolution
● Open Source is the main revolution in software.
● The current disruption automotive is going through cannot be
explained without software.
● Embracing Open Source will be key to become/remain as an
industry leader.

13. © Codethink 2018
Challenges
● Complexity is exploding.
● Still lack of “software culture”.
● Little perception of software delivery as differentiation factor.
● Limited collaboration culture.
● Open Source consumers.

14. Hypothesis
© Codethink 2018

15. © Codethink 2018
Hypothesis
When it comes to producing the software systems for the coming
world of autonomous vehicles:
● What we are doing today, won’t work.
● What we know today, won’t be enough.

16. © Codethink 2018
Hypothesis
Are we at least learning fast enough, at least?

17. © Codethink 2018
Hypothesis
Think, design, execute... to learn fast.

18. What to do to learn faster in
software delivery.
© Codethink 2018

19. © Codethink 2018
Embrace the Open Source journey
The journey can be simplified in 5 stages:
1. FOSS consumer.
2. FOSS producer.
3. FOSS contributor.
4. Good FOSS citizen.
5. FOSS organization.

20. © Codethink 2018
Learn from other industries
● Hardware support strategies.
● From “X”aaS to SD”X” / “X” as Code.
● Updates at scale. Software maintenance/support.
● Deployment management.
● Many others...

21. © Codethink 2018
Adopt CD principles.
● Agile/Lean as principles not dogma.
● Open Source tools for better adaptability and interoperability.
● Shorten feedback loops… to the minimum.
● Release early, release often.
● Test: Emulation -> Simulation -> HW (lab, controlled env., EOL).
● Others...

22. © Codethink 2018
Software systems as portfolio
● Take ownership of your software stack thanks to FOSS.
● Adopt a software portfolio approach with a common codebase.
● R&D, pre-productization, production and maintenance/support
should take place in parallel and feed one another.
● Many others...

23. © Codethink 2018
Software ecosystem vs supply
chain.
● Collaboration requires trust, which requires transparency.
● Promote transparency within your company.
● From providers to partners.
● From code to specs to code.
● Learn from Open Source projects.

24. Takeaways
© Codethink 2018

25. © Codethink 2018
Takeaways
Who we are producing software systems today will not
meet autonomous vehicles world demands.

26. © Codethink 2018
Takeaways
With what we know today about software delivery, the
industry will not be able to meet expectations either.

27. © Codethink 2018
Takeaways
Companies need to set up strategies to learn faster when
it comes to software delivery.

28. © Codethink 2018
Takeaways
FOSS environments are the most efficient learning
ecosystems. Embrace Open Source, become an Open
Source company.

29. © Codethink 2018
Thank you
For further information contact Agustín Benito Bethencourt
agustin.benito@codethink.co.uk

30. Systems Software Experts

31. About Codethink
© Codethink 2018

32. About Codethink
● Founded 2007 as an expert provider of Open Source, Linux and
embedded software services.
● Headquartered in Manchester, UK.
● 90+ staff, mostly systems software engineers and technical
consultants.
● Supporting 10 customers today - including global brands in
automotive, finance, medical devices, consumer electronics,
semiconductors.
● Owner-managed, independent, unbiased and ethical.
© Codethink 2018

33. © Codethink 2018
● We deliver in reliable, transparent, honest relationships
● We provide high-calibre people, and continuity
● We are experts in Open Source and embedded software
● We can slot into existing projects, adopt existing procedures
● We handover all IP and documentation
● You can stand us down if demand reduces
Services Value Metrics

34. © Codethink 2018
● Founded by FOSS engineers.
● Long and successful track record in creating, supporting and
exploiting Open Source initiatives.
● Our people have been heavily involved in the development and
integration of FOSS components.
● Support corporate customers in making the most of FOSS.
● Affiliated to OIN, GENIVI, The Linux Foundation (AGL and CIP).
Open Source experts

35. © Codethink 2018
● Scale Microcontrollers to servers
Operating systems
System components
Software tooling
● Technologies Linux, Android, RTOS, bare-metal
Qt, GTK+, Wayland, WebKit, GStreamer, OpenStack, OpenGL
C, Python, Assembly, C++, C#, Java, Haskell, Lua, Ruby
● Specialist skills Graphics
Speech recognition
Augmented reality
Algorithm optimisation
Signal processing
Virtualisation and containerisation
Systems Software Engineering

36. © Codethink 2018
● Open Source Integration with proprietary technology
Licensing
Upstreaming
Long-term maintenance strategy
● Process and Tooling Continuous delivery
Build and integration pipelines
Chain of custody from design to delivery
Automation
Metrics
● Technical architecture and system design review
Consultancy Services

37. © Codethink 2018
R&D
● BuildStream - framework for modelling build and CI pipelines.
● Baserock - tooling for traceable, reproducible building of software
systems.
● MUSTARD - open source requirements and architecture tracking
tool.
● Trustable Software - forum for the discussion and development of
software for safety and security critical applications.