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V2SOFT:Ready to Soar High in the Reviving Market

Vimali Swamy
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Vimali Swamy
Following a series of accidents last year, there have been several reports about top automobile companies like Toyota and Honda recalling several of their cars. These cars, manufactured between 2000 and 2007, revealed on investigation a spate of problems including faulty floor mats, defective accelerator pedals, and brakes. The problems were attributed to the glitches in the software used in these cars. The federal regulatory body has ever since been very watchful about timely updates of software in automobiles.

But these updates are a humongous task for the automobiles and the Michigan based V2Soft, an IT solutions and services provider, is well aware of the complexities and challenges involved. Thus very early, Varchasvi Shankar, CEO, V2Soft, developed an expertise in the methodology and technology required by automotive companies during these updates. And thus it is not surprising to see it service some of the leading national and international automobile companies that are knocking at their doors. In fact, one of its very early customers that deployed its services gave them the mileage to prove their competency in this vertical,” explains Shankar.

Reminiscing the initial days, Shankar tells about a leading automobile OEM that wanted to update and test the software in its existing line of cars. “As the cars are becoming more computerized it is imperative that the software and hardware in the car be updated and tested to meet the standards and safety regulations. Every time an update or a new version of software is released, the software must be tested on older and current models of the vehicles,” says Shankar. This computerization raises the need for complex programming of vehicle controllers and as a result there is an increased demand for software tools to diagnose the problems. Traditionally, this was accomplished by bringing in various older and newer model vehicles into the test lab for testing software as well as to make sure that reprogramming of controllers could be accomplished. But this was time consuming, expensive, and was delaying software release to the field. In order to speed up the process, the OEM approached V2Soft, the Michigan based IT solutions provider.

V2Soft designed a “Vehicle Testing Framework” (VTF). The framework consisted of metal cages that consisted of bucks (a bench set up of the vehicle) that had all the electronics control modules required for Vehicle Diagnostics Relay system that could be controlled remotely to enable or disable vehicle calibration, Ssrvers which housed its diagnostic Application or software including a reprogramming controller and diagnostic scan tools.

The bucks, with complete vehicle electronics, allowed V2Soft provide an end-to-end vehicle environment for diagnostic testing across various vehicle models and help save the automotive company significant cost and time as they had to bring various vehicles to the test lab each time there was a change in software or a new release. This one of a kind lab housed in the company’s Rochester Hills (Michigan) facility has proved to be a boon to several automobile companies and is now expanding from 6,000 to a 22,000 square foot facility.


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