Fancy becoming a Beta Tester for a new motoring Android app?

[DouglasPonsford]

Calling all motoring enthusiasts!

I'm on the lookout for test drivers for a new motoring-centric mobile app.

I'm the Chief Automotive Engineer for a new startup company called AutoMosys. Our aim is to help drivers to get the most from their driving with live information direct from their car's on-board ECU, from the sensors in the phone and with tips and helpful advice on driving efficiency.

We are developing an application that will run on your mobile phone and use data gathered from your car and from the phone sensors/GPS etc, to provide you with information about your day-to-day driving, that you wouldn't normally get just from the dashboard of your car and we are on the lookout for enthusiasts to become part of our test-drive community for our first products.

The connection to your car is made by plugging in one of those neat little Bluetooth transmitters that gathers information about the operation of your engine using the OBD port that is usually located under the dash.

Not only will our system give you up-to-the-minute data on your fuel efficiency, cost, average MPG and timing of your journey, it also maintains a history of your journeys, so that you can review each logged journey in detail, to see where improvements can be made, if any.

AutoMosys also monitors your driving style and, on request, can even recommend changes that may help to improve your overall MPG! If your phone has a data or Wi-Fi connection, it can connect to the cloud to save a selected set of that data to your own private cloud-space, linked to your AutoMosys account for you to browse at your own leisure on your PC, or download to your mobile phone.

You can connect your AutoMosys account to selected individuals (children, parents, employees etc), in order to share and see data about average speeds, to see where one of your family members or employees might be driving at any time, or just to have a look at how much it's costing you to lend out your car for the evening!

As one of our Beta testers, we will provide you with a free Beta Test version of our mobile app. If you already have the use of a Bluetooth OBD dongle, then that should be all you need to get going, but if not, don't worry because we'll loan one to you.

Development is well under way and we are planning an initial release of the AutoMosys app before the end of this year. Initially, it will only work on Android, but we will be adding iPhone shortly after, along with a number of other improvements and features next year.


If you think you'd like to become part of our Beta Test group, or if you just like to know more about AutoMosys or our products, please send an email to: douglas.ponsford@automosys.com, or have a look at our fledgling website, http://www.automosys.com.

Drive Safe!

[exportmanuk]

Will you be gathering data from the app or just expecting feed back

[trashbat]

I'd be amenable to beta testing, and don't really care about my data, but I'd rather see some actual tie-in with advanced driving first. The opening gambit is generic product marketing.

[Horse]

to see where one of your family members or employees might be driving at any time

That probably answers the 'is it gathering data?' question!

While it's doing that, what's the 'cost' in terms of data transmission? My phone package has a data limit, above which I'm charged a fee; if I happened to be driving for the whole day, every day, how would that rack up data rates?

[trashbat]

Also, since we'd effectively be providing you with informal test and consultancy services, as well as data, for free, using our own time and materials, what's in it for us*?

*us = individuals, charity, whatever

[Ancient]

I have a similar (free) system called Torque which collects and displays data from a Bluetooth transmitter plugged into my OBD2 port, on my phone. The transmitter cost about £6 on e-bay. What it won't do is to transmit that info. to anyone/anywhere else. I prefer it that way.

Ahhh, but if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear

(Personally though, I always shut the door before undressing )

[fungus]

I have a similar (free) system called Torque which collects and displays data from a Bluetooth transmitter plugged into my OBD2 port, on my phone. The transmitter cost about £6 on e-bay. What it won't do is to transmit that info. to anyone/anywhere else. I prefer it that way.

+ 1

[exportmanuk]

Torque is quite useful works on my cars and my bike too

[WhoseGeneration]

No. I put petrol in it, I drive it. I can do "eco", I can do what pleases me, my choice.

[DouglasPonsford]

Will you be gathering data from the app or just expecting feed back

Some of each. The OBD data that's made available by the Bluetooth dongle is used to provide 'live' data, if you want to see information about current MPG, current driving costs and (in a future version) actual vehicle emissions. Some of this OBD info needs to be stored in the phone so that this data can be calculated. Some of this data, plus other data (like GPS location) can also be uploaded to secure servers to provide some of the other services that the app provides. This is entirely optional, and if you choose not to upload this data, then AutoMosys never sees it, but this then means that some of the features of the system can't be used. User privacy is paramount, including for our potential Beta testers, but you will always be in control of what you want to upload, and what you don't.

As for feedback, we'd like to get an idea of what you think, not only of it's usability and user-friendliness, but also of it's usefulness in the information that is provided to you. The app does gather data about how you use it, such as which screen you use the most, how many times you use that screen etc, but this is more about use and performance of the app itself, not your personal data.

We can't force you to tell us what you think of it, obviously, but we do hope that our early users will give us that feeback - good and bad.

[DouglasPonsford]

I have a similar (free) system called Torque which collects and displays data from a Bluetooth transmitter plugged into my OBD2 port, on my phone. The transmitter cost about £6 on e-bay. What it won't do is to transmit that info. to anyone/anywhere else. I prefer it that way.

Personally, I think Torque is an excellent app. The screens are first-rate and that fact that the basic version is free is amazing. Having developed automotive apps in the past, it's clear to me that a lot of effort has gone into it.

Having said that, although Torque is very good at what it does, it's aimed at providing purely instantaneous information about what you and your car are doing at that moment. The AutoMosys app extends that ability by maintaining a history of your trips and certain parameters of your trips for your use later on. Not simply developed to tell you what your engine is doing, it's aimed at helping drivers to reduce costs and find out if there are ways to improve MPG and their driving efficiency, amongst others. This historical information will help you in that. This is entirely optional, and if you choose not to upload this data, then AutoMosys never sees it, but this then means that some of the features of the system can't be used.

If you're so inclined, you can also compare your MPG with your friends and family - see who can get the 'best' driving 'score'! Of course, some drivers just aren't interested in whether their driving can be improved, but this app isn't aimed at those drivers. If you'd like to find out whether the changes you make are taking effect, having this information available to you is invaluable.

[DouglasPonsford]

I'd be amenable to beta testing, and don't really care about my data, but I'd rather see some actual tie-in with advanced driving first. The opening gambit is generic product marketing.

In terms of advanced driving, I can say from experience (I passed the IAM test some years ago) that advanced driving is more than just being observant, observing speed limits, making progress, showing courtesy to other road users and following the rules of the road. It's also about keeping our vehicles in good shape and generally trying to minimise our impact in the wider environment. Having a method to be able to measure those aspects of good driving and generally having a mechanism to be able to see if there's room for improvement is also a way to advance anyone's driving skills. Other than a few of the professional and expert drivers at RoSPA and in the IAM, very few of us can claim to be the very best we can be at driving. I know I can't!

As for product marketing, I realise there's a fine line between a blatant 'sales and marketing' pitch and providing enough information about what we're trying to do to allow visitors to this forum to decide if this is something they would be interested in. If I'd just written "Hey, I've got a great app for telling you what your MPG is, wanna try it?", I wouldn't expect to get much interest. I've tried to strike a balance somewhere in between.

[DouglasPonsford]

While it's doing that, what's the 'cost' in terms of data transmission? My phone package has a data limit, above which I'm charged a fee; if I happened to be driving for the whole day, every day, how would that rack up data rates?

It's not designed to continually transmit data while driving. Data uploads are generally done as a one-shot operation, when you choose which is entirely optional; if you choose not to upload any data at all, you won't use any of your data allocation, but this of course means that some of the features of the system can't be used.

If you have a WiFi connection at home or work (or the coffee shop), then you can opt to use this for the uploads at zero cost.

[DouglasPonsford]

Also, since we'd effectively be providing you with informal test and consultancy services, as well as data, for free, using our own time and materials, what's in it for us*?

*us = individuals, charity, whatever

I think it depends on whether you're really interested in what the system can give you. I won't try to pretend that we, as a startup business, won't get anything out of it, because we will, and that's implicit in my post asking for testers. But the app and the system as a whole is designed to give the driver much more information than you would normally get from just the dashboard of your car, in a way that can help you - and your family if you choose - to get more out of the use of your car.

As for using your own time and materials, we're not asking you to: you only use this app when you're driving as you would normally do so - we certainly aren't advocating unnecessary driving - that would defeat the purpose entirely. For materials, if you already own a Bluetooth dongle to connect to the car, then you could use that, but if you don't want to, or don't have one, we can supply one. Easy!

[DouglasPonsford]

No. I put petrol in it, I drive it. I can do "eco", I can do what pleases me, my choice.

That's excellent. If you already know for a fact that your driving is as good as it possibly can be, and that you're already getting the best MPG you possibly can, then that's great news.

Not so great for us, obviously, as it looks like our application can't help out in your case, but thanks for posting anyway. Well done you!