Danlaw
The Right Mix for Vehicle Telematics Needs

Today, there are more than 250 million cars on U.S. roads, making the connected car space one of the more dynamic segments in the Internet of Things. Opportunities to connect cars to the internet and other systems is creating new start-up companies, as well as creating a fertile field for well-established companies to expand their connected reach. Providers of connected car technology must be mindful of the fact that connecting devices directly to a vehicle could create potentially harmful conditions. “This very fact makes safety and data security a major concern for IoT solution providers, especially given recent incidents of hacking in the connected car space,” says Tim Morris, Chief Operating Officer of Danlaw. The company recognizes that connecting cars to backend systems can be a daunting task, requiring diligent care and attention to device security and data privacy.

Headquartered in Novi, Michigan, Danlaw is a recognized leader in the automotive electronics sector. With over 32 years of automotive networked electronics experience, Danlaw has established itself as a trusted partner to automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers, providing embedded software design, development, and validation services and solutions. “Given our history and deep rooted relationships with automotive OEMs, we are uniquely exposed to advancements in the automotive electronics niche – especially as it relates to different vehicle communication protocols and the diagnostic information,” recounts Tom Rzeznik, Danlaw’s CEO. Having global engineering centers in the U.S., India and China, provides Danlaw with the ability deliver solutions and services across the globe.

Danlaw has perfected compact, high-volume production solutions for after-market telematics applications requiring critical vehicle data and position information. All vehicles produced for the North American market, from 1996 to date contain a standardized OBDII diagnostic port to enable federally mandated emissions testing as per the Clean Air Act of 1990.

Leveraging these standards, Danlaw is able to provide OBDII connected devices that contain integrated wireless network connectivity and GNSS/ GPS position capture technology which allow our products to collect, process and transmit critical vehicle data and position information via cellular and/or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connections,” says Morris.

Some of the many uses of the company’s connected technology include collecting and processing vehicle data for automobile insurance providers and fleet owners, as well as vehicle health for roadside assistance and motor club services. Apart from its cutting edge solutions, Rzeznik explains, “nimbleness and flexibility in hardware and software design, allow us to quickly adapt concepts and ideas into working prototypes, which can then be certified and transitioned to production – this is a key differentiator for us at Danlaw.” Danlaw’s success and growth in the connected car market can be attributed to the company’s three-decade old research driven experience in this field, whereby the OEM and Tier-1 supplier community view Danlaw as an extension of their own advanced research teams.

To continue providing critical IoT solutions, the company understands the need to be at the leading edge of innovation. One technological trend that Danlaw recognizes is big data. According to Danlaw’s perspective, combining sensor rich vehicle data such as battery voltage, ambient temperature, fuel use and Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) with things like GPS position data and 3-axis accelerometer and gyrometer data across millions of vehicles, big data and analytics can be combined to form the basis of new IoT based products and services for the connected car market. “Our objective is to continue to identify advanced technologies, and package them in a manner that allows us to stay current, while providing secure and scalable solutions to accommodate the rapidly changing trends in the connected car ecosystem of the Internet of Things.” concludes Rzeznik.