That’s why it was refreshing to attend the recent FuseSource CamelOne 2012 conference in Boston. One after another of presenters discussed what they did with today’s integration essentials – ESBs, orchestrators, workflow engines and the like.

At CamelOne, CERN’s Felix Ehm showed how the world’s biggest physics research lab uses open source Active MQ messaging software to control and monitor a massive particle accelerator (see above). A General Dynamics Canada engineer, Mike Gingell, showed Agile integration successes using Camel, CXF, ActiveMQ and OSGi for troop tracking, Arctic surveillance and other defense uses. David Reiser and other Computer Science Corp. of America (CSC) software engineers described use of the Apache Camel integration framework to enable real-time data sharing of crucial FAA wind shear data. There was much more. Clearly, open source middleware is not just finding uses, it is finding mission-critical real-time systems uses.

This is serious stuff. But CamelOne was also fun. Cern’s Ehm, principal engineer for JMS infrastructure, admitted that, as a lad, he was so curious about what was inside that he would ”smash things with a hammer,” to see what was inside. Now he is using distributed systems to control the biggest beams as they smash the littlest particles. Ehm’s presentation was further enlivened by none other than Apache ActiveMQ Cofounder James Strachan  who inadvertently leaned on an AV system touch screen wall module that activated some random disco music almost as loud as the original big bang.

It’s nice that Camel employs clever design patterns, and that ActiveMQ is adding useful manageability traits. But it is especially nice to find middleware being put to such innovative ends. The bottom line: Integration middleware is pretty cool, and useful too! – Jack Vaughan

Photo Courtesy: Cern

Giuli, a technical expert at Ford Motor Company’s Research and Advanced Engineering organization, recently told EclipseCon 2012 attendees in Reston, Virg. about OpenXC platform.  It is, he said, a joint effort of automaker Ford and embedded tool maker Bug Labs. The OpenCX platform is intended to produce a standard way of connecting aftermarket software and hardware for cars and trucks.

OpenXC is an API to the car. It requires installation of hardware components, which then read and translate metrics from a car’s internal network. This data can be handled by Android applications using the OpenXC software component library.  It can be used with the OSGi framework and the Eclipse-based Dragonfly IDE. The software is now in a limited test release. It is an important indicator of how far open-source efforts may spread.

Enthusiasm for modifying cars goes back a long ways.  “Cars have always had a maker/tinkerer culture,” said Giuli. Now, efforts such as Ford’s,  Local Motor’s and the Silicon Valley Automotive Open Source Group’s undertakings are looking to bring the open source software ethos into modern cars, which now sport more and more programmable electronics.

Even SOA has made an appearance in some embedded services development efforts that are based on modular methods for updating and enhancing automotive “infotainment” systems. Still, reminds Giuli, software development is very different in the automotive world.

T.J. Giuli, Ford Motor Co.

Consumer electronics design cycles are measured in months, versus years for cars, which must adhere to the strictest safety guidelines, he said. Remember, cars have extended warranties. “A lot of engineering goes into making it last for ten years or 150,000 miles. It’s almost like mil-spec,” he said.

That leads to difficulties, Giuli conceded. “At the end of this [almost] three-year development cycle, the technology is obsolete upon release.” Think of the advances in small devices that have occurred in the last three years.

There is significant potential in open platforms for automotive software development, according to expert viewers. “I think it’s really exciting to see the evolution of cars as a platform for development,” said Melinda Ballou, analyst and program director for Application Life-Cycle Management research at  IDC.

“Data and information that was locked up becomes available in a very different way to typical developers,” she said. Ballou also suggested use of Eclipse open source IDE software for Google’s Android Development Tools gives added vitality to the Eclipse platform.

While safety will remain a major concern, software such as that described by T.J. Giuli at EclipseCon will help build “Web 3.0” or “The Internet of Things” according to conference attendee Christof Hammel, developer, architect and programming engineer at auto parts giant Robert Bosch GmBH.

That will help meet consumer needs. “For the car today,  the new generation wants to have the features they have at home and with their  phones,” Hammel said.

Safety will remain a big factor. It is said that designing interfaces for mobile apps is different than for land-based apps – that is even truer for automotive computer system interface design. “Things that require total focus don’t make sense at all,” said Ford’s Giuli. “So you have to think about designing differently.”

His comments came only a day after representatives of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers urged congress to help ensure that mobile devices limit the likelihood of distracting drivers when the devices are included as part of vehicle systems. – Jack Vaughan

But what’s in a name? If it wasn’t called the World Wide Web it would have gone by another title. Perhaps we would be working with “Internet Services” or “Graph Services” instead of “Web Services.” The principles behind Web services would still be the same, though. The real worth of the WorldWideWeb proposal was not in the name, but in the new concepts it set into motion. And Tim Berners-Lee has been guiding those concepts, promoting openness and interoperability via the internet for the past 20 years. So if you’re reading this Mr. Berners-Lee, thanks and keep up the good work from all of us at SearchSOA.com.