Setting the Stage
Intrepid Control Systems held its annual networking event, SDV Social, on Thursday, May 14th, 2026, at the Intrepid HQ in Troy, Michigan. The event featured cutting-edge tech demos, networking opportunities, and live music from Detroit blues rock band J2C.
Intrepid provides innovative software and hardware solutions for a range of sectors, including automotive, heavy-duty, industrial, and more. Their product lineup includes vehicle network tools, data loggers, gateways, and ECU simulators for developing, testing, and deploying the software-defined vehicles of tomorrow. In addition to hardware and software tools, Intrepid provides training classes on Vehicle Spy, CAN, CAN FD, LIN, and Automotive Ethernet, helping engineers keep pace with the latest vehicle network technologies. Classes are often times free to join, either in person or virtually. A list of all upcoming classes, as well as registration links, can be found on the Intrepid website.
A Panel on the Future of Software-Defined Vehicles
The evening concluded with an expert panel discussion on the future of software-defined cars, moderated by AutoVision News Radio host Carl Anthony. For the third year in a row, Carl had the opportunity to moderate the panel discussion on the topic of SDVs.
Joining him were three respected industry leaders: John McElroy of Autoline, Christine Thelesklaf of Bosch in North America, and Jordan Choby of Toyota Motor North America, Research and Development. Each panelist provided key takeaways on the current SDV landscape, including the role of AI, trends in the commercial space, and considerations for everyday car buyers.
Toyota Brings Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Rig
Toyota featured its hydrogen fuel-cell Class 8 truck at SDV Social, and Intrepid was proud to collaborate on displaying the technology ahead of Toyota's upcoming deployment in Southern California. Intrepid's neoVI Connect, installed on these trucks, provides Toyota Hydrogen Solutions with over-the-air updates.
The neoVI Connect serves as a standalone data logger, an advanced ECU simulator, and a Gateway module to bridge between different networks. Crafted in a production-ready form factor, it streamlines the development process, minimizes costs, and captures vehicle network data.
Intrepid Brings the Sauce to the Party, Literally
During SDV Social, Intrepid shared the "secret sauce." Not just figuratively through technology, but literally with taste buds. On the technology side, Intrepid's "secret sauce" is a solution called neoVI Fire 3 Compute, a multi-protocol vehicle interface, gateway, and data logger with embedded edge intelligence.
With neoVI Fire 3 Compute, you can monitor live CAN FD traffic from an instrument cluster, including using a custom Python Flask web application running on the device's edge compute module. Intrepid's open-source API processes data in real-time and leverages MQTT to push critical insights to cloud platforms like AWS, Snowflake, Azure, and Google Cloud.
As for the taste buds, Intrepid handed out bottles of neoVI Fire 3 Compute hot sauce during the event. Like all Intrepid products, Fire 3 hot sauce was proudly made in the Motor City.
Technical Demos on the Floor
Snowflake supported SDV Social through a demo partnership with Intrepid's Fire 3 Compute, which allows Snowflake's intelligence agent to "chat directly" and utilize data from the logger in real time via a small stock car. Meanwhile, Microchip Technology Inc. presented a compelling technical overview of 10BASE-T1S for attendees.
Thank You to Intrepid's SDV Social Sponsors
Feature sponsors included 3IS, Inc., ALIARO, ams OSRAM, Keysight Technologies, and SDVerse, each showcasing their latest innovations for the automotive industry.
3IS, Inc.
3IS is an independent analysis and competitive benchmarking firm, consisting of a multidisciplinary team with extensive experience in E/E architectures, electronic systems and components, and more. The firm is known for its comprehensive architecture reports, as seen in its teardown of a Tesla Cybertruck using Intrepid products. CEO John Cain is the lead singer for J2C, who brought the house down during SDV Social.
ALIARO
ALIARO is a leading provider of modular and future-proof testing solutions that help clients save time and reduce costs. During SDV Social, ALIARO showcased its xMove HIL rack for powertrain ECU testing in an open, modular platform built on NI hardware and ALIARO SLSC modules. It simulates the physical environment of a vehicle powertrain, convincing the real ECU into "thinking" it is in a moving vehicle. In addition to automotive, ALIARO offers turnkey test solutions for aerospace, consumer products, and transportation, among others.
ams OSRAM
A specialist in digital photonics, ams OSRAM combines engineering excellence with cutting-edge global manufacturing to offer customers the broadest portfolio of digital light and sensing technologies. At SDV Social, ams OSRAM showcased its unique Open System Protocol (OSP). True to its name, OSP is open and free of license, and its flexibility enables dynamic lighting applications for decoration, warnings, and communication, as well as interactive functions, such as Smart Surfaces, through the integration of sensors and actuators.
Keysight Technologies
Whether you're looking to improve your design and development process, optimize and secure your network, or harness AI and digital twins to get a head start on technologies like 6G, AV and EV, IoT, or quantum computing, Keysight accelerates innovation across all workflows with intelligent insights built on the most accurate measurements.
SDVerse
The SDVerse team brought live demonstrations of its latest AI-powered capabilities, transforming how the automotive ecosystem discovers and evaluates software. Its Specifications Match feature allows engineers to upload technical documents "as is," and instantly receive qualified software matches ranked by relevance, turning what once took weeks of manual vendor review into a matter of seconds. Paired with AI-Enabled Intelligent Search and the SDV Atlas AI Assistant, these capabilities represent a step-change in how OEMs and suppliers connect around software-defined vehicle technology.
Hear the Panel Replay
If you were not able to attend SDV Social or would like to hear the panel discussion again, it's available as a "replay" on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
