Message #1303 From:
The Machine Date: May 13, 2008 02:47:02 AM
CES Previews Impact of Electronics on Future Vehicles
By Randy Frank WardsAuto.com, Jan 31, 2008 1:56 PM
LAS VEGAS – For the first time, automotive
electronics played a significant role at the annual Consumer
Electronics Show held in Las Vegas in January.
General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner became
the first automotive executive to deliver a keynote address in the
41-year history of the show, sharing the spotlight with electronics
luminaries such as Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and Intel Corp.
CEO Paul Otellini.
More importantly, OEM automotive-related
products joined the vast array of massive flat-panel displays, booming
audio components and more than 20,000 other consumer-related
electronics products, giving a glimpse of how consumer electronics may
literally reshape vehicles and consumer expectations for future
vehicles.
GM chose CES to introduce the fuel-cell
powered Cadillac Provoq a few days prior to media days at the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit, and there were several
other demonstrations, as well, including the winner of the 2007 DARPA
Grand Challenge for an autonomously controlled vehicle.
But beyond those, supplier displays and panel
discussions revealed dramatic new ideas that promise to remake the
human/machine interface, interior design and connectivity.
Growing use of onboard data storage was another trend at CES, increasing rapidly beyond what Ward’s
reported last year. Seagate Technology and Toshiba Corp. both displayed
an 80-GB 2.5-in. (6.4 cm) hard-disk drive for automotive applications.
The storage units support GPS navigation, digital music, video and
other telematics systems. These units could be available on ’10 models.
Continental’s Multi Media Platform based on Microsoft Auto software.
Personalization was an overriding theme,
having a major impact on instrument-panel design and how information is
displayed. One of the key aspects in any personalization effort is how
it impacts the HMI, or how drivers and passengers interact with their
vehicle’s various functions. A number of approaches were shown.
“You can clearly imagine why we are here at
the CES, because we see this complete link from the consumer
electronics, and how the consumer electronics really want to merge into
the vehicle,” says Helmut Matschi, president of Continental Corp.’s
Interiors Div.
Based on Microsoft Auto, Continental’s Multi
Media Platform was one of many Continental products displayed at the
show. MMP uses dual-core processors commonly found on the newest
personal computers to meet customer’s performance expectations.
A demonstration vehicle developed by Visteon
Corp. and 3M Corp. showed how dramatically different future interiors
could be from today’s designs.
Based on observing target consumers and
discussions regarding their driving experience, the concept interior is
a sensory feast full of eye-popping holographic, 3-dimensional graphics
in the instrument cluster and steering wheel, plus numerous tactile
sensations.
A user-friendly HMI in the center console
features buttons that give different varieties of haptic feedback to
differentiate their function. Clearly, the successors to BMW AG’s
iDrive and all its cousins will be easier and more fun to use.
Top: 3M transmissive optical films allow designers to hide functional elements to provide sleek look.
Bottom: Visteon’s Integrated Center Panel brings many vehicle technologies together.
“The focus on sensory technologies in this
vehicle reflects people’s desire for more enjoyment and sensation from
products. Consumers want to experience their products,” says Steve
Meszaros, vice president, Visteon electronics.
“With 3M, we have integrated around 50 new
technologies for interior, electronic and climate,” says Bertrand
Stelandre, Europe senior manager design and innovation-Visteon.
The traditional approach to HMIs in the
vehicle is a cockpit HMI design, a separate box for the control,
another box for the display and another for the cluster. “On the design
that we have, we merge everything,” says Stelandre. “There is no border
between the HMI and the vehicle.”
Delphi Corp.’s Information, Convenience,
Protection demonstration vehicle revealed an architecture for the
future direction of display and control to come together in one system
including the HMI. Today, a PC does the calculations for the demo
vehicle.
“In the production version, a CPU (central
processing unit) would handle all the information and control,” says
Delphi Chief Engineer and Technical Fellow Sam He.
Many studies conclude that a 20-degree field
of view makes driving safer, He says. As a result, Delphi focused much
of its information in this area in a reconfigurable multi-color head-up
display on the windshield.
The vehicle eliminates side-view mirrors that
have blind spots and are sensitive to adjustments. Seven cameras
provide real video imaging. The side view display moves inside the
vehicle to get the information closer to the driver. It also reduces
wind noise and improves fuel efficiency.
The Connect2Car panel was another key automotive event at CES.
Co-organized by the Convergence Transportation
Electronics Association (CTEA) and SAE International, it addressed the
issue of connectivity between vehicles and consumer electronics.
Eckhard Steinmeier, general manager of
ConnectedDrive-BMW AG, set the stage with BMW’s view that integrating
telematics into the vehicle’s entire connectivity is the path to the
future.
That is not the case today and certainly was not part of some of the pioneering efforts that BMW did in this area.
Steinmeier announced the Next Generation
Telematics Protocol, which was developed over the last year with
Connexis and Wireless Car, two major telematics service providers.
BMW regards the separation of the components
of the telematics delivery chain as key to making it much easier for
users to change providers, Steinmeier says. In addition, it is easier
for content providers, as well as telematics service providers that
deliver services to different auto makers.
William Mattingly, vice president-engineering
core-electrical/electronics for Chrysler LLC, says automotive engineers
involved with consumer electronics need to think as if they are working
on a personal computer. “When we have design reviews, I say, ‘How would
the PC industry do it?’”
One result of this approach is hardware has
become less specialized and more of a commodity, with the primary focus
on connectivity, expansion of modularity, established interfaces and
enhanced services, Mattingly says.
Gary Jablonski, manager-infotainment systems
at Ford Motor Co. says early customer feedback from users of the Sync
entertainment/communication unit has provided tremendous insight into
customers’ expectations for consumer electronics.
Jablonski says beyond the media awards Sync
won at CES 2007, 80% of Ford customers say Sync exceeds or greatly
exceeds their expectations, and 90% recommend it to a friend.
Based on its broad availability in Ford
vehicles, some not-so-technically-savvy customers have learned from
Sync. “It may be their first experience with Bluetooth (wireless
connectivity), or it may be their first experience with USB,” Jablonski
says.
Ygomi LLC Chairman T. Russell Shields says
customers want to use their consumer electronic devices for traffic
information or music in their vehicle with minimal changes.
They do not want to deal with another service provider or yet another user interface, Shields says.
In other words, consumers want to get their
information and entertainment the same way whether they are in their
home, office, or car, Shields says.
Many automotive products introduced at CES specifically involved connectivity, as well.
In his keynote address, Microsoft’s Bill Gates
announced Ford will be offering an upgrade to its Sync unit called 911
Assist. If the airbag deploys, the system uses a previously paired
Bluetooth cell phone to call the 911 emergency operator.
The driver has a 10-second window to cancel the call. If not cancelled, a prerecorded message plays for the 911 operator.
Working with development-partners Clearwire
Corp. and Motorola Inc., and Intel Corp. demonstrated a fully
functional WiMAX network. John Hammond, staff network architect, WiMAX
field engineering, wireless standards and technology, says, “We are
able to travel on a 5-mile (8 km) course around the convention center
area using WiMAX as our backbone (link) to the Internet.”
The transition from one access point to another occurs without interrupting streaming audio.
Inside the vehicle, an in-dash PC system integrated with the audio system provides the computing power.
“A full Core 2 Duo Pentium processor PC allows us to run all sorts of applications that you would run at home,” Hammond says.
One thing in-vehicle broadband access can
provide is navigation. All the information stored on the Internet
avoids refreshing map data and is quicker than updates on CDROM or
flash-based memory. It only requires a download from the Internet.
Other capabilities from broadband connectivity
include music, video and streaming Internet TV, plus location-based
services. A hotspot inside the car allows a portable computer to tap
into the Internet, as well.
“So we have a personal area network, a personal local area network, as well as a wide-area network,” Hammond says.
While auto makers and suppliers sort out what
drivers and passengers really want for consumer electronics in
vehicles, higher fuel prices have prompted many suppliers to start
adding fuel-price information to telematics services so drivers can
save money.
TomTom International BV, a leading supplier of
portable navigation solutions, announced this capability at CES. TomTom
Fuel Prices, a service that finds the lowest gas prices, will be
available for TomTom 920 and 920T users in the U.S. starting early this
year.
The service sends real-time pricing updates from gas stations directly to a TomTom device.
Freelance writer Randy Frank has been involved in automotive electronics for more than 25 years.
