Panasonic Avionics Corporation was exhibiting in Panasonic’s large booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s (LVCC’s) Central Hall, and showing its new Jazz economy seat infotainment system (Photo 9 – above). Noel Catlett, Director of Solutions Product Marketing, told Display Monitor that the 13-inch FHD display was the largest they could fit into an economy seatback. The system, which includes integrated lighting and inductive charging, is in the process of being deployed by “a middle eastern carrier”.) The system uses the Google development platform. Your cell phone pairs with seat, and can use flyer data, such as meal preferences, stored in the phone. The media content for a given seat can be pre-set before the passenger gets to his seat. Transmitters are automatically turned off over restricted areas. Panasonic also showed a luxurious first-class seat, and automotive systems installed in an Acura NSX and Lincoln MKZ hybrid. Among the features in Panasonic’s advanced cockpit concept were a touchless human-machine interface (HMI), multimedia input with eye-tracking and gesture control, large dual HUDs, multiple hi-res displays (flat, curved, and shaped), and an electronic rear mirror.
In a press conference, Qualcomm announced it had shipped more than 340 million ASICs to over 20 automotive OEMs. The 2017 Audis will use Qualcomm’s 602a processor. Audi’s new MMX system utilizing the 602a will be introduced first in the Audi A5, with other models following.
JVC Kenwood again showed a cockpit system in a McLaren supercar. But unlike last year, when five not-particularly-well-integraged displays dominated the McLaren’s interior, this year’s HUD and deeply inset displays were so well integrated it was easy to miss them completely (Photo 10 – above). JVC’s El Kameleon aftermarket receiver with monitor featured Apple CarPlay, Android Music Playback, Bluetooth, dual USB ports with high-current charging, DVD and CD playback, and a 6.2-inch LCD with 6.8-inch resistive touch panel.
On the subject of CarPlay, On January 12, Apple released a list of car models that support the CarPlay mirroring interface, which includes over 100 2016 and 2017 models from manufacturers such as the General Motors quadruplets, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Google says that Android Auto, along with Google Maps, will appear in 40 models this year. Toyota is not supporting either CarPlay or Android Auto. A lot can be said about advantages and disadvangages of an automaker having its own cockpit system rather than allowing Google and Apple to peel off carmaker’s driver data.
Automotive component maker Visteon introduced its new CEO Sachin Lawande, formerly of Harman, and announced its was “transforming the vehicle cockpit experience.” Celebrating its 17th year at CES, Visteon has consolidated its business to six core product lines, all of which focus on the cockpit. The first line is instrument clusters, including higher-res displays and a migration toward 3D graphics. High-end clusters are fully reconfigurable. In head-up displays, Visteon featured products that will bring head-up technology to mass-market vehicles, the company said. Information displays will include touch, curved lenses optically bonded with formable touch sensors, and flexible displays. Infotainment will be based on open standards. The company’s OpenAir connected audio products combine smart phone and wearable content with an intuitive interface. And, finally, the connectivity and telematics line will focus on “safe, seamless connectivity in and around the vehicle.”
Ford’s Fusion Hybrid automated research vehicle featured four Velodyne LiDAR sensors (Photo 11 – above) that generated a real-time 3D map of the vehicle’s surroundings (Photo 12 – right). Ford was also promoting its new Sync 3 infotainment system, which allows your Ford to join the Internet of Things. You can control devices within your home (yawn!); more interestingly, you can interact with platforms such as Amazon Alexa to obtain real-time info about your vehicle’s status, enable remote vehicle preconditioning, and “understand driver behavior.”
Audi, a leader in autonomous and connected car development, featured an HMI concept with large OLED displays having integrated haptic feedback. The company displayed its e-tron quattro SUV concept. Three electric motors produce a total of up to 370 kW, and enable four-wheel drive and electric torque vectoring. The vehicle’s 95-kWh battery pack permits a range of up to 310 miles. To quote an Audi press release, “The technology study hints at a future product model to be launched in 2018.” The concept incorporates piloted — Audi’s term for autonomous — driving in a wide variety of conditions. (Audi also had a demonstration of a gesture recognition system – users could point to items on the display and, for example, clench their fists to trigger actions – Man. Ed.)
Nvidia, the company most of us know as a maker of GPUs and high-end graphics cards, was exhibiting its Nvidia Drive solutions, which “give automakers, tier 1 suppliers, and automotive research institutions the power and flexibility to develop systems that enable cars to see, think, and learn. Drive PX, an autopilot car computer, is designed to run neural networks that will lead the way to autonomous cars. Drive CX is a complete digital-cockpit platform that enables 3D navigation and infotainment, digital instrument clusters, natural speech processing, and surround vision. The Drive PX2 will be used in 100 Volvo XC90s scheduled to hit the road next year in Volvo’s autonomous-car pilot program.
Nvidia partner fka demonstrated its generic trajectory planner for highly automated vehicles (Photo 13). Trajectory planning goes beyond route selection, in that once the route is selected, the vehicle must decide how to behave in detail: yield right of way, follow specific lanes when turning, overtake slower vehicles, etc., all while respecting the specific vehicle’s maximum steering angle, maximum tire forces, and actuator limits. fka builds their system on Nvidia’s Drive PX platform, which combines a CPU and GPU in one chip.
Kia showed an autonomous Soul EV (Photo 14 – right), as well as what it announced was the first autonomous-car license plate issued by Nevada.
BMW showed its i8 concept car, which features cameras on slender stalks where the rear-view mirrors would normally be. A third camera was inside the rear window. The three images are combined into a single image that appears on screen that replaces the rear-view mirror. BMW said the system eliminates blind spots, reduces wind noise, and improves aerodynamics. Of course, the system is not legal in the U.S. since rear-view mirrors are required by the NHTSA.
Mercedes-Benz introduced its 2017 E-Class as the first standard-production vehicle to obtain an autonomous license from Nevada. In addition the company showed its Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile (IAA) in North Hall. The IAA changes its aerodynamics at speeds over 50 miles per hour by extending flaps in the front bumper and eight segments at the car’s rear to improve airflow. The dished wheels can change their cupping from 50mm to zero, which also improves the aerodynamics. The system is powered by the Nvidia Drive platform.
Hyundai was touting its Mobis cockpit concept for delivering virtual experiences in the connected car. These experiences are to include augmented and virtual reality, 3D video conferencing, a hologram-based I/O interface, and a multimedia-based immersive service. Should I ask if drivers should really be immersed in a virtual reality while driving their Hyundai? (I guess not. After all, this was CES.) However, the Mobis cockpit did have a very nice HUD display shown with one of the many driving simulators set up at CES (Photo 15 – below).
Mitsubishi Electric showed off its Emirai concept car. Among its cockpit’s features is that a camera and a cardiograph monitor the driver’s condition. Combined with cloud-stored driver history, the system detects when the driver is tired and provides an appropriate warning and suggestions.
During CES, Kopin announced it had entered into an agreement with Hitachi Maxel to produce and market a new kind of Li-ion battery that uses silicon oxide with carbon in the anode. Kopin will market the batteries, which are intended for use in head-worn products, under the name SiMax. Production will start in Q2’16, and the batteries will be used initially in Kopin’s Solos cycling eyewear. Hitachi Maxell CTO Masao Okafuji suggested the new battery has twice the energy density of conventional Li-ion cells, which use graphite anodes. The batteries were shown in Kopin’s suite at the Venetian hotel.
The Italian firm Magneti Marelli had a suite, in which they proudly described their technologies and components that appear in the high-performance Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio sedan. These include the chassis domain control (CDC), the ECU, and an infotainment system featuring an 8.8-inch “black panel” LCD display. The company also announced the second-generation Chevy Volt uses MM eLight LED headlamps.
A truly novel lighting development from MM is OLED rear lamps that contain red and amber OLED emitters. Even when the taillight is off, said MM, “the OLED elements are extremely elegant and appear to be a silvery mirror.” The company also showed an OLED instrument cluster and a curved OLED passenger display.
Apart from the infotainment systems in the aftermarket category, it was impossible to miss the large number dash cams on display, mostly in the LVCC’s South Hall. A leader in the category is Magellan, whose higher-end MiVue dash cams provide GPS tracking for automatic time and location stamps on the video (Photo 17 – below). When the camera senses an impact, it records the direction and magnitude of the collision, and saves protected files to keep them from being overwritten. The MiVue 430 adds lane-departure warnings, front-collision warning when the camera detects it is getting too close to the car ahead. The MiVue 450D has two cameras, one of which swivels. Aim it at your kids in the back seat or at one of your vehicle’s blind spots. — Ken Werner
Photo credits. All photos by Ken Werner, except for the following: Bolt display mirror photo by General Motors Corp.; Magellan MiVue 420 photo by Magellan; Magneti Marelli logo by Magneti Marelli.
