Johnson Controls is organised into three divisions: building efficiency; automotive experience; and power solutions. Its automotive experience systems and products include complete seating systems and components; cockpit systems, including instrument panels and clusters, information displays and body controllers; overhead systems, including headliners and electronic convenience features; floor consoles; and door systems. Continuing just-auto’s series of Q&As with major component suppliers, Matthew Beecham talked with Thomas Beer, senior product business manager, Johnson Controls about the company’s instrumentation and cockpits business.
just-auto: What are your customers demanding in terms of instrument panels and cockpits?
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Thomas Beer: Our customers are challenging us in many ways. They are calling for cost-effective, lightweight, yet appealing designs. To address these demands, we have developed a new cockpit structure called EcoSpace. This represents a 20% reduction in weight compared to conventional solutions, without sacrificing passenger safety. It also offers improved functional integration and structural properties. What makes this approach so special is a lightweight, hybrid construction – a composite construction of steel and plastic – enabling half of the cross-car beam to be eliminated.
In addition, our new surface processes allow us to create appealing designs. We have also developed two procedures which are now almost ready for series production: PP Thin Film and the so-called RIM alpha process. While two very different technologies are involved, these innovations have one thing in common: they both enhance surface quality. These developments are also in keeping with the current trend. After all, the perceived value of the look and feel of surfaces makes a significant contribution to the feel-good factor of vehicle interiors.
The PP Thin Film technology consists of a composite foil made up of several, primarily polypropylene (PP) layers in a direct mold-behind process. Unlike enamel-painted surface parts, these films are highly scratch-resistant. As the degree of gloss can be varied, they can also be readily adapted to the finish of adjacent parts.
Furthermore, we are the leading engineering partner behind the plastics industry’s Dolphin consortium, and the driving force behind an innovative, dual-component injection-moulding process for automotive interior parts. The aim is to produce a high-performance component from substrates and soft foam surfaces in a single processing step.
The consortium comprises the following companies: BASF AG, Engel Austria GmbH, Georg Kaufmann AG and P-Group GmbH. The Dolphin process has the potential for fast, high-quality, economical production of sandwich-moulded components such as floor consoles, armrests and glove compartments.
This new development is aimed at vehicles in the lower segments, which, for cost reasons, are built using components with untreated (tool blank) or painted surfaces. Since the substrate material and the outer surface are chemically related polyester plastics, good adhesion occurs between the two layers. What’s more – unlike the conventional combination of completely different types of plastic – it is also easier to recycle. The new process is expected to be available in vehicles from model year 2010.
Regarding electronics, new driver information systems and a passenger display feature highly on the list of current cockpit trends. A key element of our newly-developed instrument panel is an innovative ring pointer to indicate speed. The mechanical design weighs less and is more cost-effective than conventional solutions. It also eliminates the pointer’s central hub cover, which is necessary in conventional designs. The centre of the speedometer is thus freed up to allow further driver aids to be displayed.
A flat, 320 x 240 pixel, TFT colour display, integrated centrally, presents additional information to the driver. Together with the ring pointer, new display options are provided, such as speed limits or information about which gear is best when driving at a certain speed. This enables drivers to quickly recognise whether or not they are driving at the most economical speed. Other relevant driving information also appears directly in the driver’s primary field of vision thanks to the Head Medium Display (HMD). The goal of the HMD projection system is to virtually project the display in front of the vehicle. This minimises the need to switch between looking at the road and looking at the instrument panel. It reduces the eye’s accommodation (the focusing of the eye on the reflected graphic) to maintain a clear image as an object draws nearer.
We have also developed an analogue instrument cluster with overlaid digital images – called a 3-D instrument cluster. This means that besides speed, navigational and other information can also be displayed in the instrument cluster. This technology can display information purely in analogue form, analogue and digital combined or via exclusively digital images. It has also given rise to a new design approach in the concept vehicle: the width of the cluster has been reduced to the size of a round instrument. The functions are controlled via the operating controls on the steering wheel. The three-dimensional, chrome-plated dials create a visual highlight. To the right and left of the cluster are two smaller segmented displays, which allow various information to be presented. The information changes as soon as the displays are shifted upwards or downwards. One shows the fuel level and temperature; the other navigational information. On switching to the intended position, the driver receives tactile feedback. Not only are these polygonal-shaped passive displays luxurious design elements, but they also represent a better interface between man and machine: drivers no longer have to navigate their way through complex menus to gain access to information quickly. They also blend in homogeneously with any design, as they are available in all colours.
just-auto: What added value does JCI bring to the vehicle’s cockpit?
Thomas Beer: We not only develop ideas or designs at the request of automakers; we also devise our own concepts and solutions to meet the increasing needs of drivers. We are working on a number of innovations that enable cost-effective, lightweight yet appealing designs – such as our EcoSpace cockpit.
just-auto: Another trend, if you like, is the apparent desire for a spacious interior, something always equated with luxury. We’re seeing that this is prompting interior designers to use new combinations of electronics and mechanical functions to modify or move pre-existing systems like heating/cooling and audio facilities. What are you seeing there?
Thomas Beer: Equated with luxury are innovative concepts, too. We developed a freely reconfigurable cluster. Instead of a printed dial, a high-resolution, fully reconfigurable display enables desired information to be displayed. Ergonomics, individuality and flexibility characterise the new concept. Unlike head-up displays, the information is displayed in the instrument cluster rather than projected onto the windshield. What’s also new is that drivers can compile information from a menu according to their preferences on the freely programmable display. If drivers tend to use the standard displays during the day, they can overlay these across the entire cluster. At the same time, special technologies in the new instrument cluster facilitate fast recognition of information. This instrument cluster not only enables the flexible display of conventional information such as speed, but also the use of other technologies. For instance, camera shots from the rear compartment can be shown in order to monitor children on the display while driving.
just-auto: Can we expect to see more touch screens in our cars as a space-saving option? If so, how will that square with the problem of distracting the driver’s attention too much?
Thomas Beer: Touch screens have not made much headway in European automotive interiors so far – with the exception of a few navigation systems. We have developed a new technology that enables the use of touch screen displays in automotive interiors. Unlike other touch screens to date, this innovation works without the need for expensive foil layers on the glass display. Instead, an advanced version of the traditional LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) technology allows a sensor mechanism to be incorporated directly into the glass. The special layout of the LCD has several sensitive areas where finger positions can be detected by capacitive effect. Foil-free display screens also offer other benefits, which include being high brightness and better cost-effectiveness than other touch screen systems. Not only that – the integration of information and operating functions within one component reduces the number of controls required in the cockpit. This cuts down the complexity and at the same time increases the level of creative freedom that can now be applied to the interior design.
just-auto: Is voice recognition the answer to eliminating many controls that have traditionally been manually operated?
Thomas Beer: Voice recognition is gaining in importance. Car buyers are benefiting from our experience in hands-free Bluetooth devices. Voice commands are given via the in-vehicle microphone. In order to ensure optimal recognition of these commands at high speeds, highly effective noise and echo cancellation is incorporated in the mobile device gateway. Commands are recognised using voice recognition software developed by IBM. Driver information is announced – according to the preferences of the respective automaker – either acoustically or via the vehicle’s display. Using voice recognition allows the driver to use their personal mobile devices while keeping their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.
just-auto: While conventional displays and gauges incorporate backlit panels with incandescent lamps as light sources, and pointers that have been treated with phosphorescent additives to glow in the dark, is there still a major shift toward the greater use of LEDs as light sources? What do you see happening there?
Thomas Beer: This shift has already happened, due to more freedom in brightness control, colour, packaging and design. The capabilities of LEDs combined with other light distributing systems will be used to create new designs and new interactive light scenarios.
just-auto: We’ve also heard that there is a trend toward the increasing use of self-illuminating displays based on organic and inorganic materials which eliminate the need for separate backlighting. To what extent do you see this happening?
Thomas Beer: Today, a few applications with inorganic self-illuminating backlights (electroluminescent foils) and OLED displays are in use. Nevertheless, the number of OLED displays will increase when technology and costs are ready for the mass market.
just-auto: The cockpit module has evolved since the 1980s, starting with the instrument panel. How do you see it evolving throughout this decade?
Thomas Beer: Cockpits have changed in the sense that they are becoming more and more flexible and spacious. One such example of this is the development of the EcoSpace cockpit. Besides the assembly and system benefits, designers will also appreciate our new EcoSpace concept. The focus on the main structure on the driver side opens up new scope for design, especially on the passenger side.
One significant change will be in how so-called ‘nomadic devices’ – i.e. iPods, cell phones or portable navigation systems – are integrated into the cockpit and thus into the onboard electronics. We are anticipating an upward trend and a change in technology and design.
Besides ergonomic benefits, instrument clusters also offer design benefits. For instance, the clusters can be flexibly adapted to the overall design concept of the cockpit and differentiated according to the respective automaker’s preferences. Drivers are more and more able to choose their individual design via a configuration menu.
See also:
RESEARCH ANALYSIS: Review of vehicle instrumentation
RESEARCH ANALYSIS: Review of seating technology
