Automotive Cockpit Research Articles

42‐2: Automotive Image Enhancement

Automotive display image enhancement may be utilized to enhance display visibility under various lighting environments typically encountered in the automotive cockpit. Image enhancement methods may be combined with automatic luminance control methods to yield a new class of display visibility product.

A new method to identifying optimal adjustment strategy when the car cockpit is uncomfortable: optimal state distance method.

With the rapid development of the automobile industry, the comfort of the cockpit has become the standard for judging the quality of the car. People have also put forward higher requirements for cockpit comfort. In the process of driving, the cockpit environment will constantly change, and the comfort will also change. When the comprehensive comfort level of the cockpit decreases and the occupants feel uncomfortable, the cockpit comfort should be adjusted. In this article, a cockpit comfort evaluation model is established to realize the evaluation of cockpit comfort. In addition, we elaborate the theory of optimal state distance, where the numerical magnitude of the optimal state distance is used to reflect the extent to which an indicator deviates from its optimal state. Also, a cockpit optimal adjustment strategy identification model is established based on the theory, which can obtain the optimal adjustment strategy in a certain cockpit operating environment, facilitate the timely adjustment of the corresponding actuator, and realize the dynamic monitoring and adjustment of cockpit comfort. This project provides a reference direction for cockpit comfort adjustment, which is of great significance for future research and development of automotive cockpit comfort.

47‐4: Color Acceptability Threshold for Mixed Display Technology Automotive Cockpit

The number of displays inside an automotive cockpit is increasing, and so is the possibility to tap into new technologies. CuJTently, LCD displays are used in most of the mid to high price range cars, but OLED displays have also started making their appearance in cars like Audi E‐Tron, Cadillac Escalate, Mercedes EQS etc. There can be scenarios where the cockpit might have displays with mixed technologies, for example, one display can be an LCD and the other can be an OLED. In this paper we have evaluated the color difference acceptability threshold for such a mixed technology scenario (an LCD and an OLED). A detailed workflow to study the acceptability of users from different age groups through a psychophysical experiment is designed and documented. The acceptability threshold is published using the major color difference formulae available in literature, i.e., CIEDE2000, CIEDE76, CIECAM02‐UCS, DI99d, OSA‐GP and CAMI6‐UCS. This study acts as the first pilot study in the series of studies where several other factors affecting this acceptability threshold will be studied.

In-depth scrutinization of In- Mold Electronics for Automotive applications

Conductive inks have been extensively researched owing to their popularity in Printed Electronics and Flexible Electronics. IME is one of the most important technological developments of this century. In an effort to summarize the latest advancements created by Injection Molding, Thermoforming and Printed Electronics in the field of In-Mold Electronics, this consolidated report describes the key technologies and challenges in meeting the requirement of Automotive Cockpit Electronics and its specifications, as well as an overview of Touch Capacitive sensors development with a range of conductive inks and techniques.

Human Centered Automotive Cockpit HMI

Human Centered Automotive Cockpit HMI

Human Centered Automotive Cockpit HMI

Human Centered Automotive Cockpit HMI

3D Simulation Environment for Haptic Sensor and Actor Components in the Cockpit

Can automobiles forewarn the driver of dangerous situations and how could that information be communicated? How intuitive are control elements with integrated tactile feedback compared to visual and acoustic signals? To test deployability, acceptance and road capability of actuators designed for driver assistant systems or as control elements during driving situations, a modularly configurable 3D simulation and visualization environment with integrated automotive cockpit has been developed by the Institute of Computational Engineering at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Germany).

Modeling and characterization of rattle noise encountered in an automotive environment

In an automotive cockpit, rattle noises deal with all noise due to normal impacts which radiate as annoying noises for customers. The state of the art shows studies focused on one automotive subsystem, describing the specific associated physic. The method proposed, in this study, is to generate automotive rattle noises using simple geometries. The interest of this approach is to know all the parameters of the system (impact location, material, geometries, excitation...) and to precisely describe the physical phenomena related to the apparition of rattle noises. Firstly an experimental bench was proposed to generate rattle noises using simple geometries. These rattle noises are similar to those encountered in an automotive environment. This experimental approach allows to measure the vibrational behaviour and the radiated sound of the system under a random impact excitation. Then an analytical model, which describes the experimental approach, is developed to predict the radiated sound, knowing the displacement of the impactor. Numerical and experimental results are compared. Finally, thanks to the experimental approach, a database of rattle noises is created and used to find metrics to quantify the annoyance.

Modularisation and outsourcing: who drives whom? A study of generational sequences in the US automotive cockpit industry

In this paper, we study the interactions between modularity and outsourcing in the auto industry. Focusing on vehicle cockpit projects in North America, we collect data over three product architecture generations and the associated shifts in firm boundaries for multiple processes covering product development and production. We find that the direction of influence between product architecture and firm boundary varies across individual processes and over time, resulting in a zig-zag path towards higher levels of modularity and outsourcing over the observed timeframe. The relative strength of the factors that drive these changes appears to be dependent on (a) idiosyncrasies of the logic of individual processes, i.e., their cost structure, their perceived strategic value, and the capabilities available in the supply chain for their completion, and on (b) the relevance and relative weight of external factors such as labour costs, capital cost, and external development of technologies.

Local thermal unpleasantness and discomfort prediction in the vicinity of thermoneutrality.

This work emphasizes a better understanding of the origin of human thermal discomfort under heterogeneous but steady environments, in subjects in the vicinity of physiological and sensory thermoneutrality. The knowledge of skin temperatures allows a psychophysiological study aiming at linking the body thermal state (local and global) to thermal sensation (perceptive and affective judgements). By using two driving simulators, 345 subjects were exposed to different thermal environments, modulated by factors such as the air distribution in the automotive cockpit or the clothing insulation (winter or summer). This work shows that consideration of the local thermal state is essential for the evaluation of thermal comfort in the case of non-uniform environments. Our experimental conditions point out that the overall sensation of discomfort is quantitative, with local unpleasantness needing to be felt for a certain number of body surfaces. A local origin is suggested for cold discomfort, in opposition to the global characteristics of warm discomfort.

A human factors study of switches installed on automotive steering wheel

Recently, as many controls are installed in the automotive cockpit, the driver’s workload is increasing. Vehicles which have switches fitted to the steering wheel (STG SW) are becoming popular. In using STG SW, the human memory process is important in searching for a target control only by groping. In this paper, the ability of human memory was studied with variable factors. First, the ability was explained as a function of aging and number of objects to be memorized. This study showed that grouped, familiar and consistent objects can easily be memorized. It also showed that drivers could less easily recall them while driving. As a result, it was clarified that visual distraction time and operation time using STG SW was shorter than using switches on the instrument panel.