Since Mercedes Benz really brought us the first car in 1886, it seems right to end a series of blogs with Mercedes latest innovative technology and their futuristic ideas for cars and where embedded systems fit into this idea.
Mercedes software engineers have developed a dynamic and intuitive control experience system called DICE. A full scale production of this system in their car however, is said to be 20 years away from the very first production. However, the DICE idea has been rolled out at exhibitions [1].
The DICE system is basically Iron Mans Jarvis in a car! There are no buttons, knobs anything, the dash is a fully computerized, gesture controlled system. The dash board is fully customizable with distinct categories such as: media, social, places etc which can be synced with the drivers phone (contacts, messages, calls, social media), can play music and movies and even provide local information about restaurants, locations, make reservations etc.
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This system is made possible proximity sensors. Proximity sensors work on the basis of when they detect an object within their range, they send out a flash of infrared beam which reflects off the object back to the sensor, this maps and monitors the movement of the object [3]. The movement is then essentially transferred into an electrical signal.
Gestures for the control of the specific aspects of the car are all pre-determined. These are hard coded into the system so that these are the only gestures which are recognizable to control the dash board. These gestures include: hold your hand up and move left and right to move between objects, push forward with your hand held up to select, swipe right with object selected to remove it off the screen [5].
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Although these proximity sensors are what detects motion, there is a whole other bucket of embedded systems going on behind the scenes to create this futuristic car. The main partner of the sensors is a projector to project the imagery on the windscreen. This allows the driver to continue driving and looking at the road while things simply prop up on different parts of the screen after being gestured to. These images must be recognizable, but must not obstruct vision. This also must take into account the shape and curvature of the windscreen on which the projection is made.
Even though this prototype is still about 20 years out, Mercedes have developed the cockpit in a simple square capsule to display the concept. There are also design ideas for the full futuristic look on this Mercedes.
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Since the system has already began prototyping, it is clear that there will be some obstacles. These may include, hand size, hand motion, hand position, how to know when the driver is just moving or gesturing a control and many many more. These are all things with the software engineers will surely loose at least a few nights sleep over. In the long run, if this system ever leaves for a generalized production line, it could be the first real step into the future of embedded systems in cars.
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