We are all moving into a world where the vehicles we own and utilize will be predominately electrified with successively more advanced autonomous capabilities. While this transition will take time, it has already begun as many vehicles we own or encounter today incorporate those technologies. Why is an electric, semi- or fully-autonomous vehicle any different than other ‘traditional’ vehicles? Simple: awareness.
Being electric-powered, EVs require a driver to think a bit differently about where to ‘get fuel’ and how much range the vehicle has left. Vehicles are incorporating significant advances in the number of sensors they deploy, how safety is presented to the driver and how vehicle occupants interact with the vehicle in an ever-increasingly complex media-rich environment.
In this environment, the driver can quickly reach information overload attempting to navigate through complex systems and status indicators from the car. Presenting all this data to the driver and passengers in an efficient and effective manner requires highly advanced, but easy to use human machine interfaces.
We are delighted to have collaborated with Altia for the fourth year in a row to showcase what is possible with NXP i.MX applications processors combined with Altia HMI technologies, all designed to create that efficient driving experience with next generation EVs.
At CES 2022, Altia and NXP have partnered to capture a powerful moment in time for automotive—OEMs are transitioning their cockpit designs toward autonomous and electrified vehicles while delivering innovative new applications and services for drivers and passengers. Visitors to CES 2022 can experience these technologies in our Connected eCockpit—powered by Altia user interface development software and NXP’s i.MX 8QuadMax applications processors.
Developing a cohesive experience for an electric vehicle cockpit brings a host of challenges. Design teams must consider functional safety, multiple operating systems, creating a cohesive user experience across vehicle displays and ensuring best performance on hardware.
With EVs, there is an even greater expectation for advanced displays throughout the vehicle – and designers must display critical system information to the driver while still respecting the cognitive load intensive task of safely maneuvering the vehicle. Keeping drivers apprised of power consumption and route-adjusted range feedback eases the range anxiety common with EVs. Anchoring the IVI experience with the Android platform enables scalability via apps and provides a familiar user experience.
Designing for efficiency is also critical. Developers must deploy HMI code that will optimize the capabilities of their production hardware to ensure that maximum range is extracted from every watt.
Solutions for automotive eCockpits. Explore NXP i.MX applications processors for eCockpit Infotainment.
Altia and NXP Semiconductors offer a powerful combination of technologies to build integrated cockpit designs for automotive applications. Together, we are delivering immersive in-vehicle experiences. Our latest eCockpit demo—housed in a production Mercedes and driven by two NXP i.MX 8QuadMax applications processors—delivers a seamless user experience for the driver and passenger. The graphics, powered by Altia HMI development software, reflect a cohesive look and feel that helps improve the user experience. The C source code generated by Altia DeepScreen optimizes the capabilities of the i.MX 8 to ensure the best use of the vehicle’s available power.
The Connected eCockpit was conceived and designed by Altia’s Professional Engineering Services team and created using Altia Design 13. Altia’s HMI software allows technical artists, designers and engineers the ability to build high-performance HMIs without hand-coding graphics, resulting in rapid time to production. The teams were able to leverage assets from 2D and 3D design tools, making artwork import easy. Altia DeepScreen code generator then outputs the code running on the i.MX 8QuadMax. DeepScreen supports a wide range of NXP platforms – from low-power MCUs to high-performance applications processors. This includes i.MX 8, i.MX 6, and i.MX crossover MCUs including i.MX RT1052, i.MX RT1062, i.MX RT1170, S32V, MAC57D5xx, MPC5645S, MPC5606S, i.MX28, i.MX53, LPC1788 and VFxxx.
NXP supplies the i.MX 8 platform, an applications processor which offers the processing power to drive full dashboard HMIs at top performance. The eCockpit includes two NXP i.MX 8 QuadMax SoCs, which come equipped with two ARM® Cortex®-A72 cores, four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, two Arm Cortex-M4F cores plus 64-bit LPDDR4/DDR4 DRAM.
The Connected eCockpit demonstrates unified integration of HMI elements between two screens— a 12.3” (1920x720) instrument cluster and 28” (3840x720) passenger display—with state-of-the-art pillar-to-pillar graphics powered by Altia and two NXP i.MX 8QuadMax applications processors. The eCockpit uses multiple OS architectures with Linux® in the instrument cluster and Android in the 4K passenger display.
The eCockpit design follows a modern interaction paradigm inspired by mobile phones. This was driven in part by Jakobs Law –meaning that users expect new interfaces to behave like the ones they already know. This unified HMI user experience embraces automotive tech considerations including EV readouts, advanced ADAS, reconfigurable layout and data streaming. Altia designers and developers created a UX for drivers and passengers across the cockpit displays, serving up real-time advanced 3D throughout.
The 12.3” instrument cluster demonstrates intuitive design elements to inform EV drivers. For example, safety particles appear above the speed readout and accumulate with good driving, providing a gamified experience to keep drivers safe and engaged. A power histogram visualizes the vehicle’s power output in real-time. Additionally, active following distance assist in the center of the cluster gives the driver helpful feedback to set a safe follow distance from the car in front of the vehicle.
The expansive 28” passenger display hosts a variety of 3D rich information screens designed to inform and entertain. Much like the devices we use every day, the IVI user interface includes responsive panels that allow the user to adjust the size of each application pane. Users can drag an application pane from one section of the display or fling it from one side to another. Apps open intuitively from an app tray by dragging and dropping into the desired display area. The user-adjustable vehicle settings are visualized in rich real time 3D. Altia’s advanced IVI offers a chat application in the passenger display only so that passengers can safely receive messages. The dynamic map leverages Altia’s 3D capability so that users can explore while in route to their destination. Audio entertainment is controlled via dynamic playlists and coverflow.
Altia and NXP are primed to bring automotive cockpits to the future—from electrified to autonomous. The NXP i.MX 8QuadMax applications processor revolutionizes mega-display automotive applications with a powerful feature set for advanced HMIs. Altia’s HMI design tools and services give customers the ability to take full advantage of the i.MX 8QuadMax processor architecture to deliver an optimal and visually stunning eCockpit experience.
For more information about how Altia can bring your cockpit design project to life with NXP i.MX 8 QuadMax applications processors, visit www.altia.com or email info@altia.com.
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i.MX 8QuadMax Applications Processors
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He has more than 20 years of experience in the microprocessor industry where he has held product and technical roles in the application, mobile, desktop and server processor areas. He focuses on the definition and production of advanced application processor products for consumer, industrial and automotive markets. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Computer Science, he lives in Austin, Texas and holds three patents.
