In the not-too-distant future, you’ll tell your car to start, when you want it to start, and even the temperature you want it to be inside—simply by speaking instructions from the comfort of your sofa or desk chair. In another coming feature, hand gestures will enable you to interact with your car’s infotainment system, so you’ll effectively operate the touchscreen without actually touching the screen.
These capabilities might sound like science fiction to someone from American auto styling’s midcentury heyday when tail fins and chrome were rampant and a simple AM radio counted as state-of-the-art driving entertainment. But the futuristic features mentioned above are just around the corner—from Ford’s plan to make its Sync infotainment system compatible with the Amazon Echo to enable remote voice commands to your vehicle, to BMW’s gesture-based AirTouch interface.
While eight-track, cassette tapes, and compact disc players once sufficed, today’s in-car information and infotainment systems typically include navigation systems, hands-free smartphone operation, and Bluetooth-streaming audio, with colorful touchscreen interfaces, steering-wheel controls or (in-car) voice commands operating these and other functions. As vehicles become extensions of smartphones, sophisticated consumers expect car companies to deliver new entertainment and communications choices more often, like the same way consumer electronics and computer companies frequently update their offerings.
“Already some people will tell you that a modern vehicle is like a computer on wheels,” Richard Wallace, director of transportation systems analysis at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, says of the auto industry’s tech transformation. As cars and electronic wizardry converge in increasingly high-tech vehicle “cockpits,” infotainment systems can serve as a key differentiator that can make or break a deal. That’s especially the case for millennials, who, though they buy fewer cars, seek constant connectivity in vehicles they own, borrow or share. To meet this demand and maintain a competitive edge, car companies can turn to rapid manufacturers to help develop more powerful infotainment systems and accelerate their arrival in tomorrow’s vehicles
“Cars used to be a mechanism of transportation, and now they’re a mobile command center,” says Jeff Schipper, global industry manager at Proto Labs. “That’s becoming the default. It’s being driven by everyone using a vehicle and buying a vehicle who wants to safely and effectively stay connected and use their phone in their vehicle as value-added time.”
Infotainment Revue in Vegas
The “mobile command center” trend was on prominent display at January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where new infotainment technology made a splash alongside the latest smartphones, TVs, and high-tech gadgets. Microsoft announced a partnership that will integrate elements of the Microsoft Office 365 productivity suite into Harman Connected Car’s infotainment systems. Drivers will be able to schedule meetings, hear and respond to emails, and automatically join conference calls through intelligent personal assistant software. When parked, drivers will be able to conduct Skype calls and conferences.
“Drivers want an immersive and personalized experience in the car,” Phil Eyler, president of Harman Connected Car, says. “Increasingly that includes strong demands for productivity. This collaboration will bring these functionalities to market with… great reliability, security and minimal driver distraction.”
Like TV’s long-ago “Knight Rider,” where David Hasselhoff talked to his car, KITT, Volvo drivers will be able to talk to their cars through the Microsoft Band 2, available this spring. The smart watch-like wearable device allows users to instruct their vehicle to set the navigation, start the heater, lock the doors, flash the lights or sound the horn. “If a technology does not make a customer’s life easier, better, safer or more fun, we don’t use it,” says Klas Bendrik, a senior vice president at Volvo Car Group. “Let’s face it, who hasn’t dreamed of talking to their car via a wrist-worn wearable?”
Ford’s connected car push at CES included news that it will add Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto compatibility to all 2017 vehicles with the company’s Sync 3 infotainment system. Android Auto projects apps including Google Maps and Google Play Music onto the Sync screen, while Google voice search answers drivers’ questions. Plugging an iPhone into a USB outlet will bring the Apple CarPlay interface, which includes Siri voice control, to the touchscreen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also will appear in select 2017 Fiat-Chrysler vehicles with its fourth-generation Uconnect system.
Ford’s Sync system will link vehicles with Amazon’s cloud-based Alexa voice service and the Amazon Echo hands-free speaker and voice command device. From home, a Ford owner will be able to schedule a start time and check the vehicle’s driving range. While driving, an owner could ask Alexa to access Internet-enabled home devices such as lights, home-security systems or garage doors. Noting that half of consumers say they will buy a smart home product in the next year, Ford is also working to make vehicles compatible with Wink, a smart home platform that integrates devices from different companies. A driver using that connection could press a button or use a voice command to open a garage door, turn on lights or unlock the front door.
Volkswagen used January’s CES to introduce the close-to-production e-Golf Touch electric vehicle with a 9.2-inch touchscreen display that the company says brings gesture control to large-scale production. Saying “Hello Volkswagen” will initiate voice commands in the e-Golf Touch, which is to debut this year.
Mercedes-Benz showed off the infotainment system in its 2017 E-Class sedan, featuring adjacent 12-inch, high-definition displays, one behind the steering wheel for driving information next to a central navigation display. The two-screen effect, the company says, is that “the display visually conflates into a widescreen cockpit that seems to be hovering in thin air.” Touch-sensitive control buttons on the steering wheel, making their first appearance in a car, respond to swiping movements to control the infotainment system while allowing the driver to keep his or her hands on the wheel.
Rapid Manufacturing in the Driver’s Seat
Even as new infotainment technology makes its way to the vehicle cabin, consumers used to frequent updates of computers, software, and smart devices want more connectivity and entertainment options more often. That’s where rapid prototyping—particularly additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing—can give a boost to automakers.
Industrial 3D printing and other rapid manufacturing technologies like CNC machining, which the auto and consumer electronics industries have used in product development for a while now, offer a number of new opportunities as automakers add new consumer features, optimize designs, use new materials, and see continuing strong demand for personalization and customization of those features, according to Joshua Cregger, a project manager at the Center for Automotive Research. In 3D printing, computer-aided design (CAD) models of an object are sent to a machine that deposits layers of materials—a range of plastics and metals—to produce a physical version of the object. 3D printing has an advantage in producing low-volume parts, one-off pieces for manufacturing projects or components with elaborate geometries.
3D printing could lower barriers to entry for new manufacturers, which could increase their number and the variety of products available. Automotive startups like Kor Ecologic and Local Motion have explored using additive manufacturing technologies to produce vehicle bodies. “Additive manufacturing is already undergoing a paradigm shift as companies begin using it to make actual parts and tools rather than relegating it to the prototype shop,” Cregger says. “There are potentially many opportunities for new and already existing automotive suppliers to use additive manufacturing in their production processes.”
Recent and prospective developments in key areas including vehicle connectivity “may well herald a new golden age of technological advancement and automotive innovation,” according to The Boston Consulting Group. The management consultancy’s research shows that consumers cite innovation in areas including connectivity as an important consideration in their purchase decision.
“The pervasive popularity of mobile devices has led consumers to expect cars to contain advanced electronic and entertainment systems that integrate seamlessly with personal digital devices,” the group’s research report states. But consumers also are concerned about safety, as are authorities increasingly focusing on distracted driving, potentially touching off a “technology arms race” between infotainment systems that can distract drivers and active-safety features designed to keep them safe.
As the pace of product development quickens, carmakers will need to experiment with alternative design processes, new development models, and advanced manufacturing techniques. “Automakers will be able to take advantage of innovations in additive manufacturing and other computer-aided-manufacturing methods to reduce the time it takes to create and test prototypes,” The Boston Consulting Group’s report states.
With the vehicle as the hub of an emerging ecosystem of digital technology, big changes in the approach to product design and development could be on the horizon. Decoupling the hardware and software design processes and adopting a two-speed approach to product development, with chassis and power train development on one track and connectivity and software on another, is a potential solution.
Rapid manufacturers can help automakers update their infotainment systems and connectivity solutions more frequently. The transportation industry is creating computers on wheels, says Schipper of Proto Labs. “The need for changes is going to drive the value of rapid prototyping regardless of whether it’s machining, molding or printing at levels we haven’t seen,” Schipper explains. “It has begun to pick up, and I think it will only continue.”
For the auto industry, advances in industrial 3D printing that have opened doors to newer designs, lighter and safer products, shortened lead times, and lower costs make a strong case for using the technology in product innovation, and high-volume direct manufacturing in the future is strong, a Deloitte University Press article states. 3D printing “is a versatile set of technologies that can support auto industry companies in their pursuit of the strategic imperatives of performance, growth and innovation,” the Deloitte paper concludes. “Considering the breadth of capabilities unlocked by [additive manufacturing], leaders of automotive companies should consider taking advantage of [additive manufacturing] technologies to stay ahead of the competition.”