Heads Up Displays (HUDs)

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Modern Human-Machine Interfaces,

The head-up display reduces driver distraction and increases driver safety.

A head-up display (HUD) shows information exactly where you need it – directly in the line of sight. Drivers get all the important information such as speed, warning signals and indicator arrows for navigation without looking down to the instrument cluster or the secondary display. In the case of a windscreen head-up display drivers see a virtual image, but not as a flat, static picture on the windshield, but rather, as “floating” over the hood at a distance of about two meters. In the case of an Augmented Reality Head-up Display the information of the windshield HUD is enriched with a layer of information right on the street in front of the car. With the Combiner HUD the installation volume is reduced significantly, because instead of the windshield a small, transparent plastic disc is used as a mirror for the information shown.

For Continental the HUD represents a key technology for its holistic approach for the human-machine-interface which will lead to a dialogue without words between the driver and his vehicle.

Augmented-Reality HUD

In the near future augmented reality head-up displays will help to make driving even more comfortable and safe. This generation of HUDs supplements the exterior view of the traffic conditions in front of the vehicle with virtual information (augmentations) for the driver. 
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The augmented reality head-up display differs from a normal windshield-HUD since the reflected information appears to be part of the driving situation itself

When navigating, for example, a virtual symbol inserted precisely into the exterior view marks the route that the driver should follow on the road ahead

When distance controls (adaptive cruise control, ACC) are enabled, a marking in the AR-HUD visualizes which vehicle in front is detected by the assistance system

In a world that is becoming increasingly complex, the AR-HUD relieves the burden on the driver because what the driver’s eyes see is directly connected with explanatory information.

This leads to a new quality of information that allows the driver to register the driving situation they are in even faster – essential for more safety and comfort.

AR-HUD Technology

The AR-HUD moves virtual information directly into the driver’s line of sight. 

It inserts full-color graphics into the real road view in an approximately 130 cm-wide and over 60 cm-high section of the driver’s field of vision at a distance of 7.5 meters

The basis for this is provided by digital micro-mirror device (DMD) technology, which is also used in digital cinema projectors. Continental will bring this projection technology into series production as early as in 2016 

Three possible applications are realized in connection with driver assistance systems in the Continental demo vehicle as an example

The AR-HUD supports the driver if the vehicle is in danger of unintentionally drifting out of a lane

The AR-HUD also supports the use of ACC (adaptive cruise control). When ACC is enabled, a crescent-shaped marking in the AR-HUD highlights the vehicle in front that is detected by the electronics

The AR-HUD also reflects navigation information in the real exterior view. This leads to the driver knowing which turning they have to take, without having to look back and forth between the navigation screen and the real world

This starts a new interaction between the vehicle and the driver. The vehicle shows the driver what the assistance systems can see and what they are doing. This creates trust and will therefore also help to create acceptance for current and future driving functions, as for example automated driving.

AR-HUD Benefits

>The augmented reality head-up display makes the human machine dialogue much more intuitive:

>Optically indicators seem to be located directly on the road

>Orientation in traffic is significantly easier and accelerated

>Dangerous objects or situations are detected more quickly

>The Augmented Reality HUD is a key technology for automated driving

Combiner-HUD Features

With the combiner-HUD Continental extends its range of scalable solutions for head-up displays (HUD). This compact example of the HUD principle is closely related to the windshield-HUD, but requires less installation space. A small, transparent plastic disc called the “combiner” is used as a mirror for the information shown, instead of the windshield itself. Now the ergonomic advantages of HUD technology can have the broadest possible use in the vehicle. 

The combiner-HUD can be easily integrated in whole vehicle families as well as in particularly sporty cars with limited space in the cockpit

Compared with the windshield-HUD the combiner-HUD requires only slightly more than half the installation space, depending on the application. This is possible because the windshield does not need to be integrated in the optical path here. Instead this path is positioned in the combiner, which is optimized for its optical properties

Under favorable conditions, a combiner-HUD even comes with just one single mirror in the interior. This makes the construction not only compact but also extremely flat, which also makes it easier to integrate in smaller or particularly sporty vehicles

The combiner provides almost the same ergonomic advantages: while reading selected information, drivers can constantly keep their eyes on the traffic. They no longer have to keep looking back and forth between the road and their display instrument

Technology

Virtual Image up to 5°x1,4°
Projection distance up to 2,3m
TFT Technology
Resolution up to 70px/°
Brightness up to 12000 cd/m²

New Integrated Combiner Head-up Display

Continental has reduced the minimum volume space for head-up displays even further to only 0.85 l. This was possible by integrating a Combiner Head-up Display into the Instrument Cluster. HUD and Instrument Cluster now share a single 3.5” TFT with synchronized images

The integrated Combiner HUD is the next step towards offering head-up displays for all vehicle classes

It is also a proof of Continentals competence in system integration, to develop cost sensitive solutions with less system complexity but all functions that drivers demand

DMD HUD

DMD technology closes the gap between the classic head-up display and augmented reality head-up displays. It provides a better image with a larger display area. Replacing previously used TFT LCD technology, the DMD generates graphical elements in the same way as digital cinema projectors, based on mirror optics and a picture generating unit (PGU). Thanks to an intermediate screen, sequential color management and a lens-based optical path, the image is brighter and sharper than with conventional head-up displays.

 

Continentals new DMD HUD is one of the brightest and largest in its class and allows drivers to see the display even through polarized sunglasses. Moreover, it adds comfort and security to the holistic human-machine interface due to the increased display area. With a DMD-HUD information can be shown directly in the path of sight, that was formerly located in secondary displays or in the instrument cluster These characteristics then enable vehicle manufacturers to reduce redundancy.

 Technical Specifications
Enhanced color-space/ saturation and light efficiency
Enlarged image size (10° x 3,5°)
Better temperature regulation within the system
Projection on Windshield-Master
Projection distance 2 m
DMD – Chip:       0.3” WVGA
Resolution:        854 x 480 Pixel
Intermediate Screen (IIP)        3.1 inch
Virtual image:    10° x 2.5°
Proj. Distance:      2.4 m
Brightness:  > 12.000 cd/m2
Color management:  sequential color
Mirror technology:  plastic based mirrors

Ultra thin Augmented Reality Head-up Displays

With the Holographic HUD, an innovative technologie from Continental and DigiLens the volume of the Augmented Reality Head-up-Display will be reduced to a minimum. Compared to currently available systems, the ultra thin holographic Head-up Display from Continental and DigiLens will be smaller by a factor of three. It will need less space while at the same time providing a larger image with all the relevant information.

With this innovation drivers will have all relevant information straight in front of their eyes in a very intuitive way that supports easy and fast orientation in traffic. 

The technology will also ease drivers into accepting automated driving faster. With an Augmented Reality HUD drivers will feel secure in the knowledge of what the car actually sees and knows. In turn, driver confidence in automated driving will be enhanced significantly.

Windshield HUD

Technology

The windshield head-up display shows relevant information directly on the screen of the windshield. The driver always has all the information he needs in line of sight. Also in case of special events or dangerous situation the driver can be warned without any driver distraction.

Different technical solutions are available depending on the requirements and the vehicle segment.
Modern, safe and efficient Human Machine Interface
Secure integration of CE Technologies
Markets and target group specific customizations

CONTINENTAL CLOUD CONNECTIVITY

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Cloud Connectivity for Modern Cars

Cloud applications are the basis for holistically connecting vehicles with their environment. Whether it is infrastructure data, map data, data from other vehicles or third-party vendors, the cloud is the central place for collecting and processing this data. Here, data is assigned, summarized, processed, prioritized and distributed as information for the driver or the vehicle systems at the correct receivers. In order to carry out these tasks efficiently, quickly – in the sense of latencies – and safely, Continental uses its own cloud solution the Continental Cloud

Holistic connectivity via the cloud will also make in-vehicle infotainment smarter and more flexible. With our cloud terminal, applications that were once directly integrated in the head unit will now be moved to the cloud. This ensures that the system is always up-to-date and that new functions can be added at any time, allowing vehicle manufacturers to simply roll out the applications across different models and vehicle classes. The twist is that Continental has created a development framework within the cloud that uses standard development tools and therefore does not require developers to have any specialized automotive software expertise
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The new Continental cloud terminal offers maximum flexibility in the cockpit. Applications that used to be integrated directly in the head unit have now moved over to the cloud, where they are processed before being displayed on a powerful browser. 

This ensures that the system is always up-to-date and that new functions can be added at any time. In addition, the terminal uses HTML5 technology and Java Script, which not only enables developers to create applications platform-independently, but also allows data to be displayed on various screens with different resolutions.

As a result, vehicle manufacturers can roll out the applications across different models and vehicle classes.

Tech in Automotive Service

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Porsche is now using augmented reality glasses to repair cars

Porsche prides itself on its high-tech sports cars. But now it’s bringing that passion for the cutting edge to its service departments.

The German automaker announced Tuesday that it is supplying its 189 U.S. dealerships with augmented-reality glasses that can help mechanics solve issues that arise on today’s increasingly complex automobiles. 

With the AR glasses on, a service technician can conference in a Porsche specialist located at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Atlanta and be talked through a repair job — the technician can stream live video of the problem area, while the remote support worker can post helpful repair tips in the worker’s peripheral vision.

Every dealership service department knows the situation: A customer’s vehicle has an unfamiliar or complicated problem that can’t be promptly diagnosed and fixed.

The standard response: time-consuming examination of possibly outdated service manuals, potentially lengthy correspondence with the automaker, even a visit from a factory technician. All the while, the car or truck sits idle in the shop.

But new technologies are speeding the resolution of these problems. Service techs at some Audi and Porsche dealerships can call on a factory tech to join them, virtually.

Through the use of connected devices such as robots at Audi and augmented reality glasses at Porsche, the automakers’ specialists enter the service bay via connected cameras and microphones. Their virtual aid means fewer in-person tech visits, shorter work turnarounds and more-satisfied customers.

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Audi’s system was the first initiative by a North American automaker to connect dealership service bays directly with experts at the company’s technical center.

Working with the robotic telepresence company VGo, Audi developed ART — a mobile robot equipped with microphones, cameras and a TV screen.

The system can connect with onboard diagnostic devices in vehicles. It enables experts at Audi’s tech center in Auburn Hills, Mich., to see everything the dealership tech does, discuss diagnosis and repair options and link up with the vehicle for software updates.

Audi employs 89 ART robots across its dealership network. When it launched the system in 2014, the automaker was getting about 8,000 dealership calls a month to its service hotline. About 6 percent of those calls led to store visits from factory techs, which could take days to arrange.

By the end of 2017, such in-person visits had fallen by 30 percent, Audi says.

“It’s like having an Audi engineer standing there with you,” says Rick Fortnam, service manager at Audi Atlanta, which has used ART since 2015.

Fortnam says that with the system, complicated repairs that might previously have taken a week can be turned around in two or three days.

“We do 70 to 80 [service] appointments a day, and I can’t give everyone a loaner,” Fortnam says. “If ART can save me a day or two, I can turn that car two days faster and get another customer in.”

Called Tech Look Live, the new feature connects Porsche dealerships with dedicated repair technicians at headquarters. Tech Look Live can also be used by the company’s roving Field Technical Managers who may be executing repairs on the road.

Porsche says today’s cars — now considered rolling computers often with complicated propulsion systems that combine gasoline and battery powered engines — prompted the decision to use AR glasses to help mechanics. The company is working on its first all-electric Tesla competitor, the Mission E sedan.

In addition, Porsche is also trying to win back to its dealership repair centers customers of older cars who currently might service their vehicles with independent mechanics. The infrequent nature of dealership repairs on Porsches that are decades old makes Tech Look Live valuable to a new car mechanic perhaps seeing an older component for the first time.

Porsche says 70% of all the cars made during the company’s 70-year history are still on the road. Fixing such older cars at dealerships would represent a significant new source of revenue.

The glasses mechanics will use are ODG R-7 smartglasses, made by San Francisco-based Osterhout Design Group. Unlike virtual-reality glasses such as Oculus Rift, which block out the real world, augmented-reality glasses such as the R-7s allow wearers to see the real world while other images can be overlaid in the periphery. 

Most industry experts expect AR glasses to be a much bigger market than gamer-focused VR, but neither tech application has taken off as was previously predicted. Part of the reason for VR’s slow adoption is the lack of non-gamer applications, as well as the sometimes disconcerting nature of blocking out real-world inputs.

Augmented reality also still lacks populist use cases. But it has slowly gained popularity in business enterprise cases where workers need to keep their hands free to perform a task. Workers on remote oil wells, surgeons and, now, mechanics are good use-cases for AR glasses. 

Another big factor in keeping AR in its infancy is price. Glasses such as the R-7 cost in excess of $2,000 a pair.

Porsche’s technicians won’t be using R-7s for every repair. In fact, the company estimates that of the several hundred repairs each dealership handles every month, only a few particularly complex or unusual repairs will warrant the AR assist.

Porsche dealers began signing up for R-7 glasses last month, and 75 outlets are expected to receive the specs this year with the rest coming on board in 2019.

Carvana’s used-car vending machines make dad, son billionaires

“Used-car salesmen aren’t known for being popular!”

But many of the shareholders at Carvana Co., the online upstart that sells cars out of vending machines, would probably disagree.

Despite years of losses — and forecasts of even more red ink ahead — shares of the Tempe, Arizona-based company have headed upward this year. After falling as much as 57 percent in late 2018, the stock has doubled.

The rebound has drawn scrutiny from Carvana’s skeptics. On paper, though, it’s restored the fortunes of the company’s father-and-son team, the Garcias.

Ernest Garcia II and Ernest Garcia III are now worth a combined $6.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s more than Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, movie mogul Steven Spielberg or hedge fund manager John Paulson.

Vending machines

According to its website, Carvana lets customers choose from more than 15,000 cars and complete purchases in as little as 10 minutes. Buyers have the option of picking up their car at more than a dozen vending machines located around the country.

 

Subprime loans

It was a remarkable moment for the elder Garcia, who’d been convicted of fraud in 1990 for a small role in the Charles Keating savings-and-loan scandal. He avoided prison by testifying against Keating, received three years of probation and has since had his civil rights restored, according to regulatory filings. He went on to make a fortune selling used cars and providing auto loans to subprime customers via his company, DriveTime Automotive Group Inc.Carvana, billed as the Amazon of used cars, captured investors’ imaginations. By September 2018, it had shot to a record high of $70.82. Then, gravity took hold: the company’s losses kept piling up, and its shares tanked, falling to about $30 in mid-December.Today, the stock has nearly erased the loss, fetching $66 on Friday. Since its initial offering, it’s soared more than four-fold.

Some investors doubt Carvana can keep up the pace. Short sellers have borrowed more than half the company’s publicly traded shares. That makes Carvana one of the Russell 3000 Index’s most-shorted security.

Carvana declined to comment. Ernest Garcia II didn’t respond to a request for comment.

 Carvana’s losses have attracted short sellers. So has the company’s other business — originating and selling auto loans, some of them made to car buyers with limited or bad credit histories. Critics say they want to know more about who’s buying the loans.

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Loan purchasers

One buyer has been Delaware Life. The insurance company is controlled and part-owned by Mark Walter, chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, an investment and advisory firm. A Delaware Life spokesperson said the firm last bought Carvana receivables in 2016. Delaware Life, through a subsidiary, also owns about 9 percent of Carvana, securities filings show.

Less is known about other purchasers. Since at least 2017, some of Carvana’s loans have been sold through an entity called Sonoran Auto Receivables Trust. About three-quarters of the funding for the trust has come from Ally Financial Inc., the Detroit-based successor to GMAC, according to Carvana. The company doesn’t disclose who financed the rest.

Earlier this month, Carvana turned to a new source of financing, selling $350 million worth of its auto loans in what it called its first asset-backed securitization.

 

AUTONOMOUS CARS

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Aptiv firms up its AV tech ambitions in China

Global supplier Aptiv is securing a foothold for its self-driving technology in what may be the world’s most lucrative autonomous vehicle market.

The company said Wednesday it has opened an Autonomous Mobility Center in China and will soon deploy test vehicles on the roads in and around Shanghai.

That’s a precursor to eventual partnerships that could yield an autonomous ride-hailing service that mirrors the one Aptiv runs in Las Vegas along with Lyft.

“Our first step is to get cars on the ground and start driving, and over time, our ambition is to go to market in China using the playbook we’ve established in Vegas,” Karl Iagnemma, president of Aptiv’s autonomous mobility division, told Automotive News. “We’re developing the full-stack core technology, and we’ll integrate it with the vehicle platform from a partner. You put those ingredients together, and it’s a great market opportunity.”

China has the potential to become the largest global market for autonomous driving technology, according to a report from McKinsey & Co. in January. By 2040, the consulting firm estimates, AVs could account for 66 percent of all passenger miles traveled in China and generate $1.1 trillion in mobility services.

The Chinese government has sought to accelerate the arrival of autonomous, electric and connected vehicles, and its ability to mandate approaches from the highest levels has eased the regulatory path that’s more clouded for manufacturers and tech developers in the U.S. and Europe. But China’s government has traditionally been protective of its domestic companies.

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“You’d think they’d say that ‘We have Baidu and Pony and a few others, and we don’t need anyone else in here,'” Michael Dunne, CEO and founder of ZoZo Go, a consulting firm that advises automotive companies on China’s business market, said in an interview. “It seems to be the case that they’re under pressure from the Trump administration, and they’re opening up a little bit with the likes of Waymo and Aptiv.”Global supplier Aptiv is securing a foothold for its self-driving technology in what may be the world’s most lucrative autonomous vehicle market.

The company said Wednesday it has opened an Autonomous Mobility Center in China and will soon deploy test vehicles on the roads in and around Shanghai.

That’s a precursor to eventual partnerships that could yield an autonomous ride-hailing service that mirrors the one Aptiv runs in Las Vegas along with Lyft.

“Our first step is to get cars on the ground and start driving, and over time, our ambition is to go to market in China using the playbook we’ve established in Vegas,” Karl Iagnemma, president of Aptiv’s autonomous mobility division, told Automotive News. “We’re developing the full-stack core technology, and we’ll integrate it with the vehicle platform from a partner. You put those ingredients together, and it’s a great market opportunity.” 

China has the potential to become the largest global market for autonomous driving technology, according to a report from McKinsey & Co. in January. By 2040, the consulting firm estimates, AVs could account for 66 percent of all passenger miles traveled in China and generate $1.1 trillion in mobility services.

The Chinese government has sought to accelerate the arrival of autonomous, electric and connected vehicles, and its ability to mandate approaches from the highest levels has eased the regulatory path that’s more clouded for manufacturers and tech developers in the U.S. and Europe. But China’s government has traditionally been protective of its domestic companies. 

“You’d think they’d say that ‘We have Baidu and Pony and a few others, and we don’t need anyone else in here,'” Michael Dunne, CEO and founder of ZoZo Go, a consulting firm that advises automotive companies on China’s business market, said in an interview. “It seems to be the case that they’re under pressure from the Trump administration, and they’re opening up a little bit with the likes of Waymo and Aptiv.”

AV testing

China has issued 101 license plates for autonomous vehicles owned and operated by 32 companies, according to records released by the government in February. Baidu holds at least 45 of those licenses. The company has only disclosed the number of AVs it operates in Beijing, but not the rest of the country. Daimler and Audi are among those with licenses to test in China.

“China has made no secret about its ambition to get in front on autonomy, and the play here would be electric, shared and autonomous,” Dunne said. “The environment is conducive to rapid growth.”

While the world eyes China, three of North America’a front-runners — Waymo, Ford and GM’s Cruise Automation — do not yet hold testing permits in the country, though Baidu tests systems integrated into Ford vehicles as part of an AV-related partnership between the companies.

Delphi roots

Aptiv is the tech-minded company that was created when Delphi split in half in December 2017. Through those roots, the company has held a manufacturing and engineering presence in China since 1993. That will provide a base for the burgeoning autonomous operations.

The company says its test cars will be on the road in a matter of weeks. But no long-term partnerships have been announced with ride-hailing networks, vehicle manufacturers or companies that make high-definition maps for use in self-driving systems.

Iagnemma said the company is in discussions with potential collaborators.

This is the fifth test location for Aptiv. Shanghai joins Boston, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Singapore on the list of places where the company is testing Level 4 autonomous technology, which requires no interaction or oversight from a human while operating in a geofenced environment.

While maintaining operations in multiple cities can be an expensive proposition, there’s potential risk in concentrating efforts on one or two cities, Iagnemma said.

“You face more challenges if you move on from one city,” he said. “You have very different driving patterns from city to city, so in a way, we’re de-risking by continuing to develop in a variety of cities and environments.”