Student story - Joseph Odusanya
What's been happening behind the dashboard?
Compare the dashboard of a 1912 Mercer Raceabout, above left, with the dashboard of a modern Range Rover Galaxy on the right. Nearly one hundred years later there's quite a difference! So what’s going on behind the dashboard of a car these days?
Joseph Odusanya (left) found out on his placement year.
As drivers, we don’t pay much attention to the information constantly presented to us unless or until we need it, or there is a sudden change designed to get our attention quickly, such as a low petrol alert or a mechanical failure. We trust that the information is accurate and no important messages have been overlooked.
Engineers spend a lot of time on this human-machine interface (HMI) making sure that we get the right information, not only to drive the car safely and to monitor its status but also to make it an increasingly easy and pleasurable experience. Today a modern dashboard regularly combines audio, climate control and driver information into “an integrated, user-friendly interface” [Visteon].
Joseph Odusanya spent his placement year with Driver Information Platforms at Visteon Engineering Services. The software team he joined were working on the next generation of fully rendered TFT (thin film transistor) instrument clusters for automotive applications, enhancing what is already a market leading product chosen by manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Ford.
He tested and measured the performance of an evaluation board containing a new Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) planned for an upcoming instrument cluster.
New generation clusters provide all the common information found on an instrument panel. They are elegantly rendered with LCD displays and customisable by the end user rather than mechanically driven with needles and numbers.
Joseph explains his first hurdle: “The board worked under a Linux platform so that was a new challenge for me from day one. I had had no experience of Linux and understanding its different functionality and configuration requirements was essential to getting the job done.”
This didn’t deter him. Visteon’s engineering team were impressed with Joseph’s pro-active, self-motivated attitude and were able to give him complex activities with confidence, and supported him throughout.
He soon got underway. “I investigated the behaviours, feature aspects and tools capability of some of the development options. It gave me an appreciation of the complexity of modern automotive cockpit devices at a technical level and was also a great insight into the organisational complexity involved to make modern business succeed.
“The knowledge I gained during my placement year has had a significant impact in my current year of study. I definitely would encourage all students to consider industrial placement.”
Other potential technologies for in-car instrumentation include Navigation, Rear View Camera, Head Up Display and Driver Alertness Monitoring so there is plenty more exciting work for engineers to tackle! Your turn next?
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