Rednroll

Hey everyone, I could really use your help if future creativity, technology and forward thinking is something that interests you.

What I do for a living is that I work in the development of automotive infotainment systems. Think along the lines of the future digital cockpit, the connected car, HD displays, cameras, autonomous driving vehicles etc, etc. That's what I do.

Currently, I'm in the concept planning and customer proposal stages of a unique opportunity that my supervisor has assigned to me which really has my personal interests of off-roading, camping, hunting, fishing and general outdoor enthusiasm in mind. The theme here is to create an in vehicle experience that would be desirable to the off-road, outdoor enthusiast. In simpler thinking terms, imagine if you could install a radio inside of your Jeep which would provide you everything you ever wanted to make your off-road adventures and accessory upgrades simpler. Think of all those aftermarket accessories you had to purchase and install after buying your Jeep.

What would you love to be able to see and control from your center dash touch screen?
This would all be connected to the vehicle CAN bus, so the doors are open to controlling and viewing any functionality built into the CAN bus. Most of this will be Android based development, so most anything you can do on an Android phone, you would be able to do here as well.

Here's a current list of items I have thought of off the top of my head, but would love to gather other ideas from this great community that I may have missed.

Offroad Navigation:
- Topographic maps
- Bread crumbs (be able to track your path, so you can get safely back to the beaten path if you get lost in the wilderness)
- Satellite view (Think Google Maps)

Accessory Control Functionality:
- Create switches on the display to control all your external accessories such as lights. (Think S-pod without having to mount and install a separate switch panel and make custom labels for those switches inside your vehicle)
- Camera control (We install cameras to record our adventures, wouldn't it be nice to control those cameras from a centralized touch screen?)
- External Camera view on display

Enhanced Gauge displays and controls: (Think what you are able to do in apps like Torque Pro, and accessories you connect to the OBD2 port such as ProCal, FlashCal, etc)
- Battery level display
- RPM display with idle setting control
- Transmission temp display
- Engine temp display
- Tire Pressure
- Tire Pressure low level light indicator control

Diagnostics: (Think along the lines of The BlueDriver, J-Scan, Torque Pro)
- Check DTCs and display on center display
- Clear DTCs

Radio Interface Themes and customization:
- Off-Road theme selection and user customization of user interface

Dat

Whew, I hate to say it, but you do what turned me against the auto industry, I said 20 something years ago that there was more technology in vehicles than they need and people want, then 3 years ago I got out of the auto business for good, I worked at a dealership for 28 years, mechanic, then service advisor then service manager.
vehicles I think should get back to the basics, I know they aren't, and we have to make the best of it.
I think a lot of people want less technology in a vehicle, but the industry keeps putting more.
One example is in the trucks we sold, the salesmen and our service rep from gm said people wanted more in trucks, but the decked out trucks sat on the lot longer than when we got a basic two door 4x4 with a basic radio and no power locks and windows, most of the time they sold a day or two after we got them in if not the same day.
Anyway, hope you get some good ideas, I'll go tinker with my 48 Willys and leave my phone in the house.
But on the other hand, there are o lot of folks too that want the extra computer stuff in vehicles, nothing wrong I think either way, but personally, I like a paper map and levers and knobs that aren't hooked to wiring

icrashbikes

I like all of those ideas, especially the mapping and breadcrumbs. That would integrate well with some kind of offroad specific social network to share maps, trail and obstacle notes, current conditions, etc. It'd be nice to head out to a new place and load up an accurate trail map. Monitoring tire pressure and vehicle stats is nice too, I'd add a few inclinometers to that list. It's nice to see exactly what angle you rolled at Good camera cycling and multiple views would be nice as well to include backup cams, dash cams, offroad cams, maybe a full time rear facing rearview mirror replacement cam.. I know it's a pipe dream, but I'd like to see that software integrated with some sort of physical button system. Operating a touch screen and navigating touch menus while driving is the worst. I miss buttons. At least have a good bezel around the screen to stabilize the hand. Might as well explore vehicle-vehicle communications while you're at it, I wonder if you could effectively broadcast a network for your group to join or have a group connection over the individual cell phones. Motorcycle communicators do it, it's gotta be possible to get a party line going so everyone can laugh at Jimmy together when he gets stuck in the mud. That's half the fun, right? Group ridicule? If this is in place of the stock radio, obviously radio/mp3/satellite/bluetooth functionality would be pretty much required. Add DVD/Bluray/digital video to that list with a decent screen and extra video outs. Actually, an in-vehicle comms system has been a back burner project of mine. I've been looking at airplane intercoms and some headsets to chat/have music/take a phone call/let the kid watch a movie with the roof and doors off. Might as well get 4 big headphone jacks and an intercom in there while you're at it! You could also have a CB friendly speaker out and mic in for the guys who use em. Also, please, a way to make the screen go dark. Sometimes you just want to shut down and drive.

Mr.T

Maybe you'll need some beta testing

A 3.5mm mono jack that's set up for use as a CB radio external speaker. Ideally it would automatically switch from radio and other audio sources to CB when the audio signal went above a preset level. Phone would have priority. In other words: While listening to music, the CB/Ham radio receives a signal above it's own squelch level which would normally be heard on an external speaker -- but in this case it turns off the music and uses the stereo speakers for the CB/Ham audio.

For the Navigation, free updates. And an (automatic) mode that doesn't tell you to drive 100 miles the wrong way just because it doesn't know about a road/trail that you're on. Garmin is pretty good, but it would be better if just shifted to a dead-reckoning mode and give a heading + distance.

I'd like a remote LCD screen for nav with the typical windshield suction cup. They are safer to use, one doesn't have to look down at the center console. Having used both types, having it low on the windshield is much better.

Icrash already mentioned it, but it's worth repeating: Big mechanical buttons and knobs for on-off, volume, source, mute, etc. Big means easy to use by memory and feel rather than taking eyes off the road -- 1970's ergonomics.

Don't require a BT dongle in the OBD port for functions that can be done from the CAN bus that attaches to the stock radio.

Emulate the stock radio comms on the CAN bus so that the TIPM isn't giving the DTC u0184 (radio bad comms). And of course, don't require a third party CAN interface. u0184 doesn't do any harm, but there are horror stories of techs wasting time (and the customers money) blaming every problem under the sun on an aftermarket radio that's triggered by u0184 being present. And when selling a vehicle, who wants to try and explain away u0184 when a dealer or customer insists the car is worth less because there's a malfunction code. This would give a big marketing edge as well, I don't know of a radio interface at the moment that does this. Just test the hell out of it so it doesn't create problems on the CAN bus. Don't know how much is documented or reverse engineered on the Jeep CAN, but it sounds like a cool job.

Regarding the Spod-like functionality, I think I'd prefer stuff like that as a plug & play option.

USB and/or SD card in the front, plus the usual phone hands-free Bluetooth stuff.

Include a traditional 3.5mm stereo jack for compatibility.

Water resistant, conformal coated, etc. Best if it meet one of the IP codes.

A product like this that is thoroughly tested for reliability and simplicity of operation can may overcome a lot of the fears like Dat mentioned above.

The closest competitor would probably be Insane Audio. A friend has one, and isn't very happy with it. That's one of the reasons I recently went with a much lower end stereo and kept the Garmin on the windshield suction cup. Hope Insane doesn't read this thread, lots of good ideas!

icrashbikes

Mr. T hit on a big one I missed - waterproof the unit. I also tend to agree that nav is far better high dash/low windshield. I have my phone mount there which I use for nav and it's 100% the right spot over the radio screen area.I only have terrible pictures available (gotta get to work!), but they give an idea of where the phone sits. It's perfect for a nav screen and close enough to hit the 'find a gas station' button without taking my eyes off the road. For an on-road nav solution, placement is a big deal. Good call!

Top left corner, it's a moto z magnetic mount


You can see it sticking up into the windshield area with the hole for the phone camera.


A top console tray mount is prime to get a screen into the right area without being terribly invasive. And I also volunteer as test mule.

Dat

A convenient map pocket that has a compartment for a compass.

Dat

And you can't forget a beer holder, which is even more reason to make it all waterproof

Rednroll

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate the comments about buttons and screen locations. Most of that will be left up to the OEMs to decide. The benefit of a touch screen is having it software driven, the button becomes smarter and customizable. While I appreciate dedicated buttons, they are a thing of the past. Things like having a dedicated static button which says winch up while you're driving down the highway at 70 MPH may be nice to have but becomes kind of useless huh? You will likely be seeing more and more contextual and haptic buttons and knobs in the future. Look them up, they're pretty cool if you've ever had a chance to experience them. Once you gain more experience with them, they'll seem like the static push buttons will seem like the rotary phones of yesteryear compared to the smart phones of today.....I know, some people loved their rotary phones and living the simpler life. I can't stop technology from evolving, but I can attempt to help shape it to be better focused towards the off road community.

Dirt Hammer

Need to be able to upload gpx files via USB, SD Card, etc.

Rednroll

Great ideas! A lot of those items you listed as dreams, the company I work for has already developed the technology for most of them. We have rear view mirror screens integrated with multiple camera views outside the vehicle. Default mode shows the rear view camera. Turn on your right turn signal, a view opens up showing a split screen with a view of what's to the right of you, thus eliminating blind spots to your right. The side mirrors are also displays fed by external cameras. In cabin telecom systems, we already have that as well. It is currently launching on higher end Cadillac and Ford/Lincoln Navigator/Expedition vehicles. You can easily communicate with someone sitting in the far rear seat of a large Lincoln navigator from the front driver's seat. In cabin background noise is reduced and a direct link of communications is established, you don't need to be wearing headphones. We have the technologies to make that happen without wearing headphones. We've been demoing this to the OEMs for the past 3-4 years.

Yep, we already have that. That's what we call "contextual and haptic" buttons and knobs.

In that video it shows 3 knobs in the center of the dash. Each of those knobs have a tiny OLED touch screen in them. You turn the knobs and you can feel the clicks, and when you turn the knob the display will change of what you're actually controlling with the knob which since it is software driven can be anything and the label shown on those small screens changes to show you what you're controlling. The screens are actually push buttons as well. That's from 2019. Now we need more focus placed on meeting the needs of us off-road guys. The incline angle indicator is a great one to add! Shouldn't be too difficult since most navigation systems includes a gyro which provides exactly that type of information. Just need an app to display it. Now what would be even cooler is displaying the angle of the incline/decline before you even attempt to climb it huh? That may be possible once lidar systems become more adopted on vehicles.