Technical Articles
John Hietter
Living in the Future
At the Epicenter of Innovation
Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America
All my life I have been in love with European cars and innovative technologies. Now as a design student in Los Angeles where I feel as if I’m already living in the future, when I heard that Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America (MBRDNA) was hosting a tour for my father’s MBCA section at its headquarters in Palo Alto, California – in the heart of Silicon Valley – I put everything on hold to ensure my attendance. Not merely highlighting the event on my calendar, I actually set an alert on my cell phone for the moment registration opened to sign up as early as possible.
When we arrived, I was excited to learn our host was the company’s president and CEO, Johann Jungwirth. He introduced himself as “JJ” – the nickname by which he is known throughout Daimler AG and is also his email address. In his introduction, JJ explained that MBRDNA is a wholly owned subsidiary company within Daimler AG, responsible for a variety of different global vehicle research activities for Mercedes-Benz.
In a day that would prove full of surprises, I was amazed by the amount of Mercedes-Benz research and development that takes place in the United States. In addition to the automobile-based telematics (long-distance reception of digital information) research in Palo Alto, MBRDNA includes the Advanced Design Studio – a styling center in Southern California; eDrive & Powertrain Division in Redford, Michigan; the Los Angeles Technical Center conducting, among other things, fuel-cell research, and fuel-economy and emissions testing; a power train research in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and customer research for Daimler trucks in Portland. These research locations make sense for Daimler because North America is both a global technology center and Mercedes-Benz cars’ second-largest global market.
Why Silicon Valley?
MBRDNA opened up shop in Silicon Valley in 1995. To anyone who is involved in microelectronics and Internet technologies, the location is an obvious choice; but Mercedes-Benz was the first major auto company to establish a facility in the valley. JJ noted that the Silicon Valley environment is a fertile ground for innovation, with networking among researchers that occurs almost without effort, supportive attitudes toward risk taking and accompanying tolerance for failure, and funding and expertise to back the practical applications of promising ideas.
JJ summarized overall trends in the digital lifestyle that have taken shape in this new century. Within 10 miles of the MBRDNA shops, the integrated circuit, personal computer, and Internet were developed, he noted, and were soon followed by social media, digital music, iPods, iPhones, iPads and the mobile Internet.
These technologies are important to the generation now entering their car-buying years – JJ refers to this generation as “digital natives” because they were born into the digital age as opposed to having the technologies develop around them, the circumstances of the previous two generations. JJ noted that these digital natives are addicted to the urgency of information, connected to the digital world from before they get out of bed in the morning to after they go to bed at night. For Mercedes-Benz, this digital revolution is the fifth innovation wave born in Silicon Valley.
Though most older MBCA club members in attendance could only nod in resigned agreement, or shake their heads in dismay, I knew exactly what he was talking about and wasn’t at all surprised to where these observations would take the presentation. As Mercedes-Benz begins to conceptualize the automobiles that this generation – my generation – will drive as we come of age, the company recognized that it needed to build those cars around this newly connected culture and its new habits.
This is why MBRDNA’s location and its activities make sense. Located in Palo Alto, Mercedes-Benz researchers have been able to build close working relationships with companies such as Apple, Google, Yelp and Facebook. The resulting flow of technology is now finding its way into M-B cars – mbrace2, COMAND Online and Mercedes-Benz Apps in this country, SmartDrive in Europe – as well as services already visible on the horizon, including Digital DriveStyle and AMG Performance Media.
Advancing digital technology in cars
JJ then walked us downstairs to the combination garage and workshop where the actual hands-on development and testing takes place. On the stairs and in the lobby, our host pointed out framed presentations that highlighted the firm’s technological achievements, including its first Internet-capable car, its first hard-drive based media and navigation system, the world’s first fully in-car integrated iPod/iPhone solution, and more.
While I was impressed with Mercedes’ continuous advancements in technology for their vehicles, I was surprised to see that the implementation of most technologies in Mercedes came quite a while after these technologies had penetrated the consumer marketplace. For example, hard-disk based storage drives were already quite abundant in the early 1990s; so why, I wondered, did it take until 2006 for M-B to put them into cars? Similarly, Internet services were offered in Mercedes vehicles at the end of that decade even though they had been used outside the cars on a large scale for years beforehand.
I asked JJ about this delay. Cars, he explained, face extreme conditions that can create greater physical barriers for electronics than the average electronic device on a desk or in a pocket. In a car, electronics must withstand temperatures well into the negative on the low end and triple digits at the high end. They also face severe pounding from bumps and vibration from the engine and road. In short, implementing every-day tech in cars is delayed a few years because the technology needs to be made more robust. I had never considered that.
Of course, because safety and liability issues are inherent to placing infotainment technologies in a car, Mercedes and other manufacturers also are cautious when introducing new capabilities into their vehicles.
The present and near future
In the garages, JJ and his senior engineers demonstrated four systems recently introduced in the marketplace: mbrace2, SmartDrive, Digital Drive Style, and AMG Performance Media. Mbrace2, with available Mercedes-Benz Apps, is now installed in all new Mercedes-Benz models as they come to market; it is a combination of a traditional hard-drive-based media system and a browser-based Internet information system, controlled from the console and displayed on a screen in the dashboard’s center.
These Mercedes infotainment systems offer a number of noteworthy features. First, now you can send contact information, appointments, and routes to your car via email directly from your computer or Smartphone.
Secondly, Google Street View and Panaramio are now integrated into the car’s navigation system. These two programs allow you to preview a destination to see if there is curbside parking, to judge the look of a restaurant, or get a better idea of where you’re going.
Next is Glimpse, a program that allows for real-time location sharing. Late meeting someone for dinner? Want to let friends know you are at the park for a run and are looking for a training partner? With the Glimpse app in a Mercedes infotainment system, you can share your location to do all of these things and more. Lastly, the system can now read to you news headlines and news articles as you drive.
SmartDrive, the media system developed at MBRDNA in Palo Alto primarily for Smart Cars sold in Europe, is the first major step into the future of in-car media, utilizing a Smartphone as the car’s media system, connected to the car via a dock on the dashboard.
Now that an ever-increasing portion of the population has a Smartphone on hand at all times that can perform all of these functions and more, MBRDNA is questioning the value of a built-in car media system. Technology is advancing too rapidly to justify installing a hardware-based media system that will quickly become obsolete for functions such as navigation.
If consumers already have a device to manage their digital lifestyles that can be easily updated, taken anywhere, and perform all the functions of a built-in media system, then why not co-opt it instead of offering consumers yet another hard-wired device in the car to manage? Mercedes-Benz recognizes this, and the SmartDrive is the first practical step, foretelling the company’s future offerings. Personally, I can see this approach as the base for the next generation of in-car telematics and infotainment, completely replacing the hardware/software approach of the past and present.
This approach is already moving forward with Mercedes’ newest system –Digital Drive Style – the version of SmartDrive that will be installed in Mercedes-Benz cars. Currently available in the new A-Class introduced in Europe in 2012, it integrates the driver’s mobile device more deeply into the car via hardware mounting and connections, and an easily downloadable app. In addition to all of the basic functionality of SmartDrive, Digital Drive Style adds a social-media component, which allows users to go beyond just getting from point A to point B, but to learn about their destination or share a thought, song, point of interest, or even a news article with friends along the way. Given that the new CLA is the A-Class derivative being introduced into North America in 2013, and that the CLA is specifically targeted at the newly connected generation, I expect we’ll see Digital Drive Style as an integral feature in the CLA.
The last system demonstrated was AMG Performance Media, the first Android-based vehicle infotainment system from a large original equipment manufacturer, and is now available in the SLS coupe and roadster. Atop all the major features of Digital Drive Style, this system adds a virtual race-command center to feed the driver vehicle-status data while driving and tools to analyze performance afterward. Most technology and media in cars today – navigation, music, and social media – distracts from driving and is designed to add layers of insulation between driver and road, making for a more remote driving experience.
Conversely, AMG Performance Media uses technology to strengthen the union of driver and vehicle by providing more communication and feedback and delivering new ways to enjoy the drive (track-performance analysis, race start mode, etc.). This concept of building a digital-performance command center into a production vehicle entered a new era with the debut of the R35 Nissan GT-R four years ago. Seeing a similar system in Mercedes’ flagship performance vehicle, the SLS AMG, gives hope to this 22-year-old obsessed with cars: Mercedes is focusing more attention on performance-driving enthusiasts.
Where do we go from here?
All of this technology is just arriving to the car scene and I believe it will take a while for users to learn how and when to use all these features. We are so accustomed to merely driving, and maybe listening to the radio, or answering the occasional phone call while parked, that introducing several new features into cars all at once seemed a little daunting.
It would take a solid weekend perusing the manual and tutorials and scrolling through menus to figure out what features a system has, how to get to them, and how they’re operated. Then it will take weeks, if not months, using the system on a regular basis to really figure out how to best take advantage of what the system has to offer and integrate it into a daily routine.
I feel overwhelmed by these new-media systems – and I consider myself to be in the mainstream of the new tech-savvy and connected generation. How are my parents’ generation and their parents’ generation supposed to learn everything about a new car well enough to use it comfortably? Are they even supposed to? Is Mercedes just offering this technology to anyone who can figure it out without necessarily trying to make it easy for older consumers? I’m sure there are enough early adopters of new technologies among the baby boomers, especially in Southern California, who can afford $80,000-plus for a new car, but it will be awhile before the technology is broadly available to my digital generation.
However, the Mercedes-Benz strategy of introducing some of its sophisticated new systems first in their lower-priced cars – the Smart Car and the new A-Class – seems wise. The people who will buy those cars are more adept at mastering the systems and getting the most out of them.
JJ said that if the system is designed well, it should be easy for anyone to use. This really highlights the importance of great design in modern technology. Mercedes understands this. Just having advanced tech is no longer adequate; the most beautiful and easiest-to-use systems are the ones that will win over the most customers.
Beyond the horizon
Our tour concluded with a brief preview of technology’s role in the automobile of the future, demonstrating the possibilities of autonomy and augmented reality. This is something I want to think more about.
Autonomous vehicles, or cars that can drive themselves, are so close yet still so far away. Google already has cars that drive around video-recording our roads for Google Street View without any human intervention. They have even been declared legal in the state of California. However, implementing autonomous vehicles on public roads on a large scale with thousands of vehicles is much more complicated. The challenges that lie ahead for this technology are vehicles communicating with other vehicles, communicating with the infrastructure, and being aware of their environment to avoid collisions. JJ explained that we wouldn’t suddenly be driving autonomous vehicles overnight; the technology will enter the market slowly, taking baby steps.
Vehicles now already operate with intelligent cruise control connected to the braking system, capable of slowing, braking to a complete stop if necessary, and reaccelerating to a preset speed on their own while in cruise-control mode. They can also detect when the vehicle is about to leave its lane or when there is another vehicle in its blind spot. Cars today can even park parallel by themselves.
The next step might be having cars that steer on their own in cruise control on open highways and help drivers to exit or merge onto a freeway. Slowly, manufacturers will make vehicles capable of handling increasingly complex driving situations. The final step is creating a system reliable and safe enough to drive autonomously in a congested city with traffic lights, pedestrians, and cars pulling out of hidden driveways.
If car companies had the technology to create safe and reliable autonomous vehicles today, there are all kinds of legal questions that remain JJ said. For example, who is responsible for a collision – the driver, the car company, the company that manufactures the collision-detection instruments, all of them, none of them? It may be a while before autonomous vehicles arrive at your local Mercedes dealership, but the company is hard at work exploring and testing this technology’s possibilities.
Finally, JJ demonstrated the Mercedes-Benz vision for the future of in-car infotainment in the form of a system that MBRDNA calls “Dynamic and Intuitive Control Experience” (DICE). This system was introduced at the January 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. A few highlights included a windshield and dashboard designed as giant displays, information controlled by gestures, and augmented reality that shares information about the driver’s surroundings. With this system, drivers don’t have to take their eyes off the road to look at a tiny display and it won’t be necessary to press buttons or operate a click wheel. Lastly, DICE truly breaks the barrier between driver and environment, allowing the driver to interact with and learn more about the surroundings.
For example, if someone driving by caught your interest, you could just wave your hand to pull up a personal profile with a picture, name, and whatever other information the driver has chosen to share. If you saw a beautiful museum and would like to know its name, when it was built, and when it is open, you could just gesture toward it to display all of its information on your heads-up screen. This type of system could allow drivers to further immerse themselves in the cities they drive through and provide all kinds of new educational and social opportunities. Mercedes says this technology is not that far away. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some DICE elements such as gesture-controlled interface commands being introduced in Mercedes infotainment systems in the next couple years.
Thinking back on the visit and writing this review, I was amazed at how much material was covered in such a short time. But as JJ pointed out, staff members in MBRDNA work at a fast pace and are always thinking far into the future. It is exciting to see how far out into the future my favorite automobile company is already working, and makes me feel even a little proud that so much of it is happening in my home state and in the Bay Area where I grew up.