Take the mobile phone to the parking space, the vehicle will be unlocked first, and then take the initiative to open the door, you get on the car and press the pedal, the entire car action is completed.
This is a daily use scenario of the owner of The HiPhi X, but it is still very complicated to achieve accurate and elegant feedback from the vehicle to the owner in the entire scene.
First, the car will first get in touch with your phone or key to unlock the vehicle, then use UWB technology to obtain your direction and distance, and then further obtain centimeter-level positioning through the ultrasonic sensor on the door to determine the angle at which the door opens. Finally, the door is triggered to the brake pedal.
This principle is actually not difficult for vehicle engineers, so why didn't the previous vehicles develop this function that looks more elegant and more convenient to use?
At the end of the day, it's due to the limitations of the EEA's (Electrical and Electronic Architecture) capabilities.
01
What is an EEA?
The overall concept of EEA (Electrical/Electronic Architecture) was proposed by Delphi Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of automotive wiring harness systems, in 2007, referring to the concept of integrating the principle design of the electronic and electrical system of the automobile, the design of the central electrical box, the design of the connector, the design of the electronic and electrical distribution system of the whole vehicle.
This sounds very complicated, but you can understand the EEA as the "vein" of the vehicle, which connects the ECU, controller, sensor, and actuator of the vehicle through the wiring harness of the entity, so that they have "communication", that is, two-way data communication.
Obviously, as the wave of intelligence sweeps through the automotive industry, the electronic functions of vehicles are becoming more and more complex, which requires the introduction of a large number of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) to achieve the corresponding functions, and this number will reach hundreds of traditional fuel vehicles.
The increase in the number of ECUs not only means that the failure rate and maintenance difficulty are improved, but also poses a challenge to the overall management ability of the vehicle's electronic system. The core of the problem is that the ECU comes from different suppliers, and the protocols are not interoperable with each other, which is extremely unfavorable to the upgrade and linkage of functions.
Therefore, in order to get back more initiative, we can achieve stronger soft and hard decoupling capabilities, and then get more functional linkage and OTA. The EEA is on the path of reducing the number of ECUs and enhancing integration, and the EEA is evolving from a distributed architecture to a multi-domain centralized architecture.
At the beginning of the Construction of the Gaohe brand of Huaren Express, it was clearly realized that the ability to decouple soft and hard and OTAs was the key to the EEA. Therefore, Gaohe developed H-SOA (HiPhi Service Oriented Architecture) super-body electronic and electrical architecture, which is divided into six computing platforms to manage the whole vehicle, namely the entertainment domain computing platform IDCM, the autonomous driving domain computing platform ADCM, the power and chassis domain computing platform VDCM, the body domain computing platform BDCM, the central gateway CGW, and the V-Box communication computing platform.
The advantages of H-SOA are reflected in three aspects:
High level of integration;
Efficient data collection, transmission and analysis capabilities;
Development tools are unified, efficient, and open.
This allows the vehicle to achieve cross-hardware functional reorganization and mobilization, and then add more scene applications, and even create new use scenarios.
Speaking of architectural advantages alone, there is no perception for consumption. Below we combine some scenes and functions to sort out.
02
Get the door out of the "machine"
I have borrowed Gaohe HiPhi X before, parked downstairs in the company, as long as the back door is opened, there are passers-by to inquire, want to experience this unique way of entering the back row.
The high-hex spread wing door on the HiPhi X is indeed the most eye-catching place for this car. My first impression of the HiPhi X is that it is built on the unique opening method of the back row, and I believe that most people are like this.
When it comes to car doors, everyone doesn't think there are many scientific and technological attributes in this. On some sports cars, we can see that there are many cool ways to open the doors, and dig into the history is also quite old, such as the gull wing door (Mercedes-Benz 300SL), the scissor door (Alfa Romeo Carabo), the eagle wing door (Tesla Model X) and so on.
The original intention of the design of the high-speed wing door is to solve the problem of passengers with limited mobility in two or three rows or wearing short skirts, which are inconvenient when getting on and off the car. Chen Jun, founding partner and co-CTO of Huaren Express Gaohe Automobile, led the team to study the eagle wing door and sliding door provided by the supplier, but still decided to tackle the tough problems themselves and successfully completed the mission through the original split wing spread door.
But what we see is only innovation in engineering ideas and design. In order to make this set of wingspan doors out of the mechanical properties of the sports car door and become a smart door, it needs the underlying support of H-SOA.
For example, when it rains, how do you keep the top wing doors that open in the second row that open upwards not open? The solution is to add a rainfall sensor that lets the vehicle know how much rain is in place and decide whether to turn it on.
For example, when the passenger is close to the door, or when there is a foreign object blocking, it is necessary to increase the ultrasonic radar to accurately determine the distance and then determine the opening angle.
But this still doesn't seem smart enough, just optimized on the daily experience of mechanical special-shaped doors, and does not play the power of H-SOA. The software and hardware are fully decoupled to release the imagination, at this time the manufacturer needs to bring in the real use scenario of the user, and call the "muscle" of this body for the scene.
This brings us to the scene at the beginning of the article where the vehicle automatically unlocks, opens the door, and even accurately opens a door for you through the determination of distance. Of course, no matter how the manufacturer brings the "main perspective" for the user's consideration, the subjective perception of the user experience, like the corner case (extreme case) in automatic driving, cannot be 100% satisfied and covered. Therefore, Gaohe also supports the definition of the opening and closing speed of the door on the car machine, gives users a lot of permissions, and also reserves an OTA channel to update more gameplay in the future.
03
A new trick for lights
We often see Gaohe official display the cool function of the headlights, project zebra crossings on the ground, and even custom patterns. In addition to the eye-catching wingspan doors, it seems that this all-digital lighting system that can directly interact with people can more intuitively reflect the advantages of Gaohe H-SOA.
The all-digital lighting system on the HiPhi X consists of an infrared camera, a standalone LIGHTING MASTER chip and PML programmable smart headlights that primarily assist the driver, as well as ISD smart interactive lights for external communication.
PML (Programmable Matrix Lighting) programmable intelligent headlights, by 2.6 million pieces of reflective micromirrors according to the pixel level of the light zone segmentation, through the electrical signal to control the voltage of the electrodes at both ends of the mirror, to achieve each microreflector +/-12 ° stepless deflection, the LED light accurate projection. In addition to the high-precision, fast-responding projection, pmL headlights stand out as the name suggests, "programmable".
Based on this hardware, the HiPhi X pair upgrades the ordinary near and far light to 4 types that can be automatically switched, including standard low beam, urban high beam, standard high beam, and cluster beam high beam. Under the advantage of "programmability", GAOHE also prepares some basic functions for users to assist driving:
When changing lanes at a speed greater than 30 km/h, if there are other vehicles in the rear blind spot on the side of the target lane, the PML headlights will project a high-brightness flashing icon on the road ahead to remind the driver to pay attention to the blind spot;
When turning at a speed of less than 25 km/h, the PML headlights will project a dynamic steering arrow on the corresponding side of the steering, prompting drivers in other lanes to pay attention to avoidance;
When driving at a speed of less than 25 km/h in poor conditions or on narrow roads, pmL headlights will project a "light blanket" in the direction of the vehicle, providing the driver with auxiliary judgment of driving trajectory and passability;
When deviating from the lane on the side, pmL headlights project a warning line (20 m long and 0.5 m wide) to provide drivers with a notice of lane departure.
On top of these basic functions, Gaohe guides users to explore more use scenarios of PML programmable smart headlamps. For example, "pedestrian courtesy" refers to the use of PML headlights to project a "zebra crossing" in front of the P-slot after being hung up in the P-stop to remind pedestrians to pass.
If you've played with this system, you can project custom text directly from the machine.
THE ISD Smart Interactive Light, on the other hand, is a four-led matrix consisting of 1,712 LED light sources. When driving normally, ISD is an additional complement to daytime running lights, position lights, turn signals, brake lights, and reversing lights. However, in specific scenarios, it can intelligently display personalized memes to achieve communication and interaction with the outside world.
To achieve the above functions, in fact, it is not simply dependent on the independent work of the all-digital lighting system, but also needs to rely on the vehicle to share the driver's operating signal, which requires the EEA to share data quickly and accurately. The PML programmable intelligent headlights and ISD intelligent interaction lights not only realize the linkage in the scene, but also support a deep degree of customization, which is based on the architecture of Gaohe's H-SOA.
04
How to simplify complexity?
Smartphones have evolved to this day, and the chip performance has become more and more powerful, but in the face of more types and functions of the original app, my efficiency of using the phone is greatly reduced, I believe many people have the same feeling as me.
Therefore, whether it is iOS or Android, have launched a "shortcut" function, combined with voice assistants, we can compress the complex and lengthy operation chain, the native software and third-party software linkage, directly use the relevant functions, but also get an exclusive experience.
In the face of a vehicle with many functions, the problem we encounter is actually similar to that of mobile phones, and Gaohe's solution is "scene card", which arranges the linkage of related functions by capturing the user's use of the scene. You can think of it as a modifiable and automatic instruction set similar to a mobile phone "shortcut".
Here we take the "lunch break mode" to give a practical example, when you get on the car, through the voice activation of this scene, the seat will be a key down, and the posture will directly become the best state after your first adjustment, and even refine to the air conditioning temperature, window angle, there are corresponding actions.
But this is still not "smart", we open the imagination, according to their own habits, preferences, and then upgrade it.
You can add richer functions to this scene, such as you can set a fixed time period after getting on the car, the car machine actively asks whether to open the "lunch break mode", you can also let the car machine broadcast a hot spot for you, and then connect with soothing light music, and even can mobilize the atmosphere lights and fragrance at will to create a more comfortable lunch break scene.
And all of this, when properly arranged, will be very convenient and private. Of course, you can upload to the cloud and share it with other Gaohe riders, and you can also download other people's "scene cards". Up to now, the various "scene cards" on Gaohe HiPhi X have been very rich, covering various scenes.
For example, the "Immersive Mode Scene Card", after activating this scene, the vehicle will simulate the feeling of the ocean, forest and universe through the linkage of seats, fragrances and atmosphere lights;
Another example is the "one-click ball viewing scene card", which is transformed into a "ball viewing audio room" by linking microclimate systems such as air conditioning and filtering in the car, as well as audio, seats, and mood lights;
Like "Queen Drive", "Pet Mode", "Home Mode", "Rainy Weather Scenario Mode", these are some real user scenarios covered by scene cards.
You can directly download these more mature "situation cards" on the car machine and modify them according to your own needs to achieve a near-perfect match.
This is just a little bit of the idea provided by Gaohe official, because after providing this "HiPhi Play" interface similar to the "shortcut" of mobile phones to users, they can customize their own various scenes to achieve a real thousand faces. You can also share and download scene cards that use others. The imagination and creativity of the people are unlimited, as long as the enthusiasm of users is mobilized, the "scene cards" that are easy to use will emerge endlessly.
In essence, this is due to the construction work of Gaohe in the middleware. "Middleware", in the computer, is the software that lies in the middle of two software, which is simply the bridge between the application software and the system software. Through the improvement of middleware, Gaohe will reorganize and mobilize more than 500 sensors and more than 300 electronic control actuators in the whole vehicle, which is the key to the work of App and scene definition.
This is only a unified interface for H-SOA for users, for professional App or third-party developers, Gaohe also provides unified development tools, so that developers can provide more functional expansion for users' "scene cards" and quickly enrich Gaohe's content ecology.
05
Write at the end
When we use mobile phones, some people like native themes, some people like custom themes, and we can play our personality at will on the software of mobile phones. In the century-old wisdom crystallization of the automobile, the shape and function of the vehicle are becoming more and more convergent, and our personality is largely suppressed.
However, driven by the wave of intelligence, we can not only get excellent native software experience on the software of the vehicle, and a deep degree of customization rights, but also can even transcend the definition of pure software on the mobile phone, and fully link the two parts of hardware and software through the decoupling of software and hardware on the smart car, which gives us more novel experiences and more possibilities.
Yes, this is what many companies are talking about "user co-creation", but there is a big gap in the depth of moisture.
On HiPhi X, we saw that Gaohe is based on the H-SOA architecture, extending a lot of interesting functions, and how to play the advantages of this underlying architecture and make it really serve you, which requires you to open the car machine and play it well.
Written by: Liu Guangzhen
Editor: Liu Guangzhen
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