EcoCar2: User Interface Final Report

Spring Semester 2013

-Full Report-

by

David Daines

Bryce Wujek

Prepared to partially fulfill the requirements for

ECE402

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado 80523

Project advisors: Dr.Thomas Bradley and Dr. Peter Young

Approved by: Dr. Thomas Bradley

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Abstract

The use of graphical user interfaces and human machine interfaces has grown recently

due to the complexity of the design and operation of what once were simple machines, such as

automobiles. Due to the technological advancements in the hybrid-electric automotive industry,

more complex computers are needed to control the moving parts and machinery in these

vehicles. However, consumers need the ability to control these intricate cars in a simple,

comfortable environment. Graphical user interfaces have bridged the gap between multifaceted

design and the simple consumer. The Colorado State University “EcoCar2: Plugging into the

Future” design team is involved in a multiple university competition to develop a vehicle with

reduced tail pipe emissions in association with the U.S. Department of Energy and General

Motors. The CSU team has chosen to take a zero tail pipe emissions approach by using a

hydrogen fuel cell plug-in electric design. A branch of the CSU EcoCar2 design team is the User

Interface Team. We are tasked with the challenge of connecting the vehicle operator to this

innovative design.

To accomplish this task we have taken a few approaches to ensure an enjoyable and safe

environment, while displaying the technical side of the car design as a whole. The design of the

interface includes deliverables required by the competition guidelines: control of the heating and

air condition system, AM/FM radio, and the display of competition required data (Battery

temperature, hydrogen pressure, etc.). We have also set goals to match the industry competition

by offering the user with an entertainment environment including: Bluetooth hands-free talk

capability, DVD/Blue-Ray viewing, back-up camera, GPS navigation, and Satellite radio. We are

currently in the final stages of putting our final design onto the embedded system that will

control these processes, and laying a foundation for next year’s user interface team to complete

the final tasks required by the project. Our initial approach was to use a trial and error design of

the interface but we have moved in another direction due to ordering conflicts of material and the

availability of new software. The new design uses a foundation program called Car2 that was

provided by an EcoCar sponsor company. We have built off and redesigned the image to

accurately fit the needs of the hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle. The competition requirements

have changed throughout the semester as HVAC and radio controls have been removed from

year two’s responsibilities.

Looking at the products of industry leaders such as Chevy, Ford, and even high-end Tesla

models; we have laid the foundation for the teams design leading into next year, the last year of

the competition. Due to the availability of open source Graphical User Interface design

programs our current results confirm and even extend state-of-the-art proposals because of the

hydrogen fuel cell layout of the team’s vehicle.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1

List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. 3

List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 4

Chapter I: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4

Chapter II: Background and Project Motivation ............................................................................. 7

2.1 Background of GUIs ............................................................................................................. 7

2.2 Industry Research Applications ............................................................................................ 8

2.3 Project Motivation .............................................................................................................. 11

Chapter III: GUI Technology........................................................................................................ 11

3.1 Freescale Processor Board .................................................................................................. 11

3.2 Touchscreens....................................................................................................................... 13

3.3 Software .............................................................................................................................. 15

Chapter IV: First Semester Progress ............................................................................................. 17

4.1 Semester One Progress ....................................................................................................... 17

4.2 First Semester Project Complications ................................................................................. 21

4.3 First Semester Issues ........................................................................................................... 21

Chapter V: Second Semester Progress .......................................................................................... 22

5.1 Semester Two Progress ....................................................................................................... 22

5.2 Semester Two Project Complications ................................................................................. 26

5.3 Current Status...................................................................................................................... 28

5.4 Future Work ........................................................................................................................ 28

Chapter VI: Marketability and Ethics ........................................................................................... 29

6.1 Marketability ....................................................................................................................... 29

6.2 Budget ................................................................................................................................. 30

6.3 Ethics................................................................................................................................... 30

Chapter VII: Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 33

7.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 33

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 34

Appendix B ................................................................................................................................... 34

Production Unit-Cost ............................................................................................................ 36

Appendix C ................................................................................................................................... 37

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 45

References ..................................................................................................................................... 46

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List of Figures Figure 1: Industry User Interfaces, (a) Tesla Model S, (b) Chevy MyLink, (c) MyFord Touch ......................................... 8 Figure 2: Freesacle i.MX 6 Automotive Infotainment Board ........................................................................................ 12 Figure 3: Processor board with touchscreen ................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 4: Initial design layout ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5: Sub-menu design layouts .............................................................................................................................. 19 Figure 6: Main home screen design ............................................................................................................................. 19 Figure 7: Competition Data Display ............................................................................................................................. 23 Figure 8: New Radio Layout ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 9: Application File System Flow Chart ............................................................................................................... 24 Figure 10: Resources File System Flow Chart ............................................................................................................... 25 Figure 11: Touchscreen Bezel Design ........................................................................................................................... 27

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List of Tables Table 1: Different design options that were considered .............................................................................................. 18 Table 2: Proposed Budget ............................................................................................................................................ 34 Table 3: Total Expenditures for the Year ...................................................................................................................... 36

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Chapter I: Introduction

With growing environmental concerns around the world, hybrid electric vehicles have

taken center stage in automobile technology. The Colorado State University “EcoCar2: Plugging

into the Future” design team is attempting to take hybrid electric vehicles to new heights with a

newly-developed hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid electric design. EcoCar2 is a design

competition between 15 universities that challenges students to reduce the environmental impact

of a donated 2013 Chevrolet Malibu by General Motors. With new technological developments

come new challenges. In the user interface design group, our challenge is to create a friendly

infotainment environment in this hydrogen-electric powered vehicle by designing a graphical

user interface for the center stack console in our car. With new enhancements of the engine and

transmission as well as other components, new sensors and measurements are needed for a well

performing automobile. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) and human machine interfaces (HMI)

surround our everyday lives in cell phones, TVs, computers, and are now being placed in our

modes of transportation. The human machine interface enables a human to control the hardware

in a machine, while a GUI is the software that makes this control easy and user friendly for the

everyday individual. With the advancement of embedded systems, GUIs have become the focus

of some of the most powerful companies in the world like Apple, Google and Microsoft. Users

are able to accomplish more with less.

These days, many of the industry’s top hybrid electric vehicles have incorporated touch

screen graphical user interface systems that offer the operator many different options. These

options can include hands-free Bluetooth capability, satellite radio, DVD/Blue-Ray viewing,

GPS navigation, back-up cameras, and economic functions. Our goal is to incorporate as many

of these ideas into our design as our deadlines and finances see fit. We are motivated by many

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different examples that we have researched: the MyFord Touch, the Tesla Model S, and the

Chevy MyLink. These three different interfaces bring separate positive qualities to the table and

provided us with information as to how automobile GUIs work, and have given us many ideas

that we have considered in including in our design. Since GUIs have only been implemented in

cars for around ten years, there is still room for us to develop new features as well.

While touch screen GUIs have broken into the automobile industry, our challenge is to

incorporate a parallel system to that of the industry leaders such as GM, Toyota, Honda, Audi,

and Mercedes in the team’s new hydrogen fuel cell design. Our interface needs to be able to

control the cars basic features: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition system (HVAC), and the

AM/FM radio. The competition also requires that we output basic information about hydrogen

levels of the vehicle, economic statistics about the ride, and any other important information that

we feel are necessary to the operator of the vehicle. These deliverables are the major priorities of

our group, but adding extra features to the interface on top of these deliverables is our goal. We

will be performing these functions through a donated embedded system from Freescale called the

IMX.6 Automobile Infotainment board. This system is coupled with a large touch screen

replacing the entire existing center stack console in the Malibu as well as other touch screens that

may be added throughout the car. With these components the consumer has the capability to

have the ultimate driving and entertainment experience. [2]

This report is divided into chapters. Chapter 2 describes the background and history of

GUIs in automobiles. Chapter 3 contains information about the components and software that is

being used throughout the project. Chapter 4 presents a description of the work that has been

completed, the work that was accomplished in the first semester of the project, as well as the

problems that we had to face. Chapter 5 presents the work that is currently taking place as well

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as the work that was completed throughout the second semester. Chapter 6 describes the

marketability of the project, our budget for the year, and the various ethical issues that we had to

account for. Chapter 7 contains the conclusions of our work for the year, as well as plans for

future groups.

Chapter II: Background and Project Motivation

2.1 Background of GUIs

Graphical user interfaces have been around since the first computers were introduced in

the 1950s and 60s. However, only until recently has this extremely convenient and effective

software broken into the automotive industry. Due to the complexity of modern day vehicles, the

everyday individual needed a simple way to control the multifaceted abilities of their automobile.

It has since been one of the most integral components in cars rolling through assembly lines and

onto the streets. User interfaces in automobiles began with simple features like integrated MP3

player capability and GPS, but have grown into powerful computers with infinite features and

functions that fit into the dashboard of the car. With the development of wireless technology and

smartphones, consumers have a rising need to be “connected” to the world at all times. Recently,

a few of the world’s largest automobile producers have released extremely diverse GUIs into

their newer models.

Fords models have been released with the MyFord Touch system which attempts to

integrate the daily needs of consumers while trying to keep the drivers hands on the wheel. This

system is equipped with hands-free calling, satellite radio, GPS, and even the internet. Chevy’s

MyLink System comes with the same features in its vehicles. The electric automotive company

of Tesla came out with a user interface with a touch screen GUI that has twice the screen area of

the MyFord Touch and MyLink, and controls nearly everything in the car. With these designs we

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were able to explore the different options that we can include in our design, as well as check the

feasibility of others.

2.2 Industry Research Applications

The feasibility of our user interface project was determined by assessing previous vehicle

UI’s and reviewing consumer and agencies’ opinions of features. Using this assessment, we

compared our own design to popular automotive industry designs. The three designs we focused

on were the stock Chevrolet Malibu GUI already installed in our vehicle, the MyFord Touch

system, and the Tesla Model S GUI. Seeing as these designs had various industry standards to

abide by, we thought these user interface systems were suitable for comparison.

Over the years, the MyFord Touch system has been accumulating poor approval ratings

from customers because it did not prove to be user friendly. Even though recent updates to the

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 1: Industry User Interfaces, (a) Tesla Model S, (b) Chevy MyLink, (c) MyFord Touch

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system have seen increasing numbers of user approval ratings, the original model is a good start

for analyzing poor user interface design. Thanks to a representative at Mercedes-Benz, this

particular example of poor design was brought to our attention. The main problems with this

design are ease of access to core commands, distraction to the driver, and reliability of correct

menu buttons being pressed. The MyFord Touch system’s most common complaint from

consumers was the difficulty in performing simple tasks. For example, operating the climate or

volume controls was problematic. With our design, we are most likely restricted from physical

knobs. Our proposed touch panel will include the majority of the center console including

HVAC and radio controls. Since we do not want to make the same mistakes, the analysis of

these different problems was beneficial to our team. [4]

The next system we analyzed was the Chevy MyLink system which we uninstalled from

our 2013 Chevy Malibu. At first look, this system seemed very user friendly and easy to use.

When we first received the car, we had the opportunity of seeing how the features of the Chevy

MyLink worked. As far as the industry is concerned, the MyLink system received far better

reviews compared to the MyFord Touch user interface. The old Chevrolet user interface system

did not receive the best rankings and customers complained about how the buttons were too

small and were hard to locate conveniently. Chevy also received complaints about how the

system had so many buttons and functions that it was difficult to find the right function in the

appropriate amount of time. [6] They took these different complaints to heart when they

designed the new Chevy MyLink GUI. When designing the new system, the engineers took a

more minimalistic approach. They decided that any function not absolutely needed in the overall

function of the user interface system could be discarded. This design approach proved to be very

successful and both the industry professionals and customers loved the simplicity of the design

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and the reviews showed it. Even the writers over at CNET Reviews described the new design as

“overwhelmingly simple.” Even though some of the functionality had been diminished, for

example, the CD player was removed; consumers thought the new design was much better than

the old Chevy system. Our user interface team learned from the design engineers at Chevy. We

wanted to implement a minimalistic design which would create a pleasing user experience. In

our design, minimalism was accomplished by simply reducing the screen clutter and creating a

submenu layout which is easy to navigate. [5]

Another industry design which approached this minimalistic view is the new Tesla Model

S user interface system. The Tesla Motors car company is one of the top innovators in the

electric car industry. They are known for creating luxury electric cars which have the looks and

appeal of an Aston Martin, not to mention speed. The performance models can go 0 – 60mph in

just under four and a half seconds. The user interface of the new Model S received raving

reviews from consumers and professionals. This is a rare accomplishment considering the GUI

system is completely touchscreen based. There aren’t any physical knobs or buttons. All primary

functions including climate control, audio, and navigation are all on the touchscreen itself. The

design achieves a simplistic approach, is very user friendly, and keeps the driver safe with large

buttons and intuitional menu layouts. The Tesla Model S user interface is the GUI that our team

wanted to base our model off of considering it achieves everything we want it to achieve with

simplicity and safety in mind. Also, like our user interface, the Tesla GUI is completely

touchscreen based. Hopefully by the end of the project, our user interface will have these aspects

implemented into our design. Throughout the design process, we will constantly be comparing

our design to the design of the Model S. [3]

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2.3 Project Motivation

The motivation for our group is to incorporate all of the best designs from these

manufacturers and integrate them with the state of the art hydrogen fuel cell plug-in electric

design. We want to bridge the gap between the complexities of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle

and the typical consumer driving it. We are driven by the growing need for the users to

constantly be connected to everyone around them, and to be able to contribute to such an

inventive project as a whole energizes us to create an innovative product. With the hybrid-

electric car industry becoming a major contributor to reducing greenhouse gas and tail pipe

emissions, our portion of the design will show the user exactly what they’re doing to reduce their

carbon footprint.

Chapter III: GUI Technology

3.1 Freescale Processor Board

The work horse behind our user interface team’s design is one of the latest and greatest

applications processor boards from Freescale technologies. The i.MX processor family is

extremely versatile and has many different applications. This board platform is typically used

or multimedia and display applications. The processor hardware is based on Advanced RISC

Machine (ARM) technology for an optimal balance of power, performance, and integration. The

various i.MX solutions include processors based on ARM9, ARM11, ARM Cortex-A8, and

ARM Cortex-A9 core technologies. These processors are powering applications across a rapidly

growing number of consumer, automotive, and industrial markets. The i.MX processor family

can be used for automotive, consumer, industrial, medical, and networking applications.

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The specific board we are using is called the i.MX6 Quad Applications Processor board.

It contains the capabilities that we need to maximize user satisfaction. It features an ARM

Cortex-A9 NEON MPE (Media Processing Engine) quad-core processor with up to 1.2GHz of

processing power per core. They include 2D and 3D graphics processors, 3D 1080p video

processing, and integrated power management. Each processor includes a 64-bit memory

interface and a number of other interfaces for connecting third party peripherals including

wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, GPS, hard drive, displays, and camera sensors.

The board has many other features that will be very useful for our team. The multilevel

memory system of each processor is based on powerful layered data caches and internal and

external memory. The processors support many different types of external memory devices with

some including: double data rate type three (DDR3), flash (both NAND and NOR), and cellular

random access memory (RAM). The processors are also equipped with smart speed technology.

This power management technology enables optimum flow of multimedia features while

Figure 2: Freesacle i.MX 6 Automotive Infotainment Board

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consuming a minimum amount of power. Considering our vehicle is powered by electricity it is

essential that we try to minimize power consumption while maximizing user satisfaction. With

that said, the processors also have the ability of dynamic voltage and frequency scaling. This

improves the power efficiency of devices by scaling the voltage and frequency to optimize

performance. The powerful graphics processing will be helpful for displaying on multiple

screens simultaneously. Each processor provides three independent, integrated graphics

processing units including both 2D and 3D graphics accelerators.

The i.MX6 board has many different types of connections which will prove beneficial in

creating the ultimate user experience. Each processor supports connections to a variety of

different interfaces including an LCD controller for up to four displays, CMOS sensor interface,

high-speed USB, multiple high-speed expansion card ports (secure digital input output), Ethernet

controller port, and a variety of other popular interfaces (universal asynchronous

receiver/transmitter [UART]).

The board features ports for automotive environments. One of the most important input

ports on the board is the controller area network (CAN) port. Historically, the CAN bus was

originally designed for automotive applications and allows processor controllers and devices to

communicate with each other inside a vehicle without a host computer. This port communicates

with the Chevy Malibu’s heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) control system and

will allow us to control the climate inside the car. It also has an asynchronous sample rate

converter for multichannel and multisource audio. [1]

3.2 Touchscreens

The in-dash touchscreen will be the main interface between the user and the audio,

HVAC system, radio, GPS, etc. Thankfully, Freescale gave us, along with our processor board,

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a 10.1 inch touchscreen to simulate display outputs and inputs. The touchscreen connects

directly into the board and does not require any external power source. This is the touchscreen

that we used in our final design and was installed in the car.

One of our original goals for our infotainment system was to have two touchscreens

mounted to the back of the driver

seat and the passenger seat for

rear vehicle entertainment.

However, due to time constraints

this goal will be a project for next

year’s user interface team.

Immersion Corporation

generously donated three

touchscreens to the user interface

group which will eventually be installed in the rear seats. Each touchscreen boasts an 8.4-inch

LCD monitor equipped with Immersion’s TouchSense technology. Instead of using typical

capacitive technology, the screen uses resistive technology which senses resistive touch when

pressed. TouchSense technology includes what is called haptic feedback. This is a tactile

feedback technology which signals the user when the screen has been pressed through vibration.

In simpler terms, when the screen is pushed it gives the user a sensation that the virtual onscreen

button presses and releases. Along with the touchscreens, Immersion supplied our team with a

demonstration software program to give us a feel of how we might implement the screens in our

vehicle. Four demonstration programs were included. The Automotive Controls demonstration

simulated audio, climate, phone, and navigation systems. The Sample Effects demonstration

Figure 3: Processor board with touchscreen

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allowed our team to explore the range of tactile sensations that are possible with Immersion’s

TouchSense technology. After exploring these two demonstrations, our team realized we could

use the screens for much more than just displays. The other two demonstrations were

superfluous and were not necessarily needed. These screens have the ability to add more

versatility to the car rather than simply displaying a movie. For example, the rear seat

passengers would have audio browsing options, web-surfing capabilities, etc. Some

specifications of the Immersion touchscreen include the following: Heavy duty steel chassis,

standard panel mounting, video graphics array (VGA) input, USB communications port, rear

access on-screen display (OSD) buttons, and wide viewing angles.

3.3 Software

Graphical user interface layout is extremely important in designing automotive user

interfaces and requires powerful, specialized software programs to develop. In the automotive

industry, one of the goals a GUI designer is faced with is creating a menu layout which

minimizes driver distraction and is both efficient and user friendly. Our team has done extensive

research on which program to use and ended up narrowing it down between three software tools.

The first software tool we considered using is called Qt. Qt is a full development

framework with tools to design user interfaces for embedded systems and mobile platforms. One

of the tools included is the Qt Creator Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This tool

will provide us with the means to create a user interface. It is specifically tailored for user

interface designers and is actually used to create some GUIs in the automotive industry. Qt will

allow us to develop animated UIs using QML (Qt Meta Language [similar to C++]). Some of the

features include the following: C++ and JavaScript code editor, integrated UI designer, project

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and build management tools, support for version control, a mobile UI simulator, and support for

mobile platforms. [7]

The second software we considered using is Mentor Embedded Inflexion UI created by

Mentor Graphics. This software would enable our group to build GUIs with reduced effort

considering there is not any programming involved with the initial fabrication process. It offers

support for the embedded Linux system we will be running on our board. The Inflexion software

program uses a drag-and-drop approach to implement a user interface. It has proven to make full

use of the graphics accelerator embedded in our i.MX6 processor board using 2D, 2.5D, and

even 3D menu effects. [8]

The Qt and Inflexion software tools each have their own benefits and downfalls. One

benefit of Qt is the ability to completely customize each aspect of the GUI by coding table ratios

and spacing. Inflexion simply does not have this flexibility since it is not code based. However,

because Inflexion is not code based but more drag-and-drop based, it is a benefit because the

program is user friendly. Not only is Inflexion user friendly but it saves our team time and will

allow us to manage our time more efficiently. Instead of sitting in front of a screen all day

coding our GUI, we can spend our time and focus on other facets of the project as well. Take for

example, analyzing CAN bus signals, testing, coding the Linux embedded file system, etc. The

inflexion software also features a runtime tool. This tool will allow us to simulate the GUI’s

menus and behavior. One last convenience of Inflexion is that it is optimized for full 3D effects

with animations without additional hardware or software. We want our display use the full

potential of our board and run 3D graphics so that the user will have an aesthetically pleasing

experience. Coding a 3D model in Qt would be tremendously time consuming and is feasibly

impossible considering our team’s experience in C++ and time constraint.

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The third software tool that was considered and used was QNX Car2 software. This

software was provided by QNX through the EcoCar program. QNX generously provided the

source code to a foundational image that runs on the Freescale boards. Due to the infancy of

hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles our team will have to redesign many of the menus to apply

them to our vehicles design.

Chapter IV: First Semester Progress

4.1 Semester One Progress

Our halfway point progress was met with many challenges. Unfortunately, many of these

challenges were out of our control. Many of our sponsors were to provide us with the necessary

equipment needed to start the project in September. However, due to the fact that many of the

EcoCar2 teams would not have a user interface development team until the final year (this is the

second year of three) of the competition, this deadline was moved back to November. Due to

Figure 4: Initial design layout

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these difficulties, our group placed most of the focus on the concept development stage of our

design and coding research.

Our original process was to design the user interface through trial and error due to the

ability of GUI design software, like QT or Inflexion, to easily change the layout of the display.

However, due to the lack of the correct hardware needed to properly utilize this process we

decided to design the layouts while we wait to receive the hardware. Using Photoshop and

Illustrator, we designed the separate windows for our GUI after examining the interfaces from

the MyFord Touch, the Tesla Model S, and the Chevy MyLink. Figure (4) shows an initial

design layout that was used as a foundation to our final design. Due to the area of the touch

screen that we are going to receive, we have the ability to display many of the cars features on a

designated “home screen” much like in a smartphone. The display will be divided into

segments, with the navigation panel and menu panel remaining constant throughout the multiple

menus and sub menus that the design will offer. Our design is based on the idea of looking

elegant, but remaining simple to

cut down on driver distractions for

safety. The driving force behind

our design is based upon multiple

concepts that we feel will make

our design extremely feasible and

user friendly: Minimal driver

distraction, minimal time to

navigate the menus, simple, and

aesthetically pleasing to use.

Table 1: Different design options that were considered

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We’ve researched many different options for each of the features that we would like to make

available to the consumer. Table(1) shows the diverse set of possibilities that we can use to

achieve our goals and succeed in the industry.

The design that we finalized as our goal to integrate

into the system is shown in Figure (6). The menu buttons on

the bottom of the screen as well as the GPS navigation and

time panes on the top will remain throughout the design as the

user switches to different sub-menus. The black region in this

screen is the location of these sub-menus. Sub-menus that we

feel are necessary for the automobile are: energy usage,

AM/FM tuner, auxiliary music, HVAC and climate controls,

and hands-free Bluetooth calling, along with many others.

Figure (7) shows four mock-ups of the design of these smaller

Figure 5: Main home screen

design

Figure 6: Sub-menu design layouts

(a) (b) (c) (d)

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menus. Part (a) in the figure shows the radio controls menu and auxiliary entertainment menu,

(b) illustrates the climate control sub-menu, (c) illustrates the hydrogen fuel cell and battery level

menu, and (d) displays the hands-free phone menu.

Once the design portion of the project was completed we turned our attention to getting

the required hardware so we could start on the programming portion of the project. After a

number of phone calls to our sponsors we decided to use a part of our budget to purchase the

Freescale i.MX6 Automobile Infotainment board that we needed to begin the preliminary

programming steps. Since we received one of these boards from our sponsors in the second

semester, we had two at our disposal to give our interface more processing power and

possibilities.

Before we could get started on the programming portion, all of the necessary software

needed to be downloaded, installed, and tested on the computer. Dr. Bradley was kind enough to

supply us with a computer that we could use as a designated host machine for the project. After

removing Windows and installing a Linux operating system called Ubuntu, we began to

download the necessary drivers to perform the work that we needed. One of the tools that we

needed for the project was a Linux Based Target Builder (LTIB), which allows us to do all of the

programming on a computer and write an image to an SD card that can be mounted in the i.MX6.

This proved to be more difficult than expected. After many reboots and dead-end debugging we

found that the Freescale LTIB that we were using was not compatible with the newest versions

of Ubuntu. After downgrading to Ubuntu version 11.10 we were able to correctly install the

program. Earlier in the year, Freescale offered a free training seminar to students on building

Linux kernels and using them in their embedded systems. In the seminar a Freescale

representative took the group through a series of labs that taught us how to boot the i.MX6 with a

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precompiled image, build LTIB, use a universal boot loader, compile Linux kernels, and load a

Qt development demo. Much of the GUI development software is based on the C++ language.

However, none of us are well versed in C++ driven programming. So the first seminar proved

extremely valuable to our team, and set us up to hit the ground running into 2013.

4.2 First Semester Project Complications

As stated in the previous section, the major source of concern for the first semester was

receiving the components, mainly the touch screen, which was to be provided to us before the

competition-wide car inspection deadline in March 2013. The delay in receiving the i.MX 6

board was a major issue in the development of the project, which is why we decided to use some

of our budget (Appendix B) and eat the cost of purchasing the board. Since we waited until the

initial November delivery date before we decided to pull the trigger on this decision, certain

areas of our project timeline were pushed back to account for the wait period. We were in

constant contact with a GUI developer from Mentor Graphics about their Inflexion software.

This software would have saved us the hassle and time of having to program the foundation of

the board and simplify the task to a basic drag-and-drop option.

Another situation that we had to deal with was driver distractions and safety issues.

While we felt our GUI design was less of a distraction than many of the leading manufacturers, it

was still cause for concern. There are a large number of standards involving vehicle displays our

GUI must abide by. The current layout follows all of these standards but we needed to continue

to check these standards as the GUI is developed on the board.

4.3 First Semester Issues

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Throughout the latter end of the first semester of the project we experienced issues with

installing the LTIB driver as described in previous sections. While we seemed to have solved the

problem by downloading an older version of the Ubuntu operating system, we saw this issue

reoccurring as the project developed. Since most of the software we’re using is open source

software, there is always the chance that it has bugs.

Towards the end of the first semester we received word from the project sponsors that

QNX, a user interface programming company, joined the project as a sponsor and would be

providing us with a foundation to our graphical user interface as well as their coding software.

This proved to be the solution to many of our problems in the first semester, but also opened up

new doors for more. This software is described in the next chapter.

Chapter V: Second Semester Progress

5.1 Semester Two Progress

Semester two was filled with much frustration, hard work, communication, teamwork,

and determination. Our team knew that it was time to buckle down since the rest of the EcoCar

team was counting on us for the competition. At the beginning of the semester, our team sat

down and had a meeting about who would be tackling which part of the project.

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The project was broken down into four main parts: project management, bezel design,

wiring and amplification, and

GUI image programming. The

project manager would be taking

care of managing the team and

making sure everyone was up to

date with each other. He was

also in charge of communicating

with QNX for receiving our base

source code and talking to them

about debugging and other problems with the project. The bezel designer was in charge of

designing the bezel using a Computer Automated Designer (CAD) program and also

communicating with the 3D printing office on campus considering our bezel was printed with a

3D printer. The next part was the wiring the inside of the vehicle and also using an amplifier to

get the desired amount of sound amplification. The last part was programming the GUI and

moving around/modifying code for an enjoyable user interface experience.

The beginning of the semester came off to a slow start despite the team’s high ambition

to get going on the project.

Once the base source code

was provided to us by QNX

and the Software

Development Platform (SDP)

called QNX Car2, we got a

Figure 6: New Radio Layout

Figure 5: Competition Data Display

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workable image running on the screen as seen in Figure 8. The image was equipped with a home

screen, radio/music menu, settings menu, a phone menu, navigation menu, and even an apps

menu. We modified the code to include an EcoCar menu which showed the user the required

competition data including battery charge, battery temperature, battery current, hydrogen

pressure, and hydrogen temperature.

The QNX Car2 SDP is an application platform designed to allow rapid development of

infotainment systems. This software along with a partially finished environment was generously

donate to the UI team by QNX. Using the provided environment, a customized user experience

was created. Considering our team had a small amount of time between the competition and

receiving the software, our main focus was to create the menu which had all the required

competition data.

Figure 7: Application File System Flow Chart

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One of the biggest learning points for our team was understanding how a file system is

structured. Because of the vast complexity of the file system in the provided Car2 image, our

team took some time to learn how this system worked and even got some help from

representatives at QNX.

Navigating to the apps/ folder, there are 21 folders inside, each representing an

application that can be accessed when the environment is running (refer to Figure 8). Under each

folder are two sub-folders, META-INF/ and native/. META-INF/ contains a .bbr and .MF file

which affect core processes of the program and are therefore left alone. Native/, however,

contains all of the files we wish to edit for a customized environment. The files directly under

native/ define other files to include for the app and general formatting structures which can be

Figure 8: Resources File System Flow Chart

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applied to specific javascripts in sub-folders.

One step further, into the resources/ folder (, the easiest customization is available. The

img/ folder contains the images referenced in the .css and .scss files. By switching the stock

images with newer, custom images, and retaining the original name, it is possible to alter the

appearance of a screen without sorting through layers of coding.

The css/ and scss/ folders contain the cascading stylesheets that define the formatting for

the application screen. For example, a picture used as a button is saved in the img/ folder, but the

placement and orientation of that picture is defined in a .scss file. The actions performed by the

button are also defined in a .js file.

5.2 Semester Two Project Complications

One of the main project complications that we ran into was actually receiving our Car2

image from QNX. QNX communicated to our team that we would be receiving the image and

the software development platform immediately after the winter workshop (January). However,

due to complications and other delays, we did not receive the software until February. Although

we had the donated software in our hands and ready to use, we could not touch it until everything

was cleared by CSU’s legal department and they had reviewed and accepted the contract. Due to

the CSU’s legal department being somewhat slow, it took approximately another month of

waiting till we could actually get our hands on it. We didn’t actually get to start working on the

image until March 17th

. Once we finally received our image it was crunch time.

Another project complication that our team ran into was getting the controller area

network (CAN) signals to function and output properly. At first we had trouble installing the

driver into the image. After sifting through QNX community forums, we finally found the

correct CAN driver to install into the image and which file to put the driver in. We had to un-

27

mount the image from the SD card to properly install the driver because the file system was a

read-only file system. Once this was accomplished, we had to learn how to send and receive

signals within the driver itself. This was achieved using various Linux commands to send and

receive CAN messages within the board itself.

One other complication our team ran into was designing the bezel. The 3D printer on

campus was not large enough to print what our team needed. Fortunately, while we were still in

the designing process of the bezel, CSU received a new 3D printer which allowed us to

successfully print our bezel in two pieces. Our first prototype bezel that we printed lacked

resolution and structural stability. In fact, while playing around with the prototype, a team

member accidentally broke off a piece of the prototype. However, our final design was

structurally stable and fully functional. A picture of our design can be found in the figures below.

Figure 9: Touchscreen Bezel Design

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5.3 Current Status

Currently, our team is in a great spot and has set up year three’s team to succeed. We

have installed the needed CAN drivers into the image, programmed the screen to output different

values required by the competition as mentioned earlier in the paper, designed the bezel that the

screen will fit into (ultimately being integrated into the vehicle), established a working

relationship with some representatives at QNX, and installed both the needed wiring and

amplifier which will power the speakers. The coding that we built will be easily viewed and

understood by next year’s team. Also, the file system on the T drive is set up so that files can be

easily accessed and understood by anyone who views the files. The car is just about ready to be

shipped to Yuma, AZ where part one of the second year’s competitions will be held. The second

part of the competition will be held in California.

5.4 Future Work

Throughout the semester the EcoCar2 user interface team focused on goals that were

required by the competition, and set most of our own goals aside until these goals were

completed. Due to the nature of the competition we knew that there is still a year left to tweak

and better the design that we have set forth.

For year three of the EcoCar2 competition and year two of the User Interface team, there

are still a lot of goals that need to be achieved. If CAN signals are still unable to be

communicated from the Controls team onto the QNX Car2 platform, this is a major component

to year three’s objectives. While CAN signals can be displayed on an external image, the Car2

platform will enhance the users experience and make the data much more user friendly to read.

Another competition deliverable that was delayed from this year is being able to control the car’s

heating ventilation and air conditioning system. Since this is controlled through the same CAN

29

bus that the competition data is transferred through, this should be a quick deliverable to meet

once the CAN signals can communicate in the Car2 platform. Car2 already has an HVAC user

interface ready to handle HVAC controls.

The other parts of the project that need to be enhanced is the over entertainment value of

the system. Extra touchscreens have been purchased for the rear seats, as well as an extra

Freescale i.MX 6 processor board. With this availability, a rear entertainment system can be

installed for the passengers in the rear. Using a Linux kernel and an open source media system

called XBMC is one recommendation that we would give to next year’s group. There is even

Linux kernels ready to be set up with this program; we just didn’t have the time to design bezels

for the rear screens.

Chapter VI: Marketability and Ethics

6.1 Marketability

In the field of engineering, marketability is one of the main motives that drive an

engineer to fabricate a flawless product. If the product you are making is not marketable then

there is not any money to be made. For our specific project, we wanted to make sure our product

was not only applicable to the automotive industry but to other industries as well. At first look, a

vehicle user interface seems to be only applicable to the automotive industry. However, a user

interface can be applied to much more than simply a vehicle. The design concepts of a GUI

system can be used in industrial applications, roller coaster operations, large machinery, and

basically anything else that requires a human to machine interface. Obviously, our design

includes simplicity and large buttons to minimize distraction which is very applicable for the

automotive industry. The user friendliness of our GUI system can be easily applied to the

30

aforementioned applications. Who knows, a representative of Disneyland could see the user

friendliness of our design and hire us for a rollercoaster operations user interface project. The

design implications of user interface are limitless.

6.2 Budget

The budget that was approved by our project advisor for this project was five thousand

dollars. Throughout the project we ran into many separate issues that required us to spend money

on items that weren’t in our proposed budget. However, we still came in way under our proposed

budget due to donations of software and hardware. Our total expenditures for the year came in at

just over 2,600 dollars. The proposed and actual budget is shown in Appendix B.

6.3 Ethics

Ethics is becoming more and more important in the engineering world especially in the

fields of mechanical and civil engineering. Whether you like it or not, the work of engineers has

a direct effect on people. Take for example, a team of civil engineers who build a bridge. These

engineers are normal, everyday citizens yet are responsible for the numerous amounts of people

who cross that bridge. As a user interface team, we are responsible for many peoples’ lives. Not

only are we responsible for the driver of the EcoCar but other drivers on the road as well. At 75

miles per hour, one glance down at the radio is the equivalent of driving the length of a football

field and a lot can happen in the span of a football field. This is why we have the responsibility

of keeping the driver safe by reducing distraction. Our team is not willing to take shortcuts on

design to compromise driver safety.

The code of ethics was extremely important to us when we were designing both the

actual EcoCar and the user interface. As seniors, we need to be sensitive to rules of ethics as we

31

transition from homework, tests, and group projects to million dollar assignments and other

projects which will affect the general public. The state of mind of a professional engineer has to

take into account the code of ethics and also has to constantly keep in mind that their work could

possibly have the chance of putting the safety of a law abiding citizen into jeopardy. Our senior

design project specifically has to take into account this code of ethics. We are designing a user

interface center stack console which has the potential of putting drivers at risk of serious injury

or even death if not designed properly and carefully.

The main priorities of our design are keeping our users safe and providing the user with a

pleasurable user interface experience. To keep our users safe, our user interface team conducted

extensive research on driver distraction studies and came up with a few different graphical user

interface designs to see which ones would maximize attention to the road and minimize driver

distraction. At first, our team wanted to maximize the user interface experience for the driver by

adding many different menus, options, buttons, gizmos, and gadgets, and designing a flashy

graphical user interface which would make the screen aesthetically pleasing. Once our team

realized that this design proved to be dangerous, we decided to change the layout of the design

and proposed a design which had simplicity in mind minimizing driver distraction and improving

driver safety. After the very first prototype our team designed, I feel like our team really grasped

the concept of driver safety and came to a real appreciation of making our design ethically

sound.

Another part of the design of the car as a whole that the EcoCar2 team had to ethically

consider was the three relatively large hydrogen tanks inside the vehicle. Our whole team is

creating a car which has virtually zero tailpipe emissions by combining electric battery energy

and fuel cell energy. The safety of both our team and the driver of the car is the top priority of

32

our team. The hydrogen tanks inside the vehicle were strategically and ethically placed toward

the back of the vehicle which keeps the driver safer in the case of an accident. Our team took into

consideration that hydrogen is extremely flammable. Thus we wanted to keep the tanks as far

away from the driver as our design would allow.

During the actual building of our team’s car, we did not want to put any team members’

safety into jeopardy. The whole EcoCar2 team went through rigorous safety training exercises

and was educated about different safety practices. We were taught not to take shortcuts both in

the engineering design of the vehicle and the actual building of the vehicle. This included wiring

shortcuts, welding shortcuts, etc. Not only has our team met national safety standards but we

have exceeded them. The safety committee of the competition even took a trip out to Fort

Collins, Colorado to come visit our facility and judge both our facility and our vehicle to make

sure we were meeting safety standards and practicing safe building and engineering techniques.

Our team succeeded with flying colors and received honorable marks from the judges.

Ethics plays a huge part in both the professional world of engineering and the academia

world of engineering. As engineers we need to make a collaborative effort in following the

National Society of Professional Engineers’ code of ethics. In doing so, engineers both

professionally and academically can make the world a better and safer place. Our EcoCar2 team

has high hopes of following this code by watching each other’s backs and making sure our

design is up to code and keeping everyone safe.

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Chapter VII: Conclusions

7.1 Conclusion

Throughout this year, we have overcome many obstacles and learned how to adjust

problems that may not be in our hands to control. While we had to shift some of our tasks and

deadlines back, we were able to accomplish many of the tasks that we set out to do. We are

confident that we contributed to the entire team to the best of our ability and are anxious to see

the final product come next spring. At this point we are excited to show the vehicle off at the

EcoCar2 year two competitions. We are prepared for other hold backs throughout the judging

process, but are taking steps to limit them. This project will be ready to demonstrate how vital

GUIs are to the automotive industry’s future.

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Appendix A

1. GUI…… Graphical User Interface

2. HMI…... Human Machine Interface

3. HVAC…Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition system

4. UI……...User Interface

5. ARM…. Advanced RISC Machine

6. MPE……Media Processing Engine

7. WLAN…Wireless Local Area network

8. DDR3….Double Data Rate Type Three

9. RAM…. Random Access Memory

10. UART…Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter

11. CAN……Controller Area Network

12. VGA……Video Graphics Array

13. OSD……On-screen Display

14. QML…..Qt Meta Language

15. LTIB…. Linux Target Image Builder

Appendix B

Proposed Budget Table 2: Proposed Budget

EcoCar 2 User Interface Team Budget

iMX Platform

Min Price Max Price

Starter Kit

$0.00 $0.00

iMX Add-Ons

Bluetooth Module $50.00 $150.00

GPS Module $50.00 $200.00

WiFi Module $100.00 $200.00

XM Module $100.00 $150.00

Yearly Cost $150.00 $200.00

Host Computer $400.00 $700.00

Wiring $50.00 $100.00

Misc. $50.00 $50.00

iMX Add-Ons Totals $950.00 $1,750.00

Car Add-Ons

Disk Drive

CD/DVD/Blue-Ray $200.00 $400.00

CD/DVD $100.00 $200.00

Seat Monitors $150.00 $250.00

Wiring $25.00 $25.00

35

Misc.

Second Touch Screen Mount $50.00 $100.00

Wiring $25.00 $50.00

Misc. $25.00 $25.00

Microphones (2)

Wiring

Car Add-Ons Totals $575.00 $1,050.00

Car Requirements

Hydrogen Meters $0.00 $0.00

Battery Meter $0.00 $0.00

Car Requirements Totals

SWAG Add-Ons

Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 $250.00 $350.00

Controllers (2) $50.00 $100.00

Game $20.00 $60.00

Mounting $50.00 $50.00

Wireless Internet Capabalitites $0.00 $100.00

Price/Year $35.00 $60.00

MISC. Overhead $1,000.00 $1,000.00

SWAG Add-Ons Totals $1,405.00 $1,720.00

Car Totals $2,930.00 $4,520.00

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Table 3: Total Expenditures for the Year

Production Unit-Cost

Date Part Description Cost Vendor

Bezel

4/2/2013 Bezel support rods $26.28 McMaster-Carr

4/22/2013 3D-Printed Bezel $649.85 Colorado State University

Bezel Total: $676.13

Audio

3/21/2013 Kicker Amp installation kit $169.95 Sonic Electronix

3/21/2013 Infinity Audio Amp $289.99 Sonic Electronix

3/21/2013 Metra GMLAN wiring harness $31.99 Sonic Electronix

Audio Total: $491.93

Communications

2/6/2013 GPS receiver $35.95 Amazon

2/7/2013 Wi-fi Radio Card $76.99 Mouser Electronics

4/6/2013 Wireless router $102.98 Newegg

4/11/2013 Cellular Router $378.64 Express Systems

Communications Total: $594.56

Touchscreen Hardware/ Wiring

2/14/2013 VGA splitter cable $12.99 Newegg

3/3/2013 100-ft Cat 5 cable and 20 RJ45N $28.45 The Home Depot

3/5/2013 Power cables $12.40 Mountain State Electronics

3/7/2013 6-wire ribbon cord $10.80 Mountain State Electronics

3/14/2013 Picoblade connecion port $20.81 New Generation Hobbies

3/22/2013 Touch screen USB cable $42.51 Digi-Key

3/29/2013 Power supply cord $34.43 Jameco

4/8/2013 Wire Splitter $3.14 Newegg

4/9/2013 Touchscreen $544.56 Digi-Key

Touchscreen/Wiring Total: $721.06

Programming Accessories

2/8/2013 HDMI to AV converter $36.28 Amazon

2/14/2013 USB cable converters $39.57 Newegg

2/14/2013 Compact VGA cable $24.97 Newegg

3/21/2013 USB cable $32.86 Digi-Key

Programming Accessories Total: $317.64

Total per Unit: $2,606.39

37

Appendix C

Timeline 8/20/2012 (Original)

38

39

Timeline Update 10/9/12

40

Term 2 Timeline (Planned)

41

Updated Timeline 2/1/13

42

43

44

Updated Timeline 4/15/13

45

Acknowledgements

We’d first like to thank our sponsors GM, The Department of Energy, Argonne National

Laboratories, Freescale, A123 Systems, Immersion, QNX, and many more for providing us with

the resources we need to work on such a high caliber project. We’d also like to thank Dr. Bradley

for his continued help and support throughout the process. Our graduate assistants, Jake Bucher

and Shawn Salisbury, have been a vital resource to the project. Last, we’d like to thank our

mechanical engineering group members for their help throughout the project.

46

References

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ecocar2

[3] W. Cunningham. (2011, Oct. 4). A glimpse at the future in Tesla’s Model S Beta 1

[online]. Available: http://www.cbsnews.com

[4] E. Evarts. (2012, Aug. 22). Why the MyFord Touch control system stinks [online].

Available: http://news.consumerreports.org

[5] A. Goodwin. (2012, Sept. 20). Less is more with the new-generation Chevrolet MyLink

System [online]. Avalable: http://reviews.cnet.com

[6] A. Goodwin. (2011, Apr. 11). Next Chevrolet Malibu’s MyLink interface teased [online].

Available: http://reviews.cnet.com

[7] Qt Software. Accessed: December 4, 2012. Available: http://qt.digia.com/

[8] Inflexion Software. Accessed: December 4, 2012. Available: http://www.mentor.com/em

bedded-software/inflexion/