Today’s highly digitized control environments bring together conventional interaction paradigms and those of HCI (human-computer interaction). Increasing operational safety, reliability and performance by reducing complexity is one of the main goals in improving serial-based HMI. Based on screening the latest trends and R&D efforts in the market, we identified six topics that are of growing importance for future HMI, particularly in (industrial) applications in this context: assistance, adaptivity, learning, scalability, multimodality and work experience. We applied these to analyze selected HMI concepts seen in the agricultural and construction machinery market lately and will show our findings here.

The presentation will discuss lightweight design and production in the off-highway and utility environments, and what they mean for complete structures and system modules for high-tech cabs. In particular, it will describe how Fritzmeier came up with solutions for lightweight cab design in the context of production operations. It will outline the aluminum extrusion process in detail and explain how it enables the production of aluminum sections with high precision, different wall thicknesses and multiple chambers, aligned with the central benefits of safety, ergonomics, comfort and economy, and the key benefit of functional integration capability.

A key for safe, attractive and intuitive operation of machines is a proficient and capable interaction design, especially with the increasing level of functionality and automation being enabled through software. Although new functionality is often driven by technology trends and business values, a fundamental parameter for success is the user using the functionality. In this digital presentation, Dr Markus Wallmyr will give an overview of the need and motivating factors for interaction design within industrial applications. He will share experiences based on his own research into using lightweight approaches to gain user and application understanding, as well as some take-aways for next-generation system development.

Preh’s platform-based customized design has raised the bar of perceived quality, haptic and optic experience and technological content for tractor HMIs. This journey has just started. Doing ‘more with less’ in the agricultural business will move to the next level with teams of machines working beside each other. Postulating that platoons, autonomous tractors and robots will team up with a leader machine, the leader task pattern will make HMIs different. This presentation will focus on leader machine HMI requirements, elements and innovative content based on customized platform modules.

Due to partially contradictory trends in the non-road mobile machinery sector and therefore in the cab business, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the specific needs of all stakeholders involved. Technical innovations, new processes and technologies constantly push the limits. But human desires and expectations are also changing. In this context, industrial design can play an important role and help businesses to thrive. This presentation will address some of the topics and show, with practical examples, how to use industrial design as a key factor of success.

Automation has as much potential to reshape the design of industrial vehicles as it does to affect their operation. Generative design is an evolving CAD capability that leverages AI to automatically generate designs fulfilling the engineer’s system requirements. By generating designs that perform better and use less material than human-designed parts, generative will unlock a revolution in efficiency. Industrial vehicle designers will be able to optimize their designs for a range of requirements, be they structural or manufacturing constraints. As designers harness generative to iterate more quickly and create more efficient designs, a wave of unprecedented innovation will be unleashed.

In today’s industrial vehicles, users are demanding more and more controls and functionalities to be added to the HMIs. OEMs are trying to satisfy these expectations while building unique and intuitive user experiences. This results in considerably increased complexity and a higher probability of errors during development. Developing and ensuring the quality of those systems requires greater effort and higher costs. To tackle these challenges, different development and testing approaches need to be followed. This presentation will describe how, by combining model-based development with testing automation, EB helps customers solve these challenges.

The ongoing evolution of mobile machinery and the increase in complexity in terms of functionality and vehicle system design have an impact on the requirements of operator interfaces. Besides the vehicle itself, the environment is coming increasingly into focus. Sensors and cameras in combination with operator assistance systems considerably increase the efficiency and profitability of mobile machinery. Mobile machinery OEMs are faced with less-skilled workers while the market demands higher productivity and efficiency. Today’s operator interfaces will allow entirely new use cases and will shift operator convenience and machine efficiency to a new level.

By laminating transparent displays in glass, industrial vehicle OEMs are empowered to utilize all the windshields and windows, showing important information and providing functions controlled by touching the glass. The technology enables manufacturers to build safer vehicles and machines that improve ergonomics and user experience for drivers, operators and passengers. Compared with a typical HUD, in-glass displays have the following advantages: the setup is simple because it is integrated seamlessly with the windshields and windows; the images are viewable from all angles inside and outside the vehicles; they work for vertical windshields.

In close collaboration with OEMs, Danfoss developed a new on-road steer-by-wire subsystem solution called Flex-Steer. With the removal of the steering column and steering wheel, the solution allows for an unobstructed view of the area directly in front of the cabin, and Danfoss shows leadership and innovation regarding designing cabins and machines. The subsystem solution consists of a new active force-feedback joystick and electrohydraulic steering valve, where the control architecture between joystick and valve is fail-operational. Integrating a steer-by-wire solution results in better visibility, less operator fatigue and higher productivity, which are all factors that create improved operator experience.

This presentation addresses our current aspirations in glass-embedded transparent display technology. This presentation will describe EL display in laminated glass and its display driver properties. We will also describe the design parameters of this system, and a mechanism to manage light transmission (electrochromic) on laminated glasses. The presentation will also discuss illumination within the cabin, with glass-mounted LEDs, and opportunities this technology may offer in coming years. We will also share a brief presentation of our new innovation, SaniTise-glass, which provides antimicrobial properties on glass surfaces.

New technologies and the demand for unique design in heavy vehicles calls for new solutions in work lighting: functionality, design, intelligence and safety all become increasingly important. Modern technology provides endless possibilities with regard to special design solutions for OEMs. Six trends covered in this presentation: autonomous and electric vehicles, projecting warning lights, quality lights and quality light, design as a strategic tool, intelligent lighting solutions, environment and sustainability.

Multi-modal proactive updates, which refer to the information a vehicle proactively provides to its users in multiple forms such as voice, tone and visual updates, are welcomed in passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Users appreciate when their car warns them about heavy rain on their route, or reminds them they are due for an oil change. How do off-highway vehicle users feel about them, though? Would multi-modal proactive updates in off-highway vehicles make life easier, or would they be distracting? This presentation answers these questions through the findings of an online survey and interviews with off-highway machine operators.

Thanks to sensor data, we support maintenance managers to decrease their costs and increase uptime. For example, we can predict the wear of spare parts (we will give user cases of tires and batteries in off-highway vehicles) based on driver behavior, load and weather conditions. This will also support onboard technicians in their failure diagnostics thanks to deep learning and sensor data from CANbus. This information will also offer fleet managers technical remote visualization of their assets, enabling them to make decisions to repair or drive back as if the truck were in front of them, helping them monitor and save costs.

Rapid development of LEDs and LED light engines now enable the creation of ‘matrix’ light distributions by managing multiple pixels. Some advanced light engines have the potential for up to 25,000 pixels integrated in one light, with each one controllable by switching on/off or dimming to different levels of intensity. These sources enable multiple light patterns within one lighting device and can combine projected images into the pattern to increase operator awareness and worksite safety. This lecture will highlight multiple potential uses of such advanced lighting systems and how these can increase safety for operators and the worksite.