How automotive-specific instrument cluster technology is balancing cost and capability to meet consumer expectations • EVreporter

OEMs must balance technology, cost, and user experience in designing vehicle displays. Drivers rely on clear, real-time, readable, and reliable information under all conditions. Simultaneously, manufacturers face rising consumer demands for quality and performance while managing costs. Automotive-specific technology like the Automotive Graphics Visual Unit (AGVU) enables OEMs to meet these challenges by providing specialized, cost-efficient solutions optimized for automotive environments.

What is the AGVU?

The AGVU is an advanced, automotive-grade instrument cluster engineered to meet vehicles’ unique demands. Unlike generic displays, it uses automotive-specific controllers and components tailored to vehicles’ rigorous conditions, such as extreme temperatures, vibrations, and varying lighting.

By excluding non-automotive components, the AGVU streamlines design and reduces costs while maintaining high performance. Unlike consumer electronics with multimedia-heavy features, the AGVU focuses on essential functions, ensuring OEMs pay only for what’s necessary without compromising quality.

Performance Meets Practicality: Real-Time Responsiveness

Automotive displays require real-time responsiveness for accurate, timely information. Advanced UIs today rely on visual data representation rather than just numbers. For example, acceleration could be shown as a growing green bar, while deceleration appears as a shrinking red one. This method allows drivers to interpret data intuitively without distraction.

Known as Data Visualization UI, this approach uses gradients, colors, and symbols to simplify complex data. However, such visualizations demand a specialized graphics engine. The AGVU excels here, ensuring smooth transitions, high visual depth, and instant responsiveness even under high-speed data changes.

Key Technologies Powering Advanced Data Visualization

The AGVU integrates several automotive-grade features to support intuitive and reliable data visualization:

• 2.5D Effects: Adding Depth for Clarity

2.5D effects create a sense of depth, enhancing the visibility of critical information. For instance, a raised speedometer visually prioritizes speed over secondary metrics, while a battery indicator “pops” out for quick recognition. This layering helps drivers focus on essential data instinctively.

• Anti-Aliasing: Smoother Graphics for Better Readability

Anti-aliasing smooths pixelated edges, ensuring sharp visuals even for dynamic elements. A circular battery indicator, for example, maintains a clean, crisp look as it updates in real-time. Without anti-aliasing, jagged edges could reduce readability and distract drivers.

• Interpolation: Seamless Transitions

Interpolation ensures smooth visual transitions for real-time data changes, such as acceleration bars. Without it, data jumps abruptly, causing visual disruptions. With interpolation, transitions appear fluid, providing accurate, natural representations of vehicle performance.

• Gradient Fills: Quick Interpretation with Color Transitions

Gradient fills use color shifts—like green for full charge transitioning to red for low battery—to convey data intuitively. This design makes critical information instantly accessible, reducing the cognitive load on drivers while enhancing decision-making.

Smart Contextual Displays

Modern automotive displays adapt dynamically to changing conditions. Using sensor data, the AGVU enables contextual transitions. For example:

• Charging Mode: When a charger is connected, the display shifts to show battery percentage, estimated range, and charging time.

• Emergency Alerts: In cases like battery overheating, it prioritizes safety instructions with bold red visuals.

• Low Battery Warnings: Critical range warnings prompt timely charging.

These contextual displays improve usability and safety by delivering relevant information precisely when needed, all triggered by CAN signals.

The Auto-Grade Advantage: Designed for Tough Environments

Unlike general-purpose displays, automotive-grade solutions like the AGVU are built to endure extreme conditions, ensuring reliable performance over time.

Vehicle displays must function in diverse climates, from the scorching deserts of Rajasthan to freezing conditions in Himachal Pradesh. Unlike non-automotive-grade components that risk failure, the AGVU handles such extremes without degradation.

Indian roads present constant vibrations due to potholes and uneven surfaces. Consumer-grade displays often degrade subtly under these stresses, leading to flickering or malfunctions. The AGVU, however, is rigorously tested to endure these conditions, maintaining consistent performance.

Why Automotive-Specific Displays Matter

Generic solutions need to meet the high standards required in vehicles. Automotive-specific displays are engineered to withstand road vibrations, temperature extremes, and constant real-time data updates, ensuring durability and reliability.

AGVU also comes with a pre-built framework and ready-to-use stack, enabling rapid customization of hardware and software solutions for OEMs.

Technology That Surprises

By combining advanced data visualization, durability, and cost-efficiency, the AGVU surpasses consumer and industrial-grade alternatives. Its specialized design ensures it not only meets but exceeds expectations, showcasing how innovation can balance affordability with exceptional quality.

About the author

This article was written by Yasser Iqbal, who has been in the EV industry since 2017. He started his EV career at Foxconn in China and is currently working with ConnectM Technology Solutions Inc. ConnectM is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and has an engineering team based in Bengaluru, India. He can be reached at yasser@connectm.com.

If you’re seeking advanced AGVU automotive clusters, ConnectM provides solutions tailored for modern vehicles. Our AGVU seamlessly integrates with the Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) and supports FOTA/OTA firmware updates, eliminating the need for hardware replacements. Additionally, ConnectM offers AGVU’s pre-built framework and ready-to-use stack, enabling rapid customization of hardware and software solutions.

Also read: Understanding the Role of Telematics and VCU for e-2Ws and 3Ws