Remarkably Stress-Free HMI for Navigation System

Business challenge

Our client is a British auto manufacturer that specializes in the production of luxury cars under several marques. The company dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century and the dawn of the automobile era. Some of their vehicles have become true icons of the last century, shaping their own classes and standing high above the competition.

Our client sells their products and related services globally, with annual sales reaching more than half a million premium vehicles. The company’s rich heritage, premium designs, first-class engineering, cutting-edge technologies, and uncompromising quality turn car owners into brand loyalists.

In the early 2010s, our client made the shift from legacy in-dash navigation to modern embedded navigation system offering HD maps, robust map updates through extended connectivity, smartphone integration, and intuitive interfaces. Installed in their premium models, the new navigation system was positively received by marque enthusiasts worldwide. For the next model ranges, our client wanted to improve the driving experience with a sophisticated human machine interface (HMI), advanced urban mobility, companion mobile apps, and support for e-vehicles and hybrids.

Prior to our collaboration with this client, Intellias had already been working with a global provider of location-based services and solutions on a portfolio of high-priority work streams. Based on our experience, this storied auto manufacturer also chose Intellias as their strategic engineering partner.

Technology solution

Our collaboration began in 2016 when an Intellias team of five entered the project as an extension of our partner’s core team. The initial phase comprised correcting critical defects found during testing and creating technical proposals for implementation of new features. We got off to a good start. Our client was motivated to go further, and our team started growing.

The highlight of the navigation component that we helped our client develop is its IoT readiness, enabling seamless cloud synchronization of a driver’s maps, routes, and personal data across platforms. Intellias designed and implemented a comprehensive, distraction-free HMI. This HMI navigation offers an innovative navigation experience by combining mobile devices, vehicle head units, heads-up displays, and rear-seat displays into one cross-linked system.

We developed a sophisticated mechanism that brings car embedded navigation system to the driver’s mobile device. With iOS and Android companion apps, drivers can plan routes and receive guidance while in or out of the car. Another feature that we implemented dynamically processes real-time traffic information for route planning and guidance. For example, when on a regular commute, a driver can be offered alternative routes in case of traffic congestion or an accident.

To improve product quality and optimize production costs, we’re constantly working toward complete automation of our testing and continuous integration activities. Apart from static code analysis, unit testing, and integration testing, our daily test runs include automatic verification of over 2,000 functional regression cases involved in syncing between the embedded solution and mobile companion apps. Additionally, acceptance, integration, performance, and endurance tests make our quality verification process both exhaustive and conclusive. The majority of tests are run on hardware prototypes of the in-vehicle infotainment device or on the road in actual vehicles.

At present, we’re actively embedding voice recognition functionality for route planning and navigation control. We’re also adapting the navigation solution to the needs of hybrid and full-electric vehicles. We’ve developed algorithms that optimize routes by considering charging station locations and remaining battery level. This allows drivers to keep going without fear of running out of battery power in the middle of nowhere.

Business impact

What started as team extension has grown into a self-sufficient product development team that’s responsible for architecture, design, development, quality control, and release management. Our client’s area of responsibility has narrowed to defining business goals and executing strategy. And to further underscore the success of our collaboration, our client has put forward a plan detailing product development and support activities through 2025.

Thanks to our services, our client has reinforced their brand loyalty by providing a premium HMI navigation experience to premium car enthusiasts.

Our expertise has helped our client

• Provide a consistent user experience across navigation solutions
• Synchronize maps and personal data across platforms
• Implement real-time traffic updates for dynamic route planning
• Optimize route planning for e-vehicles and hybrids
• Add offline navigation to iOS and Android apps
• Develop apps for heads-up displays that enable distraction-free driving
• Build embedded navigation system into rear-seat displays to engage passengers in route planning