ZEEGNITION / Ishaan Rastogi
Audi has taken big steps towards making driving a lot less stressful with the successful testing of its autonomous RS7 and newly unveiled virtual cockpit design set to feature in some of its upcoming cars
Most people can relate with the fact that daily office commutes through crowded cities is extremely stressful. In an attempt to alleviate stress and improve safety, Audi has been working on a couple of interesting technological developments. The 2016 Q7 will feature Audi’s fabulous virtual cockpit which will replace all analogue instruments with one big 12.3-inch TFT display. The virtual cockpit will provide everything the driver needs to view, right in front of their eyes thereby making driving both safer and less stressful.
The Audi virtual cockpit is combines the functions from the multimedia interface (MMI) and standard instrument cluster into one intelligent digital display. It can be controlled either by the multifunctional steering wheel or by a completely redesigned version of the main control dial present in most high-end vehicles today. The new dial will facilitate tilt response and multi-touch gesture controls to enable zooming in on maps, scrolling through lists, etc. Another big improvement with the MMI system is a voice control facility capable of understanding a more natural tone of speech. The virtual display itself will have two different views- a Classic Mode which highlights the instruments with the infotainment system running in the background, and Infotainment Mode which concentrates more on the navigation map and media titles with the instrument dials present but significantly reduced in size. The virtual cockpit is set to feature on the 2016 Audi Q7, TT and TTS.
Audi has also recently tested the next-gen RS7 piloted driving concept at the Sonoma racetrack. Audi’s last attempt at an autonomous RS7 nicknamed ‘Bobby’, blitzed a lap of the Hockenheimring in a shade over two minutes and achieved speeds of up to 240kph. The new model named ‘Robby’, is more powerful and around 400kgs lighter than Bobby and is able to precisely control steering, acceleration and braking. Additionally, Audi has managed to reduce the size of the tech required to pilot the car thereby reducing the amount of space it consumes. The car has undergone rigorous testing in various situations including traffic conditions and based on its success, Audi is now set to unveil a conservative version of its autonomous driving system called Piloted Driving or Traffic Jam Pilot in the next generation A8 luxury sedan. The system will be capable of taking full control of steering, braking and acceleration on city roads in traffic conditions at speeds up to 60kph which is bound to be raised over time. Jack, the A7 on which the production-ready Piloted Driving system was tested, completed a 550km journey from San Francisco to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by driving at a maximum speed of 112kph. The car will also be able to park itself remotely. The Traffic Jam Pilot will be a lot more intuitive and intelligent than the new Q7’s Traffic Jam Assistant which offers adaptive cruise control and mild steering assistance to maintain safe lane driving.
