Free Area Detection in Electronic Instrument Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic instrument clusters face challenges in displaying dynamic content due to limited processing and memory power, compact screen space, and the need for precise identification of free areas while ensuring non-overlapping and clutter-free HMI components, especially considering vehicle motion and environmental changes.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for detecting free areas in electronic instrument clusters using a processor and memory to determine static and dynamic free areas, generating metadata with attributes like dimensions, color matrices, and visibility scores, and transmitting data structures to select suitable areas for rendering dynamic content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If dynamic content is displayed on electronic instrument clusters, then information richness is improved, but screen space availability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument cluster screen is divided into multiple zones: critical HMI components occupy priority areas, while dynamic content is placed in remaining free spaces. The system segments the display into critical regions (speedometer, tachometer, warnings) and non-critical regions (dynamic content areas), ensuring information hierarchy is maintained while maximizing information display capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from traditional horizontal layout to multi-dimensional spatial utilization by detecting free areas in vertical, diagonal, and irregular patterns. Instead of allocating content in simple linear sequences, the system identifies two-dimensional free space regions and places dynamic content in these optimized positions, effectively utilizing screen real estate without obscuring critical information.
2Reliability
If free areas are precisely identified to avoid obscuring HMI components, then display safety is improved, but detection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-defines critical HMI component locations and their minimum required display areas before dynamic content allocation. By establishing reserved zones for critical information (speedometer, tachometer, warning indicators) in advance, the system ensures these areas remain protected from dynamic content placement, thereby maintaining display safety without requiring complex real-time analysis during content rendering.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the instrument cluster display state and dynamically adjusts free area detection based on current HMI configurations. When critical information appears (such as warning indicators or navigation turns), the system receives feedback about these elements and automatically updates the available free space map, ensuring dynamic content is never placed over critical information while adapting to changing display conditions.
3Measurement precision
If multiple attributes are generated for each free area, then content placement accuracy is improved, but data processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different attributes are assigned to different free area characteristics: areas near critical HMI components receive higher priority flags and larger margin specifications, while peripheral areas receive standard attributes. The system generates detailed attribute sets (coordinates, dimensions, visibility scores, priority levels) only for areas suitable for dynamic content placement, rather than uniformly processing all screen regions, thereby reducing overall data processing load while maintaining placement accuracy where it matters most.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for detecting free area in electronic instrument clusters is disclosed. The method includes determining at least one free area in an electronic instrument cluster based on static free area data and a plurality of sensor data. The method further includes generating for each of the at least one free area, a metadata including a plurality of attributes. The method includes determining for each of the at least one free area, a first hash value based on at least one attribute from the associated plurality of attributes. The method further includes creating a data structure, for each of the at least one free area, based on the associated metadata and the associated first hash value. The method includes transmitting a first packet to a dynamic content device, such that, the first packet includes the data structure.