My take on the digital instrument cluster design

[serdar_18fr]

For 6 months now, I've been driving a '18 Leon FR with a digital instrument cluster. I always loved analog dials more than digital ones but the customization possibilities that come with them are too good to ignore. I've been constantly fiddling with the cluster settings but some important bits of data are always missing from the setup you make. It seems that VAG engineers & app designers didn't have much time to work on better designs and more customization options. So I thought what it would be like if I was the designer & developer of the instrument cluster application and started coding right away. I'm aware that my design couldn't pass legibility, usability and safety tests, but as a data buff who likes to see all the numbers in a single page without having to scroll through the pages, I liked the result anyway. So I'd like to name my design as "freak-mode" and would love to see it as an additional view along with existing views like classic, sport etc. Maybe someday I manage to hack my instrument cluster and see what I can change there Anyway, this is not just an image created using a painting app, but a fully working app developed using simple HTML and pure Javascript. It can work on a tablet in the car, receiving the data from an OBD-device maybe. No special toolkits or frameworks are used. The shapes, traffic signs and text are mostly rendered using the Javascript's native graphics library. Only the map, headlights and car icons are pre-drawn images. This is the first attempt on the subject and I'm thinking about to develop more views. Clearly they are not going to be of any real use but think of it as a personal hobby

Cheers,
Serdar

 

[Chillout]

I love this, great work!
You might be interested in Rightware Kanzi. It's the software the VAG Devs used to build these dashboard user interfaces (and on Audi it's used to generate part of the MIB graphics interface as well). I believe there's a free version available that you can use to do all kinds of cool stuff.
See an example here:

And yeah, I totally agree with you.. the dashboards could be so much more functional! I hate the fact that we have so little data elements, especially when you're navigating on your Android/Iphone device in AndroidAuto/Carplay. I never understood why they block out all data elements like height, compass heading, while you're navigating on your mobile.

And about that hack... I haven't found the guts yet to experiment with my cluster. It's a bit too risky, especially on my daily driver. But there are some interesting features on the AID hardware: some RX/TX ports on the main board, as well as some promising looking connectors. As soon as we're able to enter the OS of this thing, I'm going to be so happy! Imagine what we could do! Man I can go on for hours about this topic!! Customisation makes things so much more fun!

Oh by way.. could the official SEAT infotainment fonts be of any use for you? ;-)

 

[serdar_18fr]

I love this, great work!
You might be interested in Rightware Kanzi. It's the software the VAG Devs used to build these dashboard user interfaces (and on Audi it's used to generate part of the MIB graphics interface as well). I believe there's a free version available that you can use to do all kinds of cool stuff.
See an example here:

And yeah, I totally agree with you.. the dashboards could be so much more functional! I hate the fact that we have so little data elements, especially when you're navigating on your Android/Iphone device in AndroidAuto/Carplay. I never understood why they block out all data elements like height, compass heading, while you're navigating on your mobile.

And about that hack... I haven't found the guts yet to experiment with my cluster. It's a bit too risky, especially on my daily driver. But there are some interesting features on the AID hardware: some RX/TX ports on the main board, as well as some promising looking connectors. As soon as we're able to enter the OS of this thing, I'm going to be so happy! Imagine what we could do! Man I can go on for hours about this topic!! Customisation makes things so much more fun!

Oh by way.. could the official SEAT infotainment fonts be of any use for you? ;-)

Hello my friend

Sorry for the late response, I was too busy with work and family stuff also

Thank you very much for the fonts link, I'll be definitely trying them out

I'm delighted that you liked my effort. I knew there's some toolkits and apps used for dashboard design but I never checked them. That's my general attitude in building new things, first I try to use my own skills & knowledge and the capabilities of the tools in hand. I start to look around only if & when I hit a wall I know that's not the most efficient and rational way to do things but that's me anyway!

After this attempt to develop a dashboard app, I started to think that, even if we'll never be able the hack the car's systems, I could receive the data needed via an OBD device and run the app on a tablet that I could mount somewhere in the car and enjoy it that way. That will be the thing I'll be looking in the next few months.

Anyway, I'll be glad to keep in touch.

Cheers,
Serdar