Global Automaker

A Fortune 500 automotive manufacturer collaborates with a multi-national Tier-1 automotive equipment provider and ICS to develop an In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System for a new line of mid-class vehicles.

Improving the Connected-Car Experience

ICS helped one of the world's leading automakers create an engaging and intuitive In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System for use in a line of mid-class vehicles. The plan was to lay the foundation for a scalable architecture for IVI design that the automaker could ultimately extend to its luxury-brand models.

Challenge

The old UI creation tool-chain, used by Tier-1 providers in the past, could not fulfill the expectations of a modern, touchscreen design set forth by today's automakers and was replaced with Qt. Because of design and integration complexities, this Tier-1 group needed ways to address the constraints and multi-variants inherent to projects of this scale.

Solution

ICS software engineers were called to design the solution for this project, given our automotive engineering and design expertise in developing connected IVI systems. Working with multiple stakeholders and vendors within product management, engineering and other UX groups, ICS provided the solution of how to best integrate older hardware, conform to changing middleware and connect these components with visual assets developed independently.

Senior engineering personnel from ICS using Qt and C++ developed the back-end that forms a framework connecting board services with a custom designed, highly dynamic and modern looking user experience layer written in Qt Quick. During this development phase, we led internal teams to enhance the existing legacy abstract layer linking the hardware to the board service level software.

Result

ICS' scalable and flexible engineering services allowed the Tier-1 provider to meet every single milestone specified by the automotive client and to provide lasting credibility by delivering a powerful, scalable and configurable IVI system. The final touchscreen-based IVI provides users with connectivity and interoperability for access to satellite radio/radio, smartphone use, climate control, USB/MP3 iPod integration and navigation control within an intuitive, fluid and beautiful user experience.