BMW iDRIVE SYSTEM

WHAT  IS  iDRIVE

According  to  BMW  Professional  Development  (2004),  “The  BMW  iDrive  System  is  a  new  and innovative control system that brings the future of automobile technology into the cockpit.”   The iDrive  System  first  became  available  in  the  BMW  745i  model  in  2001.    As  of  2004,  the  iDrive Systems are currently standard in both the 7-Series and 5-Series automobiles.   In 2006, the iDrive System will become an option in the 3-Series vehicles.   The iDrive System provides a link between the driver and the car that has never been seen before in the automobile industry.

The iDrive control console provides quick and easy access to a multitude of luxury options.  Items from navigation, entertainment, comfort, climate control, communication, and internet access are accessible  from  the  joystick  control  located  on  the  center  console.    By  utilizing  the  joystick  for central control of multiple systems, instrument panel “real estate” becomes available.

The system controls are located in an easily accessible and readable location to both the driver and passenger.   The location for both the  5-Series and 7-Series control mechanism is located on the center consol, with in easy reach for all.  The iDrive display is located in the center of the dashboard, just to the right of the speedometer and tachometer.1     This high location on the dash along with sharing the same line of sight, permits quick glance reading and minimizes “eyes off road’ time.

As mentioned, the iDrive System is available on both the 5-Series and 7-Series autos.   As of the 2004 model year, the iDrive System is on the “second generation” version of the system.  This new version  provides  a  critical  menu  button  that  was  not  available  on  the  previous  generation;  this eliminated  one  of  the  biggest  problems  which  was  migrating  to  the  root  menu.    Also,  the  new “Second Generation” system for the 5-Series and 7-Series system is almost identical, thus creating iDrive cross-functionality between multiple lines of cars.

The 7-Series offers eight sub-trees for functionality, whereas the 5-Series offers only four sub-trees. The selection of these sub-trees is accomplished by moving the joystick to one of the four primary (or four additional secondary compass points on the 7-Series) to select the desired menu.  Once on the desired menu, rotation of the control knob allows the user to highlight the desired sub-menu. After reaching the desired menu, the user presses down on the knob for final selection of desired effect.

The four primary sub-trees on both the 5-Series and 7-Series provide access to Climate Control, Communication, Entertainment, and Navigation.   BMW Assist, Configuration, Help, and Vehicle are the secondary sub-trees (only available on the 7-Series).

                                                                                     

consists of approximately 3000 words, which provides an extensive list of short commands allowing instantaneous access many of the iDrive functions.

A  Head-up  display  was  also  implemented  in  the  7  and  5-Series  vehicles.    Though  not  directly connected to the iDrive System, it is related in the sense of removing “hard” switches with “soft” switches by replacing “hard” gauges with “soft” images.   This technology fits perfectly with the iDrive  concept  by  floating  useful  driver  information  directly  in  the  driver’s  line  of  sight.    All information  available  to  the  driver  in  this  Head-up  display  can  be  customized  with  the  iDrive System.  These settings can be saved and then available for each individual driver at startup.

The BMW iDrive is one of the first systems to address the growing complexity of vehicle control systems in today’s luxury vehicles.  The resultant design provides a cleaner and more functional dash design that more closely resembles the dashboard of a C-5 cargo jet than a luxury auto.  This system is a completely new way of operating a multitude of features in a completely new way.

                                                                                                                 

BENEFITS :

SIMPLE LAYOUT

As aforementioned, the layout of the iDrive System consists of a mapping routine of eight sub-trees. These eight main points are the starting point for all systems on the iDrive System.  By allowing only eight options, the user can quickly make a decision as to where he/she wants to go.   The menu choices are intuitive, keeping mental processing to a minimum which allows more concentration to be allocated towards vehicle control.

If the user wishes to change the temperature, they could easily understand from the given choices to select “Climate Control”.  To perform this action, the user has three options.  First, they could use the  conventional controls on the  dash;  second, by controls on  the  steering wheel; or  thirdly, by utilizing the iDrive.   To  activate the iDrive, the user moves the controller in the west direction, which automatically selects the climate menu.   Once inside the climate menu, the user rotates the controller until the temperature line is highlighted.   To select temperature, the user depresses the controller and then makes the temperature change as necessary.

For virtually all the selection options, the user never has to go more then three or four menus deep. The menu layout for the first generation and second generation is almost identical in the 7-Series models.  The 5-Series layout has only four initial menu options, thus reducing the mental load even more.

On  the  “Second  Generation”  systems,  a  menu  button  has  been  added  just  below  the  main controller.  The lack of a “Menu” button on the “First Generation” system made navigation back to the  root  menu  non-intuitive.    Implementation  of  this  button  on  the  newer  systems  has  greatly improved  usability  by  giving  users  a  simple  way  “home”.    This  has  provided  for  faster  menu traversal speed.

                               

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CONTROLLER  FEEDBACK

An  important aspect with any system  is user feedback.   In both the first and  second generation iDrive Systems, user feedback is ever present.   The iDrive System controller is a “force-feedback” device  controller.    When  selecting  the  initial  menu,  the  controller  implements  multidimensional movement with elastic resistance and returns to neutral when released.   When the user pushes the controller, a detent notifies the user that the motion has occurred.    In the second layer of menus, the controller varies the amount of rotation based on the display menu, and “kicks back” when the end of menus are reached.  This turns the control device from a multidimensional linear switch to a rotary switch.

The  switch  combines  all three  types  of  control  types.    In  the  swiveling  direction,  the  controller mimics a joystick.  With linear movement, the switch imitates a push button.  Finally, with respect to turning  movement,  the  switch  is  in  the  fashion  of  a  rotary  knob.    All  three  switch  types  are continently combined into one easy-to-use device.  Engineers at BMW have combined just the right amount of pressure needed along with good user feedback to design an easy-to-use controller.  The control system has also eliminated virtually all dead space and backlash to aid in accuracy and speed of selection.

The reach envelope is not violated with the iDrive System.   The furthest your arm would have to move while driving would be only a few inches.   This is well within the anthropometric standards for the majority of human drivers.

                                       

 VISUAL  DISPLAY

The  key  component  to  the  iDrive  System  is  the  visual  display.    Located  in  the  center  of  the dashboard, is an 8.8 inch LCD screen (256 colors, 640 x 240 pixels).   The short but wide screen provides easy viewing of all information. Both the generations of system  provide a well lit, easy-to- read  screen.    Also,  both  systems  provide  for  multiple  different  display  languages  to  allow  for  a diverse  customer  base.    The  screen  neatly  organizes  the  information  for  speed  and  accuracy  in identification.

Labels  and  symbols  are  associated  to  give  the  user  easy  understanding  of  action  from  selection. Because the labels are on the display screen and not on the controller, the labels are never covered while  in  use.    Localization  of  selection  is  based  on  vertical  columns,  to  increase  accuracy  and decrease selection time.

Selections from the visual display are moved with respect to the population stereotype for increasing and  decreasing.    An  example  would  be:    If  a  menu  has  two  columns,  rotating  the  controller clockwise would move selections up on the left column, and down on the right column.

At the root level, this system does a very good job with minimizing information, especially in the 5- Series.  There is good C-D mapping.  Items that are related are under the same menus.  The Stimuli- Response  mappings  are  properly  grouped.     The  menu  navigation  does  adhere  to  population stereotypes.   Finally, positive indication is given to the user on both the controller and the visual display after a selection has been made.

 AUDIO INPUT

The iDrive System also implements an audio input device.  With drivers asked to perform more and more actions while driving, an audio input device aids in reducing the “eyes off     road” time.   In the “First  Generation”,  the  voice  recognition  system  was  pioneered.    Though  this  system  was  not entirely effective, the “Second Generation” audio system has a vocabulary of approximately 3000 short commands available to the user for controlling the system.  A simple command could be “Call Jim” and the iDrive System would place a call to Jim’s phone.

 FEATURES

—  CD/Multimedia:
Most of your in-car entertainment options reside here, including CD, auxiliary jack and USB playback — the latter happily accepting iPods. CDs can be ripped to the car's hard disk, with 8GB out of the hard disk's 80GB capacity set aside for this purpose. You can also view DVD video and TV (standard-def digital and analog) when you're parked; the sound continues playing without vision when you tootle off down the street.

—  Radio:
Once we found all our favorite AM and FM radio stations, we assigned each of them a shortcut key — more of which below.

—  Phone-and-Contacts:
From the Phone menu you can pair up Bluetooth enabled phones with your Beemer. You can also view your phone book (oddly with our Palm Centro, the car only displayed our SIM contacts), and recently received and dialed calls, as well as make calls. With calls being funneled through the sound system augured with the general hush of the cabin, we were able to hold long discursive conversations without any problem.

—  Vehicle-info:
Feeling inquisitive about your car's tyre pressures, oil levels or fuel consumption? This is where vehicle diagnostics and an extended version of the trip computer reside.

—  Settings:
From the important, such as language, speaker balance and tone, through to the minor, for example how long the courtesy lights stay on for or how many doors are unlocked at once, many settings have no other home than under this menu.

—  Programmable-shortcuts
Underneath the CD slot in the dashboard reside a phalanx of eight shortcut buttons. These can, like they do in most other cars, store radio stations through the usual press and hold to store, and a quick press to recall procedure. You can also, through the same method, assign shortcuts to any menu screen of your choosing — it sounds like a bit of a gimmick but having a button specifically for USB/iPod playback, instead of just CD and Multimedia, was a boon for us. In a neat touch, the buttons are touch sensitive, so lightly fingering a button will throw up a preview of what that button is linked to.

—  Voice-recognition
Press the voice command button and you can directly jump to almost any menu or menu item in the iDrive system. With the windows closed and no passengers aboard, the system worked almost flawlessly. A bit of fresh air reduced our hit rate by about half. And while issuing voice commands while others are in the car is a great way of showing off, you'll probably look a bit crazy after a while and, anyway, background chatter is a great way of sending the on-board computer into a tizzy.

—  You'll also need to know the menu or item name, so familiarity with the system is a must. For solo drives though, voice commands are a great way of keeping your eyes on the road. You can even change radio stations, dial phone contacts or enter sat nav destinations orally. Unfortunately, while the system attempts to recognise names in your phone book, you have to spell out the city name and street names letter by letter

—  Navigation:
The new iDrive system features a revamped hard-drive based nav system, which not only loads up more quickly and has virtually no lag when searching for destinations, but also features a 3D view for the first time. Despite being able to read out street names when you're issuing voice commands, turn instructions do not include spoken street names. Like many of the best portable GPS units around, the BMW system features large turn graphics for highway off-ramps and major intersections, though you'll need to enable split-screen mode to see these as well as any visual turn instructions. Another one of our bugbears is that the lane info, while large, is chopped off and, well, almost useless.

—  BMW-services:
Overseas, BMW drivers can sign up for things like on-the-road internet access. However, that's yet to be offered here, so you'll only find shortcuts to roadside assist, your dealer and the BMW hotline for the time being.

 Data Courtesy : M.M.V.ABHINAVA TEJASVI (Mechanical, JB Group of Institutioons)