DemoCar 2.0

    Future Automotive Interieur Interacts
    With The Driver and the Environment

    The Marquardt DemoCar 2.0 transforms the future vehicle interior into a mobile living room

    What will the interior of a premium vehicle look like in the future? Anyone who wants to experience this now should take a seat in the DemoCar 2.0 from the automotive supplier Marquardt. It shows the latest innovations from the mechatronics specialist, which is taking the trend toward the digitalized car up a notch: with mechatronic solutions that are not only chic and comfortable, but also safer. 

    Technologies support feel-good ambience in autonomous vehicles

    Ein Mann sitzt im Democar 2.0 von Marquardt und entdeckt zusammen mit einer Frau, die neben dem Modell steht die Funktionen und Displays im Democar.

    Smart surfaces made of fine woods and fabrics, equipped with numerous hidden functions that turn premium vehicles into mobile living rooms and pay attention to the trend toward autonomous driving: this is how Marquardt sees vehicle interiors in the automotive luxury class in the future. 

    In its new DemoCar 2.0, the mechatronics manufacturer shows how a vehicle will interact with its occupants when autonomous driving becomes the norm in this vehicle category in five to ten years time. Then drivers will have to feel as safe and comfortable as they do at home and be able to rely on their car to keep everything under contol. 

    We use light as a control element.

    Felix Hake
    Product Manager Innovations

    By clicking on the play button, you leave our website and agree that Youtube sets cookies on your terminal device. For more information follow the link to the Privacy terms of Google or to the explanations how Google uses cookies .

    Thanks to Keyless Go and The Collision Warning System,
    the Car communicates with the driver and the environment

    „More emotional, with more character“ – this is how Felix Hake, Team Leader Product Management Innovations at Marquardt, describes the future of vehicle interiors. It already gets emotional when you get in. The Intelligent Door is based on Marquardt's keyless PnD3 driving authorization system via smartphone (Keyless Go) and, thanks to "Intention Detection", recognizes what the driver has in mind. Only when he or she reaches out does the door open automatically, while bright matrix LEDs illuminate the floor to signal danger to approaching cyclists, for example. "This is how the car communicates with its surroundings", Hake explains. The autonomous vehicle can also use this visual warning function instead of eye contact to communicate with pedestrians at crosswalks. >> Keyless Go: The PnD3 system from Marquardt

    SMART SURFACES WITH PRINTED ELECTRONICS
    GENERATE LIGHT AND HEAT IN THE VEHICLE INTERIOR 

    Inside the vehicle, smart surfaces made of real wood, fabric and imitation leather radiate calm and safety and create a feel-good ambience. Smart because light applications are hidden behind the door surfaces, invisible to the vehicle occupants, along with transparent foils with printed heating structures. They generate "on-demand" homogeneous heat throughout the interior, combined with comfort-enhancing light. The use of mechatronic controls is also intended to lend the interior more character and value. For example, Marquardt developed door openers and seat adjustment switches as extremely flat hybrid control elements, only 3-4 mm thick, which are simply joined to the surface of the interior door. Although the look and feel appear mechanical, the controls function digitally with the aid of capacitive sensors. 

    Portrait photo of Felix Hake, product manager in the Innovations division at Marquardt.

    We have given a lot of thought to how we can make our products tangible and have tried out various approaches. The result is our DemoCar 2.0.

    Felix Hake

    MORE SAFETY: SENSOR DETECTS 
    MALFUNCTIONS     IN DISPLAYS

    Numerous displays dominate the field of vision in the autonomous vehicle of the future. However, for this to be safe on the road and controllable, functions and parameters must always be displayed correctly and completely. Otherwise, the vehicle will have to change or restrict certain functions. A new imprinted sensor from Marquardt now enables the system itself to detect faulty displays or indications and react to them in the event of a functional failure. This raises the displays to the functional safety level ASIL C for the first time. 

    GREEN LIGHT BAND SIGNALS CONTROL

    As soon as the vehicle is in autonomous driving mode, a green light band illuminates the steering wheel, signaling: everything under control, time to relax. The seat reclines to the comfort position for more legroom, the movable control element in the center console pulls back so that it remains within reach, and a large display above the instruments moves into the driver's field of vision like a movie screen. The driver can now watch videos or use his cell phone, which is securely locked in the center console. All functions and entertainment features can be accessed via a multifunctional rotary control in the center console. Its "active haptics" provide the user with gentle feedback on every hand movement and thus guide them intuitively through the vast expanses of the extensive menu. 

    The picture shows a close-up of the center console of the Democar 2.0 from Marquardt. It contains a large display and an interactive rotary module (HMI).
    Two Marquardt employees stand at the door of the Democar 2.0 and examine a heating foil that has been printed on the inside door.
    Close-up of the interior door of the Democar 2.0. The printed heating electronics are highlighted in red.
    A bird's eye view of the Democar 2.0. The model combines innovative mechatronic technologies, e.g. a light provider leads once completely around the driver's cab. Depending on the color, the vehicle suggests different functionalities.

    SMART CHARGING WITH CONTACTLESS DISPLAY

    The charging process at the rear of the electric vehicle is just as smart as the functions in the interior. It takes place via the Interactive Charging Socket (ICS) developed by Marquardt. Light also plays a decisive role here. Micro LEDs create a band of light around the charging socket that uses various color combinations to transmit information, for example about the charging status.  Marquardt calls its lighting concept "Smart Light Line", in which smart LEDs including a microchip are applied to a punched grid. In this way, each LED can be individually controlled via a master board. Another component of the charging unit is a new type of display into which the user can enter the charging mode - without touching it. The display is mirrored by a glass pane and thus appears to be floating in space, similar to a hologram. Hygienic operating concept," is how Felix Hake describes this pioneering solution. >> Faster charging with Marquardt: The Interactive Charging Socket 

    back to overview

    This could also be of interest to you