CESAR is ready for production soon
Siemens VDO modular cockpit
plug-and-play upgradeable solutions

Motion Trends,
17th September 2005.

CESAR is ready.

Thanks, but who's CESAR?

CESAR's full name is Cockpit Electro-Mechanical System ARchitecture, or CESAR for friends.

Actually, Siemens VDO Automotive is presenting the fully operational CESAR, the vision of a modular cockpit, at the 61st IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt (15-25 September 2005).

CESAR, including the electrical, electronic and mechanical components, is now a short way away from series production. With this innovative technology, the automotive supplier accentuates flexibility and system integration to meet future individual customer requirements.

Drivers increasingly want personalised vehicles. Automobile manufacturers are looking to accommodate this trend with diverse models and a wide choice of optional equipment. As one of the world's leading automotive electronic suppliers, Siemens VDO is responding to the demand for customized products, while simultaneously reducing costs. Here, the focus is on the cockpit, where many functions and information flows converge for the driver.

God bless CESAR then.

Siemens VDO is putting the fully operational, modular cockpit CESAR on the road to demonstrate personalisation is possible under the constraints of series production. In contrast to conventional cockpits, the automobile manufacturer supplies a platform for a wide variety of cockpit models at a much higher quality level making it possible to respond with ever greater flexibility to individual requirements and market changes.

Normally, the cockpit, including the entire instrumentation, is largely developed from scratch for each model. Individual assemblies are grouped together into an overall system. With CESAR, the automotive supplier pursued a more system-orientated approach and has redesigned the cockpit development process. The system as a whole, rather than the individual components, is now the initial point of departure. This means thinking in holistic terms and abandoning the perception that individual parts, such as the radio, instrument cluster or climate control unit, need to be developed separately and then assembled into the cockpit in its final stage. This also allows the creation of a user-friendly human-machine interface (HMI) to be a focus of the development process.

CESAR meets a number of current and future automobile manufacturers' requirements. Compared to conventional cockpits, it lowers costs by roughly 30 percent at higher quality standards, partly due to shorter development times. CESAR also reduces weight by approximately 15 percent and increases available space by up to 60 liters. This creates room for other tailored cockpit solutions with convenient storage compartments or innovative components, such as e.g. the head-up display featuring Night Vision, as part of modern driver assistance systems.

The four core aspects of the CESAR cockpit platform comprise: modularity, integration of all the electronic systems, a user-friendly HMI and an integrated magnesium structure.

1 - Modularity: the modular construction allows considerable flexibility in the vehicle interior design. The driver module, central and front passenger module are completely separate from each other and can be connected mechanically with a few fastening points and electronically by means of standardized interfaces. The modules can be manufactured separately and are easily interchangeable on a plug-and-play basis. This concept facilitates smooth, problem-free technical and design modifications or the upgrading of individual functions, either during series production or later in the aftermarket. Also, the vehicle can be tailored to the customer's specific requirements five days before it is delivered.

2 - Integration: for the integration of the electronic systems a server-server-client concept is being used meaning that all cockpit components are controlled by two servers. All driver-relevant basic functions are concentrated on one central server, called the “real-time server,” where they are processed in real time. The multimedia functions are provided by a separate server that can be updated at any time, reducing the number of control units required for conventional cockpits.

3 - Human-Machine Interface: CESAR provides functionality and clarity in the cockpit and improves the interface between human and machine. The HMI concept accommodates a range of display media. For example, all driver-relevant information can be communicated in the head-up display or in the freely programmable instrument cluster. This also applies to the HMI concept for future driver assistance systems. Comfort functions, such as air-conditioning or audio systems, can be controlled by the main display in the central cockpit module. Multimedia functions can be made available to the front seat passenger via an optional display.

4 - Magnesium structure: the mechanical backbone of the cockpit is the die-cast magnesium cross-car beam. This cross-car beam houses connectors for the electrical connections and the attachments for mounting the individual modules. It also features a special recess for the wiring harness. Moreover, the magnesium structure has a positive influence on the electromagnetic shielding.

The modular construction also enables improvement of the production process. Fewer components and electrical connections reduce the number of assembly stations. Furthermore, the integration of the electronic systems allows a permanent testing of functions already during the assembly.