The awesome Mercedes-Benz F 700 Research Car

This innovative glimpse of the future is based on the optimum operating concept of the present: the established COMAND system in the current models of the S-and CL-Class.

Mirror display easy on the eyes

One of the major fatigue factors on long journeys is so-called eye accommodation. This refers to the adjustment of the eyes when vision frequently changes from close range to long range, i.e., from the near cockpit display to distant traffic. The eye needs muscle power to effect this change in focusing planes, especially for objects which are very close.

As a contribution to stress-relieving safety the research engineers have developed the SERVO-HMI for the F 700. The driving and vehicle information which it displays appears at the bottom edge of the windshield but, optically, appears a bit further away, because at the point farthest forward in the vehicle interior there is a mirror; the display itself is horizontally retracted into the cockpit. Accordingly, the viewing distance is the sum of the path from display to mirror and the path from the mirror to the driver’s head. So when viewing the displays the eyes no longer have to shift from far to near vision to the extent usually required today, and therefore are subject to much less strain – a tangible contribution to driving safety verified by scientific studies.

Assistance systems like DISTRONIC PLUS and the trip computer and vehicle functions are operated by means of the scroll wheel on the left of the steering wheel. The researchers have devised a very simple menu involving only a few steps. The F 700’s designers were particularly thorough in the way they reduced the operating functions for the lights and windshield wipers. Both are controlled fully automatically: perfected rain sensors and ingenious driving light sensors render conventional switches for these functions superfluous. The same can be said of the defrost position of the automatic climate control or the rear window heater. Here, too, the conventional switches have been replaced by a sensor-controlled automatic mechanism.

The control system presents itself in thoroughly improved form and is supplemented by a very graphic assistant. Instead of a separate screen the right-hand third of the very wide SERVO-HMI is used for it. The driver thus also profits from the eye-sparing advantages of this display technology when he looks at the navigation map or the list of radio stations.

Reduced menu levels, simple input

The control system in the SERVO-HMI controls three function groups: navigation, communication/telephone and audio/entertainment. The unit is operated by a rotary/pushbutton controller on the center console. The primary goal of the developers was to reduce the menu levels and the individual menu items without cutting back on the functions. An additional controller function has eliminated one menu level: to shift between the three main groups one only has to slide the controller forwards or backwards.

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