It is undisputed that vehicle interiors are increasingly being dominated by touch displays. Quite worn-out, conventional control elements are not far from becoming obsolete. Automotive supplier Preh shows with its concepts from pre-development and series solutions the optimal combination possibilities of both worlds. A tidy and clear design can be implemented by using touch displays and omitting most buttons and switches. For example, Preh has developed a completely integrated operating system for an electric 800V sports car, which includes touch display, carrier frame, electronics and haptic feedback module.

Active haptic feedback gives the driver clear, noticeable feedback when selecting a function. This means that his view is not distracted from the traffic and road safety is increased. Thanks to special actuator integration, Preh can completely stimulate the large display without vibrations being transmitted to other interior components. 

Preh meets customers' current design requirements with a "seamless design" haptic concept. The new door control module, which can be installed without gaps, has no moving parts and can be supplied in either plastic, glass, leather, wood or carbon optics. With Preh's "Seamless Design," no buttons are used; therefore, breakthroughs can be completely dispensed with. Feeling aids, i.e. depressions and elevations, in the surface contribute to better haptic orientation. 

A clear advantage of touch displays is they can be individually configured for different vehicle platforms. But rotary knobs have not lost their raison d'etre either. The combination of a haptic rotating bezel with touch display is being used in series production for the first time in the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Here the rotary knob is applied to the touch display using the pre-bonding process without any breakthroughs and reveals the display inside the ring. It is even possible to attach several such haptic rotating rings to the touch display, for more variability in the HMI design.

Preh offers even more possibilities with the latest development of a movable and even removable rotary knob. The freely movable control element can be maneuvered across the entire display and also personalized. 

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In today's vehicles, sensors for monitoring tire pressure, rain sensors and automatic driving lights switching on at dusk are standard. This offers a significant improvement in road safety. However, the automatic light control can run the risk of incorrectly detecting emerging obstructions to the view due to fog, smog or smoke, because these can also occur during the day.

Standardized automatic light systems only control the low and/or high beam, front and rear fog lights still have to be switched on manually in the absence of special sensors. Preh plans to solve these problems with a new type of visibility sensor that makes use of the optical backscattering principle. Placed behind the windshield and emitting a beam of light invisible to the human eye with a wavelength of 850nm, microparticles, such as those found in fog, are illuminated and reflect this light. Microparticle concentration enables conclusions to be drawn about the concentration of water droplets in the air. This visibility sensor was extensively tested both in the laboratory and during real test drives and produced very good results. In addition, the visibility sensor was confronted with disruptive factors such as rain, snow, tunnels and forest sections. The sensor system remained fully functional even under these different environmental conditions.

Preh's visibility sensor can make a contribution to road safety in fog by enabling the lighting required to be switched on automatically. In the future, when vehicles are networked, the sensor data can also be passed on to the traffic behind, for early detection and avoidance of hazards.

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A large number of temperature sensors is offered for vehicles. While conventional systems draw in indoor air and measure it using NTC thermistors, Preh's solution works with an unventilated surface sensor, which offers various advantages.

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