Driving Success in Automotive through R&D. Discover Our AI-Ready CDC

Real progress doesn’t happen by chance. We engineer it. For us, the most powerful engine of true improvement and long‑term success is continuous R&D. This is the spark behind the most recent automotive R&D project at AROBS: a future-ready, safe, and responsive CDC running on a single microcontroller. It’s a system that creates a perfect harmony of quality among OEMs, technology, and the end user. It’s a system that once again demonstrates our ability to be your one-stop shop for R&D in embedded technologies.

OEMs are now looking to respond to accelerating technology cycles and mounting cost pressures with advanced automotive engineering. Thus, software-defined architectures are driving the consolidation of multiple domains and ECUs into a single Cockpit Domain Controller (CDC). This shift enables faster feature innovation, but also tangible reductions in space, weight, wiring, and system complexity. Improvements are a must, as shipments of CDCs will reach 45 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 72%, according to recent data.

The global digital cockpit market was valued at approximately USD 34.74 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 80.23 billion by 2034, with a CAGR of 9.8%. Reports show that growth will occur as vehicles become more connected, personalized, and software-centric. Moreover, other analyses show that the Automotive Smart Cockpit Domain Controller (CDC) market was valued at $5.1 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach $17.1 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 18.43% during the forecast period 2024–2030.

Today’s Challenges

Infotainment Quality Remains a Real Consumer Concern

Mass-market feedback reinforces the urgency of tackling the user experience quality. For example, a study shows that multimedia issues still account for a substantial portion of vehicle complaints, with five of the top ten reported problems involving infotainment systems. Thus, the study shows that richer software and larger displays alone don’t guarantee better UX quality and consistency.

Integration Complexity is a Persistent Development Challenge

Recent market analysis shows that OEMs and suppliers combine multiple operating systems, middleware stacks, and display protocols, thereby increasing engineering effort and time-to-market. Such fragmentation translates directly into longer integration cycles, duplicated testing efforts, and higher defect risk – engineering challenges that modern CDC strategies aim to address.

Consumer Expectations for Connectivity and Personalization are Rising

Beyond quality, drivers expect infotainment personalization to be similar to what they experience on mobile and home devices. So, interfaces would have to move toward adaptive, data-driven, and intuitive interactions. In addition, as evidence of touchscreen distraction grows, CDC solutions that come with validated, distraction-aware UX are preferred. Features can include glance-friendly layouts, simplified comfort controls, and safe performance mode interactions.

The Solution: A Unified, Future-Ready Architecture

Recent industry data, customer expectations, and real-world integration challenges determined our automotive engineering team to develop a well-adapted CDC to the market needs. It delivers architectural clarity, performance, and long-term adaptability and safety. Developing this R&D project was facilitated by our specialists’ strong expertise in technologies shaping automotive HMIs, such as Android Automotive OS, QNX, Qt, and Kotlin.

R&D Project Overview: One Compute Platform, Two Worlds

With focus on market needs, we developed the system on a single-microcontroller architecture, designed for consolidation without compromise.

• A System-on-Chip (SoC) with Hypervisor support is the central compute platform
• Two operating systems run concurrently:
  • QNX or embedded Linux for cluster-critical and vehicle-focused functions
  • Android Automotive OS for infotainment, connectivity, and media services
• Dual displays ensure clear domain separation and optimal user experience:
  • The QNX/Linux domain renders its interface using Qt, focusing on safety-critical, glance-efficient information
  • The Android Automotive domain renders its UI using Android Studio and Kotlin, delivering a modern, app-driven infotainment experience

Cluster Software Applications

• Outside temperature
• Trip
• Cruise control
• TPMS
• Speedometer
• Odometer
• Other applications

Infotainment Software Applications

• AI
• Settings
• Dashboard
• Radio
• Phone
• Navi
• Drive
• Media
• HVAC

If you want to see the system in action, watch it here.

Key Benefits: Value for OEMs and Technology Partners

1. Reduced System Complexity

By combining the digital cluster and infotainment into a single microcontroller, the CDC design reduces the number of ECUs needed. This approach addresses one major industry challenge by making hardware simpler, wiring and packaging easier, and reducing integration work.

2. Performance Without Compromise

Through the hypervisor-based architecture we separate safety-critical and infotainment domains, enabling concurrent operation and enable:

• Predictable, real-time performance for cluster & vehicle functions
• Rich, responsive infotainment experiences powered by Android Automotive OS
• Controlled resource allocation prevents performance degradation under load

3. Faster Development and Time-to-Market

By building on contemporary, mature software stacks, software development teams can develop in parallel and reuse components. Together with in-house-developed assets, this model shortens the integration cycle for next-gen products and features. It facilitates faster validation & iteration and, ultimately, reduces time-to-market.

4. Improved Quality and User Experience

Quality, fast boot times, smooth interactions, & consistent behavior across displays ensure a cohesive, reliable user experience. This R&D project also involved looking for the best approach to keep safety-critical information visible and unaffected by infotainment load, reinforcing driver confidence and vehicle quality.

5. High Flexibility and Scalability Across Vehicle Lines

The AROBS CDC solution can be adapted to various vehicle segments, display configurations, and feature sets with minimal effort. OEMs can scale it across multiple models or brands, tailoring UX, performance, and comfort features to specific needs. The flexible HMI platform can be used on cars, bikes, motorcycles, urban mobility vehicles, agricultural, and also industrial vehicles.

6. AI-Ready and Future-Proof Architecture

We developed the platform for future evolution, providing a strong foundation to integrate AI-driven, data-enhanced experiences. Centralized computing, unified data access, and software-defined interfaces enable the introduction of intelligent features over time without major architectural changes, which will be a great plus for areas like ADAS.

7. A Trusted, Visionary Engineering Partnership

The CDC project reflects a partner-first approach. Our team has strong market understanding, in-house business and technical expertise, and control of modern software platforms. Thus, we can work closely with clients to support delivery, informed decision-making, and long-term strategy.

A Trusted Partner for Building Future-Ready Cockpit Architectures

Future systems need a clear vision for evolution, topped with robust architecture and reliable software. Our CDC R&D project shows how a unified, hypervisor-based approach delivers safety, performance, and scalability on a single microcontroller.

We collaborate with OEMs and Tier 1 providers to turn complex cockpit challenges into robust, future-ready automotive solutions. If you seek an engineering partner with deep market insight and proven software expertise, we are ready to build the next generation of cockpit experiences together.