Abstract:
A clustered instrument panel on a display of a dashboard in a transportation apparatus is disclosed. The clustered instrument panel may be used to combine multiple individual instrument panels, such as the odometer, tachometer, temperature meter, battery meter, navigation screen and any other instrument panels that are traditionally presented separate and independent from other instrument panels. The individual instrument panels may be layered on top of each other to form the clustered instrument panel, with gradual increase in size from the first instrument panel to the nth instrument panel. Information associated with a given instrument panel in the clustered instrument panel may be presented in the gap area between the given instrument panel and the neighbor instrument panel in the clustered instrument panel. In one embodiment, the clustered instrument panel is a triple-circle meter.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention generally relates to instrument panels in a transportation apparatus. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Communication of various vehicle parameters to a driver is through instrument panels, such as a tachometer, a speedometer, an odometer, a trip odometer, a fuel indicator, a temperature indicator, and various indicators (e.g., maintenance, brake, oil change, tire pressure, door, airbag, seat belt and other indicators). A conventional instrument panel typically includes a round assembly having a pointing hand that provides an indication of a current reading of a vehicle parameter—e.g., speed, fuel level, rotation speed of the engine (RPM), current trip distance, total distance in the lifetime of the vehicle, engine temperature, temperature inside the vehicle. 
         [0003]    Conventionally, placement of instrument panels in a vehicle is typically fixed with each instrument panel being separate and independent from each other. For example, speed information is conveyed through a speedometer separate and independent from the RPM information conveyed through a tachometer. Thus, a round assembly representing the speedometer is typically placed in the center of instrument display area right in front of the driver and the tachometer is typically place on the left side of the instrument display area. 
         [0004]    A few drawbacks are associated with the separate and independent placement of the conventional instrument panels. First, certain types of vehicle, such as motorcycle or scooter, have fairly limited space for the instrument display area. Communication of other information for those types of vehicle becomes a challenge when speed, fuel, battery and RPM panels already occupy their designated spaces on the instrument display area. Second, vehicle driving is increasingly embodied in information communication to the driver(s) and passenger(s) of the vehicle. For example, entertainment information in a video screen on the dashboard of the vehicle is more and more desired by the driver(s) of the vehicle, and so are notifications regarding incoming text and calls, information regarding area(s) the vehicle is traveling in, environment temperature, etc. With more and more of such information is desired, it is a challenge to present all of such information on the dashboard when various instrument panels have already occupy a sizable amount of space on the driver side dashboard. 
         [0005]    Developments in liquid crystal display (LCD) technology have made free-form display on a dashboard a reality. Equipped with the new free-form display technology, a LCD screen can be snipped and shaped to fit virtually any layout design on a dashboard and to fill the entire surface area of the dashboard. The free-form display&#39;s flexibility makes it possible to integrate every necessary monitor or gauge, from speedometer to odometer, into a single instrument panel. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a clustered instrument panel in a transportation apparatus is disclosed. Individual instrument panels representing speedometer, tachometer, odometer, temperature-meter (e.g., engine or environment), various indicators and any other instrument panels may be combined to be layered on top of each other to form the clustered instrument panel. In some embodiments, N number of instrument panels may be arranged on a same center point gradually increasing in size, with the first instrument panel being smallest in size and the Nth instrument panel being largest in size. Information associated with each of the N number of instrument panels may be presented in the gap areas of the instrument panels. For example, information associated with third instrument panel may be presented at the gap area between the third and second instrument panels; and information associated with Nth information panel may be presented in the gap area between Nth and (N−1)th instrument panels. Information associated with the first information panel may be presented inside the first information panel. In some embodiments, the clustered instrument panels are concentric rings. In one embodiment, a triple-circle meter formed by three concentric rings presents three sets of information. Compared with the traditional instrument panels, the clustered instrument panel in accordance with the disclosure may compact several instrument panels into one combined display and thus save display real estate on the dashboard. 
         [0007]    In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a user of the transportation apparatus (e.g., the driver) may be enabled to configure the clustered instrument panel. For example, the user may be enabled to combine the speedometer, battery meter, and the environment climate meter into one triple-circle meter for presentation on the dashboard. Subsequently, the user may be enabled to reconfigure the triple-circle meter to include the speedometer, tachometer, and a notification screen. Such flexible configuration of display of instrument panels enables the user to decide a logical and convenient display of driving information for presentation in the clustered instrument panel. 
         [0008]    Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the following drawings and detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  generally illustrates one embodiment of a clustered instrument panel in a transportation apparatus in accordance with the disclosure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  generally illustrates the clustered instrument panel shown in  FIG. 1  in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates one example of a clustered instrument panel in accordance with the disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4A  illustrates an exemplary interface facilitating the user(s) of the transportation apparatus to configure the clustered instrument panel shown in  FIG. 1  to add one or more instrument panels. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4B  illustrates an exemplary interface facilitating the user(s) of the transportation apparatus to configure the clustered instrument panel shown in  FIG. 1  to remove one or more instrument panels. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary interface facilitating the user(s) of the transportation apparatus to arrange the position of the individual instrument panels included in the clustered instrument panel shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  generally illustrates a block diagram of a processor configured to effectuate the clustered instrument panel in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  illustrates one example of the components shown in  FIG. 6 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  illustrates one exemplary method for configuring a clustered instrument panel in accordance with the disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  generally illustrates one embodiment of a clustered information panel in a transportation apparatus  100  in accordance with the disclosure. Transportation apparatus  100  may include any apparatus that moves in distance. Examples of transportation apparatus  100  may include a vehicle such as a car, a motorcycle, a scooter, a bus, a train, a truck, a tram, or any other type of vehicle; may include a vessel such as a boat, a ship, a barge, a ferry or any other type of watercraft; may include an aircraft such as an airplane, a spaceship, or any other type of aircraft; or may include any other transportation apparatus. In one example, the transportation apparatus  100  is an electrical automobile. As shown, the transportation apparatus  100  may include a cabin  101  with a volume. However, this is not intended to be limiting. In some embodiments in accordance with the disclosure, the transportation apparatus  100  may not have a volume  101 . For example, in one embodiment, the transportation apparatus  100  is an electrical scooter and does not have a volume. 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the transportation apparatus  100  may have a dashboard  102  with a display  103 , for example a LCD screen  103 . The display  103  may be suitable to display one or more information panels, such as the information panels  104   a - n  shown in  FIG. 1 . As also shown, the display of individual information panels on the display  103  is separate and independent from each other such that the individual information panels  104  are displayed at corresponding positions on the display  103 . In this example, instrument panel  104   a  is a clustered instrument panel comprising multiple instrument panels and instrument panel  104   b  is an individual instrument panel. Clustered instrument panel  104   a  will be described in great detail below. Although two instrument panels are shown in this example as being displayed in the display  103 , this is not intended to be limiting. It should be appreciated the display  103  may display more or less instrument panels than those shown in  FIG. 1  in other examples. As also shown, the number of displays  103  on the dashboard may also vary in other examples. For instance, in one embodiment, there are three displays  103  on the dashboard. In some examples, the display  103  may fill the entire dashboard  102 . 
         [0020]    In any case, the instrument panels  104  may convey gauge information related to the transportation apparatus  100 , such as current speed/altitude/direction/wind, current longitude/latitude, distance traveled, RPM, fuel level, battery level, and/or any other gauge information related to the transportation apparatus  100 . In some examples, information presented in the instrument panels  104  may include indication information, such as seat belt, airbag, door, trunk, maintenance, safety, window lock, door lock indication information or any other indication information. In some examples, information presented in the instrument panels  104  may include navigational or GPS information related to navigation of the transportation apparatus  100 , such as current street traveled on, map of an area the transportation apparatus  100  is traveling in, the destination information, direction instructions, traffic condition, estimated arrival time, estimated delay due to traffic, and/or any other navigation information. In some examples, information presented in the instrument panels  104  may include cabin information, such as current cabin environment temperature, humidity, wind speed, number of passengers in one or more zones in the cabin and/or any other cabin information. In some examples, information presented in the instrument panels  104  may include configuration information regarding the transportation apparatus  100 , such as seat configuration, mirror configuration, battery configuration, driving mode configuration, and/or any other configuration. In some examples, information presented in the instrument panels  104  may include notification information such as incoming call, incoming text message, incoming video chat request, and/or any other notification information. Other examples of information panels  104  are contemplated. 
         [0021]    In accordance with the disclosure, the individual information panels  104  may be displayed on the display  103  at corresponding positions as desired by the user(s)  108 . In one embodiment, the information panels  104  are displayed at their default positions on the display  103 . As will be discussed in further detail below, the present disclosure enables the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  to configure the clustered instrument panel  104  to display individual instrument panels layered on top of each other. 
         [0022]    As still shown in  FIG. 1 , the transportation apparatus  100  may comprise one or more steering wheels  106 . Although only one steering wheel  106  is shown in  FIG. 1 , this is not intended to be limiting. In some examples, the transportation apparatus  100  may include more than one steering wheel  106 . For example, it is contemplated that the transportation apparatus  100  may be an aircraft that comprises at least a main steering wheel  106  for the main pilot and at least a secondary steering wheel  106  for a co-pilot. 
         [0023]    As also shown in  FIG. 1 , one or more users  108  may be arranged to occupy their corresponding positions. The user(s)  108  may include one or more drivers that control the movement or navigation of the transportation apparatus  100 , one or more passengers, and/or any other type of user  108 . In this example, the user  108  is a driver that controls the driving of the transportation apparatus  100 . 
         [0024]    With the arrangement of instrument panels  104  on the dashboard  102  in the transportation apparatus  100  having been generally described, attention is now directed to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  generally illustrates the clustered instrument panel  104   a  in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 2  will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the clustered instrument panel  104   a  shown in  FIG. 1  may comprise individual instrument panels  202 , such as instrument panel  202   a,    202   b,    202   n− 1 and  202   n,  layered on top of each other. In this example, the individual instrument panels  202  included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a  are of circular shapes. However, this is not intended to be limiting. It is contemplated that in some examples, the individual instrument panels  202  included in the instrument panel  104   a  may be of any regular or irregular shapes. For instance, in one embodiment, the individual instrument panels  202  may be of rectangular shapes. It should be also understood, although each of the instrument panels  202  in this example is of the same circular shape, this is not intended to be limiting. In some examples, the shapes of the individual instrument panels  202  included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a  may be of a variety of different shapes. For example, in one embodiment of the clustered instrument panel  104 , some of the instrument panels  202  are of circular shapes, some of the instrument panels  202  are of rectangular shapes, and some of the instrument panels  202  are of triangular shapes. 
         [0025]    As shown, the individual instrument panels  202  included in the clustered instrument panel  104  may be arranged to center on a same center point  206 . However, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other examples, the individual instrument panels  202  may not be centered on the same center point, In any case, the individual instrument panels  202  may be arranged increasing in size such that the inner most instrument panel  202   a  has the smallest size, and the outer most instrument panel  202   n  has the largest size. As shown, the gradual size differences between the individual instrument panel  202  create gap areas  204 , such as the gap area  204   a,    204   b  and  204   n.    
         [0026]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , without limitation, information #N, which would otherwise be displayed in an individual instrument panel #N, is presented in the gap area  204   n  between instrument panel  202   n  and  202   n− 1 in the instrument panel  104   a.  For example, without limitation, information #N may include speed information regarding the transportation apparatus  100 . As still illustrated, information # 2 , which would otherwise be displayed in an individual instrument panel # 2 , is presented in the gap area  204   b  between the instrument panel  202   b  and instrument panel  202   a.  For example, without limitation, information # 2  may include battery information regarding the transportation apparatus  100 . 
         [0027]    As also illustrated in  FIG. 2 , information # 1 , which would otherwise be displayed in an individual instrument panel # 1 , is presented in the area  204   a,  which is the surface area of the instrument panel  204   a.  That is, the entire surface of the inner most instrument panel  204   a  may be used to display information # 1 . For example, information # 1  may include environment temperature information. As should be clear, the number of instrument panels  202  that may be included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a  in accordance with the disclosure may vary in different examples as however desired by the user(s) or the manufacturer of the transportation apparatus  100 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  illustrates one example of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  in accordance with the disclosure. It will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . In this example, the clustered instrument panel  104   a  comprises three individual instrument panels  302 , i.e., instrument panels  302   a - c.  In this example, instrument panel  302   a  is a speedometer that communicates current speed of the transportation apparatus  100  to the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 , e.g., driver(s) and/or the passenger(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . As shown, the speedometer  302   a  is arranged as the outer most instrument panel in the clustered instrument panel  104   a,  and the current reading of the speed and round speed dial indicator is presented in the gap area  304   a  between the instrument panel  302   a  and instrument panel  302   b.  Instrument panel  302   b  is a battery level meter that communicates the remaining battery power of the transportation apparatus  100  to the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . As shown, the reading of the remaining battery power and its visual representation may be presented in the gap area  304   b  between the instrument panel  302   b  and  302   c.  Instrument panel  302   c  is a temperature meter that communicates the current environment temperature within the transportation apparatus  100 . As shown, the reading of the current environment temperature is presented in the surface area  304   c  of the instrument panel  302   c.    
         [0029]    Returning to  FIG. 1 , as shown, the clustered instrument panel  104   a  may be displayed at a corresponding position in the display  103  along with other instrument panel(s) and/or information panel(s). The default display position of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  may be designated by the manufacturer of the transportation apparatus  100 ; and the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  (e.g., the driver(s) or the passenger(s)) may be enabled to configure the default display position of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  on the display  103 . 
         [0030]    In some examples, the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  may be enabled to selectively configure which ones of the instrument panels may be added to the clustered instrument panel  104   a.    FIG. 4A  illustrates an interface  400  facilitating the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  to configure the clustered instrument panel  104   a  to add one or more instrument panels. It will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . The interface  400  may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the interface  400  may be implemented and presented on the display  103  of the dashboard  102 . In that example, the interface  400  may be a touch sensitive interface capable of receiving touch signals from the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . In another example, the interface  400  may be implemented and presented on a smartphone or tablet associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . For instance, the interface  400  may be a screen in an app associated with the transportation apparatus  100  implemented on the smartphone associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . Still in another example, the interface  400  may be implemented and presented on a computer (e.g., a laptop or desktop computer) associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . In that example, the interface  400  may be configured to receive user inputs and transmit the user inputs, either directly or via a server, to the transportation apparatus  100  for configuring the clustered panel  104   a.    
         [0031]    In any case, as shown, the interface  400  may present N number of instrument panels  402   a - n  for user configuration such that they may be included and displayed in the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  As shown, the interface  400  may include selection boxes enabling the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  to select individual instrument panels  402  to be added to the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  In this example, as illustrated, instrument panels  402   c,  is selected by the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  to be included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a.    
         [0032]    In some embodiments, the interface  400  may be configured to enable the user(s) to remove one or more instrument panels from the clustered instrument panel  104   a.    FIG. 4B  illustrates this. As shown, in those embodiments, the interface  400  may be configured to present the instrument panels currently included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  As shown, selection boxes may be provided in the interface  400  to enable the user(s) to remove one or more instrument panels from the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  In this example, instrument panel  302   c  is removed from the clustered instrument panel  104   a.    
         [0033]    In some embodiments, the interface  400  may be configured to enable the user(s) of transportation apparatus  100  to arrange the positions of the individual instrument panels in the cluster instrument panel  104   a.    FIG. 5  illustrates this. As shown in  FIG. 5 , arrangement of individual instrument panels as configured by the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  in  FIGS. 4A-B  may be initially determined by the transportation apparatus  100  (relevant components for such determination are described in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 ). In those embodiments, Interface  400  may enable the user to rearrange the positions of the individual instrument panels. For example, as shown, the user(s) may be enabled to “swipe” up the instrument panel  402   c,  to “swipe” up or down the instrument panel  402   b,  and/or “swipe” down the instrument panel  402  so that the positions of the individual instrument panels may be rearranged as however desired by the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 . 
         [0034]    With the clustered instrument panel on a dashboard of transportation apparatus  100  having been generally described, attention is now directed to  FIGS. 6-7 , where exemplary implementations of the clustered instrument panel is described.  FIG. 6  generally illustrates a block diagram of a processor  602  configured to effectuate the clustered instrument panel in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure. The processor  602  may be included in the transportation apparatus  100 . In some examples, the processor  602  is an electronic control unit of the transportation apparatus  100 . As shown, in some example, as in this example, the processor  602  may comprise a display component  602 , an information panel display controller  604 , and any other components (if any). 
         [0035]    The display component  602  may be configured to effectuate display of instrument panels as shown in  FIG. 1 , which includes clustered instrument panel  104   a.  In implementations, the display component  602  may be configured to receive indications of multiple information panels for display in a clustered instrument panel, such as the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  The information panel display controller  604  may be configured to receive user signals indicating selections of the multiple instrument panels for inclusion and display in the clustered instrument panel  104   a,  generating instructions instructing the display component  602  to display the clustered instrument panel  104   a,  and/or perform any other operations. 
         [0036]      FIG. 7  illustrates one example of the components shown in  FIG. 6 . It will be described with reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 6 . As shown, the IP display controller  604 , in this example, comprises a clustered IP determination sub-component  702 , a current display information sub-component  704 , and any other components (if any). The clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may be configured to receive user signals. The received user signals may indicate user selection of multiple instrument panels to be combined as a clustered instrument panel, such as the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  As shown, the user signals may be received from various sources, such as a knob (e.g., dial) on the dashboard  102 , a touch pad on a console, a smartphone, a tablet associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 , finger gestures on the display  103 , hand gesture captured by a camera in the transportation apparatus  100 , voice control command, mouse click on an interface presented on a computer (e.g., a laptop) associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100 , and/or any other source. An exemplary interface, i.e., the interface  400  enabling the user to initiate the user signal is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the received user signal may indicate to combine instrument panels # 1 , # 3 , and # 4  as the clustered instrument panel  104   a.    
         [0037]    After receiving the user signals, the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may request the current display information sub-component  704  to obtain current display information of the information panels requested. The display information obtained by the current display information sub-component  704  may include display sizes, display positions, colors, shapes of the individual instrument panels requested on the display  103  and/or any other display information related to the instrument panels requested. 
         [0038]    After receiving the current display information of the requested information panels, the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may be configured to determine a layout of the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  This may involve comparing the sizes of the instrument panels requested and determine which of the requested instrument panels may be the placed as the outer most panel in the cluster instrument panel  104   a,  which of the requested instrument panels may be placed as the inner most panel in the clustered instrument panel  104   a,  and so on. This may involve determining an overall design of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  based on the colors, shapes, and/or any other visualization aspects of the instrument panels requested. This may involve determining information presentation in the clustered instrument panel  104  in a logical way such that the user(s) of the transportation apparatus  100  may conveniently acquire the information through the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  Other operations of the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  are contemplated. 
         [0039]    In any case, the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may be configured to generate an instruction to instruct the display component to output the clustered instrument panel  104   a  to the display  103 . The instruction generated by the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may include the determined size, positions, layout, color of the requested instrument panels to be arranged for the clustered instrument panel  104   a.  In the example above, the instruction generated by the clustered IP determination sub-component  702  may include specific positions for the instrument panels requested to be included in the clustered instrument panel  104   a,  e.g., generate a clustered instrument panel: instrument panel # 1  at position  1 (inner most), instrument panel # 3  at position  2  (middle), and instrument panel # 4  at position  3  (outer most). 
         [0040]    The display component  602 , in this example, comprises a clustered IP generation sub-component  706 , an IP acquisition sub-component  708 , a display output sub-component  710 , and any other components (if any). The clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may be configured to receive instructions from the IP display controller  604 . After receiving the instructions, the clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may instruct the IP acquisition sub-component  708  to obtain the individual instrument panels indicated by the received instruction. For example, in the case of the received instructions being “generate a clustered instrument panel: instrument panel # 1  at position  1 (inner most), instrument panel # 3  at position  2  (middle), and instrument panel # 4  at position  3  (outer most)”, the IP acquisition sub-component  708  may be instructed to obtain interface information for the instrument panels # 1 , # 3 , and # 4 . The information obtained by the IP acquisition sub-component  708  may be used by the clustered IP generation sub-component  702  to present the requested instrument panels in the clustered instrument panel. 
         [0041]    After obtaining the interface information for presenting the information panels, the clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may be configured to generate the clustered instrument panel in accordance with the instruction received. For example, as described above, the received instruction may include specific details as to the design, color, layout, position, and/or any other aspects of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  to be generated. In that example, the clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may generate clustered instrument panel  104   a  accordingly. In some example, the clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may be configured to intelligently determine certain aspects of the clustered instrument panel  104   a  for generation of the same. For example, as illustration, in one of those examples, the instruction received from the IP display controller may not specifically specify the size of the overall clutched instrument panel  104   a  to be presented on the display  103 . In that example, the clustered IP generation sub-component  706  may be configured to determine the size of the overall clustered instrument panel  104   a.    
         [0042]    The display output sub-component  710  may receive display information for displaying the clustered instrument panel  104   a  generated by the clustered IP generation sub-component  706 . Based on the received display information, the display output sub-component  710  may output the clustered instrument panel  104   a  to the display  103 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 8  illustrates one exemplary method for configuring a clustered instrument panel in accordance with the disclosure. The operations of method  800  presented below are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, method  800  may be accomplished with one or more additional operations not described and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations of method  800  are illustrated in  FIG. 8  and described below is not intended to be limiting. 
         [0044]    In some embodiments, method  800  may be implemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices executing some or all of the operations of method  800  in response to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations of method  800 . 
         [0045]    At an operation  802 , a clustered instrument panel may be displayed in a display of a dashboard in a transportation apparatus. Examples of such a clustered instrument panel are illustrated in  FIGS. 2-3 . The clustered instrument panel may convey gauge information related to the transportation apparatus, indication information related to the transportation apparatus, navigational or GPS information related to navigation of the transportation apparatus, environment information, configuration information regarding the transportation apparatus, notification information, and/or any other information. 
         [0046]    At an operation  804 , a user signal may be received. The received user signal may indicate a request to configure the clustered instrument panel displayed at operation  802 . For example, the received user signal may request one or more instrument panels not currently displayed in the clustered instrument panel to be displayed in the clustered instrument panel. As described above, the source of the user signal received at operation  804  may vary. Example of such a source may include a knob (e.g., dial) on the dashboard, a touch pad on a console, a smartphone, a tablet associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus, finger gestures on a touch screen on the dashboard, hand gesture captured by a camera in the transportation apparatus, voice control command, mouse click on an interface presented on a computer (e.g., a laptop) associated with the user(s) of the transportation apparatus, and/or any other source. 
         [0047]    At an operation  806 , an instruction to configure the instrument panel in accordance with the user signal received at operation  804  is generated. For example, an instruction may be generated to configure the clustered instrument panel to include the user requested instrument panel(s). In some examples, operation  806  may be performed by a IP display controller substantially similar to or the same as the IP display controller  604  illustrated and described herein. 
         [0048]    At an operation  808 , the display of the newly-configured instrument panel may be effectuated. In some examples, operation  808  may be performed by a display component substantially similar to or the same as the display component  602  illustrated and described herein. 
         [0049]    Implementations of the invention may be made in hardware, firmware, software, or various combinations thereof. The invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed using one or more processing devices. In one implementation, machine-readable media may include various mechanisms for storing and/or transmitting information in a form that can be read by a machine (e.g., a computing device). For example, machine-readable storage media may include read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other media for storing information, and machine-readable transmission media may include forms of propagated signals, including carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, and other media for transmitting information. While firmware, software, routines, or instructions may be described in the above disclosure in terms of specific exemplary aspects and implementations performing certain actions, it will be apparent that such descriptions are merely for the sake of convenience and that such actions in fact result from computing devices, processing devices, processors, controllers, or other devices or machines executing the firmware, software, routines, or instructions. 
         [0050]    Furthermore, aspects and implementations may be described in the above disclosure as including particular features, structures, or characteristics, but it will be apparent that every aspect or implementation may or may not necessarily include the particular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, where particular features, structures, or characteristics have been described in connection with a specific aspect or implementation, it will be understood that such features, structures, or characteristics may be included with other aspects or implementations, whether or not explicitly described. Thus, various changes and modifications may be made to the preceding disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, and the specification and drawings should therefore be regarded as exemplary only, with the scope of the invention determined solely by the appended claims.