Voice Control, Function - GF82.70-P-3020RFM
Model 253 (except 253.99)
as of model year 2020
Function requirements for voice control, general
- Circuit 30t ON
- Transport mode not active
Voice control, general
The voice control system allows the driver to conveniently operate numerous head unit functions as well as additional vehicle functions without having to take his hands off the steering wheel. For example, the following functions can be used via voice control:
- Operating navigation, e.g. destination entry
- Using the address book entries for making phone calls or sending text messages (SMS)
- Reading out and dictating SMS messages
- Operating the audio systems (radio and media)
- Actuating the menus for various vehicle functions
- Operating vehicle functions, e.g. air conditioning system, seat heating, interior lighting
- Calling up the weather forecast
The voice control system can understand natural language and offers users the opportunity to formulate their wishes freely without having to learn pre-determined voice commands. However, voice detection has not yet reached the same level of progress for all the head unit's system languages.
On vehicles with code 355 (Extended MBUX functions), and code 362 (HERMES LTE), the user can also activate the online voice control in the Mercedes-Benz Customer Portal. However, the online voice control is not available for all system languages of the head unit.
The voice control system is made up of the following subfunctions:
- Activation of the voice control system
- Dialog with the user
- Online voice control
Activation of the voice control system
The voice control system is switched on and off using the voice control ON and favorites switch on the head unit multifunction steering wheel button group. During active smartphone integration, both the vehicle's voice control system (brief press), and the smartphone's voice control system (long press) may be called up using the voice control button.
The head unit multifunction steering wheel button group sends the control signal via the following route:
Steering wheel electronics →
Steering wheel CAN →
Steering column tube module control unit →
Suspension FlexRay →
Electronic ignition lock control unit →
User interface CAN →
Head unit
Activation of the voice control system can also take place using the keywords "Hey Mercedes". The user can switch this function on and off via the head unit. If the function is switched on, the head unit permanently monitors the driver's hands-free system microphone and the front passenger hands-free system microphone in response to keywords for activation.
Dialog with the user
The driver hands-free system microphone and the front passenger hands-free system microphone record the voice inputs, convert them to microphone signals and send them to the head unit, where they are then evaluated.
If the voice control system has to respond with a vocal request, e.g. because the user's request is not understood, the head unit generates the voice output. The head unit outputs the signals through the speaker system or on vehicles with code 810 (Sound system), it sends them over MOST to the sound system amplifier control unit.
Additional function requirements for online voice control
- Vehicle with code 355 (Extended MBUX functions), and code 362 (HERMES LTE)
- Online voice control is activated in the Mercedes-Benz customer portal.
- Sufficient mobile phone network coverage
Online voice control
With the online voice control, the message of the user is understood even more reliably and additional functions can be used that are available not just for the online voice control:
- Entry of "what3words" addresses
- Dictation
- Weather forecast
If the online voice control is active, the head unit sends the recognized voice commands to the Mercedes-Benz back-end. High-performance back-end servers analyze the voice inputs and convert them into control signals for the vehicle or answers for the voice output. The Mercedes-Benz Back-end transmits the control signals and answers back to the vehicle again. The back-end server makes it possible to better recognize spoken language and, by accessing external information, provide detailed answers to the user's voice queries.
The head unit always carries out voice recognition in the vehicle simultaneously. The head unit compares this with the recognition from the back-end and selects the better result. If the back-end does not send a reply, the head unit uses the recognition carried out in the vehicle.
For the online voice control, the microphone signals are sent to the Mercedes-Benz back-end in this way:
Head unit →
HERMES control unit →
Emergency call system antenna and telephone antenna splitter with left telephone antenna and right telephone antenna
The Mercedes-Benz back end sends the signals to the vehicle over the following path:
Emergency call system antenna and telephone antenna splitter with left telephone antenna and right telephone antenna →
HERMES control unit →
Diagnostic CAN →
Electronic ignition lock control unit →
User interface CAN →
Head unit
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