The Year of The EV article tells that We can dub 2011 the year of the EV (electric vehicles) and gives a timeline what happened 2011. The end result is that today there are enough Volts on the road (along with competitors like Nissan’s Leaf, various hybrids, and an electric Ford Focus) that it might be safe to suggest that the electric car is here to stay.
There has been many different car charging connectors in use on electronic vehicles. Electric Car Charging Standards Split article tells that many car manufacturers have agreed on a single EV charging port connector standard that has been in development by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for several years. European car companies have been divided on standards for both AC and DC charging. The new single connector will support fast DC charging as well as be backward compatible with the J1772 AC charger that is standard on many plug-in electric vehicles today. I think that use of that standard will rise in 2012, and common charging standard will speed up the EV deployment.
Automotive electronics: What’s hot in 2012 article tells that in automotive electronics, 2012 looks to be a year of consolidation as technologies introduced previously become more widespread across model lines. In particular, voice recognition, with different features and interfaces, is seen as a way of distinguishing one brand from another, while electrified power trains in the form of hybrids and pure electric drives will be available in more models. In keep costs down driven auto industry the more mature the technology that goes into a car, the less risk of failure and costly warranty claims.
Cars and smartphones start to communicate using MirrorLink technology to allow new features. MirrorLink™ has been developed with the objective to provide a technology, offering seamless (extremely simple from the consumer perspective) connectivity between a smart phone and the in-vehicle infotainment system. It uses IP technologies in order to be independent of the physical transport mechanism and supports many car connectivity solutions (Bluetooth, WLAN, USB etc.). Whereas MirrorLink™ does allow any legacy application on the mobile device to show-up on the car display, it specifically enables easy development of mobile device based automotive applications.
Ethernet for Vehicles is gaining momentum in in the car. Ethernet for Vehicles Advances article tells that Ethernet technology in the car (a concept that was once unthinkable for the automotive industry) has been gaining momentum lately. Special interest group, known as the OPEN (One-Pair-Ether-Net) SIG, is aimed at driving broad-scale adoption of Ethernet in vehicles, largely to serve the expected boom of camera-based applications in cars. Many vehicles now have backup cameras, and many others are going to add cameras for such applications as lanekeeping, adaptive cruise control, and collision avoidance.
There is going to be an increasing number of Driver Information applications that involve displaying complex images and graphics. Xilinx Paves the Way for a New Generation of Automotive Driver Assistance and Infotainment Systems at CES 2012. World’s first Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based Ethernet Audio/Video Bridging (EAVB) network implementation optimized for carrying high-speed data traffic within the automobile was shown at CES 2012. The IEEE 802.1 EAVB standard is already gaining the attention of a number of leading automotive manufacturers even though the specifications are still being finalized. OMG! Amazing home displays and automotive Ethernet AVB stuff from Xilinx article gives some more details what is expected in near future.
New electronics features are making challenges for developers. Automotive Electronics: Do We Really Need All This Stuff? article tells that everyone in the auto industry knows that the number of electronic control units (ECUs) in vehicles is nearing the point of unmanageability. Low-end vehicles now incorporate between 35 and 40 ECUs, while luxury cars may have 80 or more. “We’re right up against the limit right now. We need to find unique ways to integrate features and functions, and give our customers what they want without overloading our controllers.” The number of automotive features and functions keeps rising.
Would Cellphone Ban Secure Car Safety? article tells that the proliferation of in-car entertainment technologies (internet routers, smartphone links, MP3 connections, capacitive touch screens, etc.) are great for selling cars. Auto executives understand what consumers want: Many people don’t want a car with no extra features. Those new extra features have also sparked a serious debate about driver distraction dangers. “According to NHTSA [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents.” “You’re dealing with human nature here. People want what they want. And sometimes they want more than they should have.”
Leverage Ethernet to improve passenger safety, comfort, and convenience
http://www.eetimes.com/design/automotive-design/4234869/Leverage-Ethernet-to-improve-passenger-safety–comfort–and-convenience?Ecosystem=communications-design
Collision warning, comfort controls, infotainment and advanced driver assistance are just some of today’s sophisticated and diverse applications generating an increasing need for bandwidth and connectivity within and between in-vehicle networks
In such a market, vehicle electronics are no longer considered a series of distinct stand-alone components and are evolving into a more seamless in-vehicle network. By connecting through proven IP-based Ethernet technology, auto manufacturers have the means to bridge the gap between function and entertainment within a single network, while dramatically reducing connectivity cost and cabling weight.
An Ethernet-based 360° surround view parking system, for example, combines multiple digital sensors and cameras with low-light sensitivity and high definition image and video capture
By combining economical Ethernet technology with high resolution imagery gathered from affordable CMOS image sensors, automotive OEMs can dramatically extend sophisticated parking assistance systems to a broader range of vehicles
Today’s Ethernet-based automotive connectivity solutions, developed specifically to address automotive industry requirements, combine physical layer (PHY) transceiver and switch technology to deliver 100 ,Mbps over unshielded single twisted pair cable.
Compliance with RGMII and MII interface specifications ensure compatibility with other Ethernet devices within the vehicle.
For example, the ISO17215 standard currently in development defines video communication interfaces for on-board cameras providing driver assistance. This document set specifies the use cases, communication protocol and physical layer requirements (based on Ethernet) used within high resolution digital video interfaces. ISO17215 will standardize video communication protocols for systems such as parking assistance, night vision, lane departure warning, collision mitigation, and detection of traffic signs, blind spots and pedestrians.
ISO/PAS 27145, currently pending formal approval, addresses this issue by creating a migration path from existing communication platforms to this worldwide harmonized (WWH) OBD standard
WWH-OBD takes a secondary step, based on existing industry communications standards such as Internet Protocol over Ethernet.
Forget Fingerprints: Car Seat IDs Driver’s Rear End
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/01/18/forget-fingerprints-car-seat-ids-drivers-rear-end/?mod=google_news_blog
Mr. Koshimizu, a mechanical engineering associate professor at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo, has developed an ultra-sensitive sheet that sometime down the line could make the contours of a driver’s rear end an integral part of a car’s security system.
In the end, it will create a unique identifier — not a footprint or a fingerprint, but a bottom print.
Automobile Design for the Connected Age
BMW’s chief designer predicts that tomorrow’s cars will be controlled by voice commands, gestures, and touch screens.
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39483/
Car design is in a state of flux. The designer’s job used to be about tail fins and chrome. Then it was all about cup holders and plastics. Today, as communication technology invades the vehicle, it’s just as much about user interfaces, flat-panel displays, and Hollywood animation tricks.
Today, Van Hooydonk agrees, rapid developments in smart phones and consumer electronics have been challenging automakers to keep up
Good design sells cars. Is there evidence that good technology design also does?
We know that great technology design sells products. Apple is a big example. I think what’s happening in the consumer electronics business is that the way you operate cell phones is more of a character-defining factor than the form, or actual shape, of the cell phone. All cell phones are going to look like two pieces of glass. The user interface is becoming more important.
I can very well imagine flexible displays. We will be able to integrate the displays into the shape of the dashboard.
Regulators in the U.S. are worried that there is too much technology going into cars, and too many distractions for drivers. How does design address this problem?
We have that concern as well.
The car is a driving environment. This is why BMW is pushing the heads-up display. The information that is crucial to the driver, especially safety warnings, comes up.
Many Cars Tone Deaf To Women’s Voices
Female voices pose a bigger challenge for voice-activated technology than men’s voices
http://autos.aol.com/article/women-voice-command-systems/?ncid=dynaldusaolp00000023
Despite strides in voice-activated technology, carmakers acknowledge that women have a tougher time using speech-recognition technology than men. The industry is promoting voice-activated technology as a solution to distracted driving concerns, even though the systems aren’t yet entirely reliable for many people.
Safety advocates like the Governors Highway Safety Association say drivers are distracted by a growing number of gadgets that cause them to look away from the road, such as cellphones, MP3 players and GPS devices. They believe drivers’ divided attention is behind an increase in fatal accidents caused by distracted driving: Distracted driving was a factor in 16 percent of all fatal accidents in 2009, up from 10 percent in 2005, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Electric Vehicles: How Far Have We Come in 100 Years?
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=235241&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
If you want to get a sense of how far the electric car market has really come, it’s instructive to read “Foreign Trade in Electric Vehicles,” an article available on the New York Times Website.
The article is dated Nov. 12, 1911 — 100 years ago this month.
It’s hard to look at the article and not wonder how far we’ve come. Yes, the EV is back
If the 100-year-old New York Times article teaches us anything, it’s that vehicle electrification could still be a long, arduous journey.
New QNX Platform to Transform the Automotive Experience with the Power of HTML5
http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_4840_1.html
January 9, 2012 — HTML5 represents the future of the connected car, and today, QNX Software Systems Limited will demonstrate how the latest generation of its automotive software will bring that future to reality.
Automakers are beginning to embrace HTML5, and for good reason: It will enable them to keep their vehicles fresh with new content and features, to address consumer demands for the latest mobile apps and services, and to leverage a huge developer community. Moreover, it can help automakers customize the user experience and simplify access to mobile apps.
“At Audi, we see HTML5 as an essential ingredient for creating the next generation of user experiences in the vehicle,” said Mathias Halliger, Head of Architecture, MMI System, Audi AG. “As cars become the new mobile platform, it is increasingly important for automakers to keep pace with the growing array of mobile applications to ensure a rich, customized in-vehicle experience and to offer new features based on the latest technology, such as cloud-based software updates for the car. Support for HTML5 in software platforms such as QNX CAR 2 can help automakers achieve this connectivity, quickly and cost effectively.”
Audi uses QNX software technology in its MIB High infotainment system, which is shipping in cars today.
QNX demos mobile app platform in cloud-connected Porsche
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33369_1-57354886/qnx-demos-mobile-app-platform-in-cloud-connected-porsche/
It’s the classic show formula: put your product in the hands of an attractive model and people will look twice. In the case of QNX’s new mobile app platform, the attractive model is the Porsche Carrera sports car.
As the cars of tomorrow gain Internet connections and applications, they’ll need infotainment software that allows them to be as flexible and easily updated as your average smartphone. RIM subsidiary QNX Software Systems Limited thinks that the solution to that problem lies in the HTML5 framework and is showcasing its new HTML5-based QNX CAR 2 application platform at CES 2012.
QNX CAR 2’s general release, scheduled for mid-2012.
Time-lapse video of the Chevy Volt Electric Car teardown
http://www.driveforinnovation.com/watch-the-teardown-time-lapse-video-motion?cid=NL_UBM+Electronics
See how three days of disassembly looks in four minutes 56 seconds.
OLED lighting for car roof
http://www.digitimes.com/photogallery/ShowPhoto.asp?ID=5125
BASF and Philips have claimed a practical breakthrough in the development of OLE) technology that allows it to be integrated in car roofs. The OLEDs are transparent when switched off, allowing for a clear view outside the vehicle, yet providing light only within the vehicle when switched on.
The transparent OLED sandwich structure can be combined with equally transparent solar cells.
Don’t Look Now: A Car That Tweets
As Distracted-Driving Push Fades, Auto Makers Will Let Drivers Check Facebook, Buy Movie Tickets
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203824904577213041944082370.html
Undaunted by fear of safety regulations, auto makers are piling new technologies into their vehicles: everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to services that check Facebook and buy movie tickets.
With Americans increasingly glued to devices and their constant flow of information, the auto makers are rolling out what they call the “connected car.”
Customers say they love the electronics.
“It isn’t possible to stop it,” said Michael Sprague, marketing director at Kia Motors Corp.’s North American division. “Consumers are going to continue to drive with phones and all we can do as a manufacturer is to provide what the consumers are asking for and make it as safe as possible.”
Proof electric cars DO cause more pollution than normal ones: Study shows impact is worse than petrol-powered vehicles
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2100936/Study-shows-impact-electric-cars-worse-petrol-powered-vehicles.html
They have been heralded as the environmentally friendly solution to getting around, especially in towns and cities.
But new research in China shows that electric cars have an overall impact on pollution that could be more harmful to health than conventional vehicles.
A study of pollution in 34 Chinese cities has found that the electricity generated by power stations to drive electric vehicles leads to more fine particle emissions than petrol-powered transport.
They found that the electricity generated to power electric cars caused more particulate matter pollution than that caused by an equivalent number of petrol driven vehicles.
Wireless Power Pitched as Replacement for EV Batteries
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239008&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Stanford University researchers believe they’ve found a better way to build a long-range electric car. Amazingly, their solution has nothing to do with batteries.
By using resonating metal coils to wirelessly transmit large amounts of current between roadways and vehicles, the researchers say it’s now possible for an electric car to have virtually limitless range.
CARS’s idea is to use a concept called magnetic resonance coupling to transfer the energy. A resonating coil in the roadway would be connected to an electric current, which would generate a magnetic field, causing a coil on board a passing vehicle to resonate at the same frequency.
Researchers say they can wirelessly transfer 10kW of power to a moving car across a distance of 6.5ft.
Intermittent sections of road would also have to be replaced with pre-fab concrete slabs containing the coils. And the slabs would need incorporation of connecting cables and power electronics to resonate the embedded coils
Each electric vehicle would need an onboard copper coil measuring about a foot in diameter.
“The question is, do we really need batteries that are big enough to take us 300 or 400 miles?”
“The materials technology here is pretty basic.”
OpenXC: Ford Launches an Open-Source Platform for In-Car Connectivity and Apps
http://siliconfilter.com/openxc-ford-launches-an-open-source-platform-for-in-car-connectivity-and-apps-tip-techmeme/
Cars and the Internet are slowly getting closer, but it’s still hard for developers to get their apps into cars without being invited by the automobile industry. Given the security and especially safety concerns involved here, things will likely remain this way for a while, but a new project from Ford aims to accelerate in-car app development. The company today announced that it is now shipping a beta version of its OpenXC hardware and software platform to a group of handpicked universities
Here is the general philosophy behind OpenXC:
What if the user-facing hardware and software was independent from any one vehicle, and could be purchased and installed by consumers as an aftermarket add-on? What if the infotainment hardware was more modular and user-upgradable, and perhaps most importantly, transferable from one vehicle to another?
Building the OpenXC hardware
If it becomes widely adopted, every car would feature an OpenXC connection that is linked to the dashboard interface and audio system.
For Developers: OpenXC Brings Android and Arduino to Your Car
This new platform is currently based on Android and gives developers real-time access to a large number of a car’s sensors, the GPS receiver and other data from the car’s systems. Ford notes, however, that there is no reason why somebody couldn’t port the libraries it uses to other operating systems as well. The reference hardware, which uses the popular Arduino platform, should cost under $150 (plus the cost of an Android tablet).
This car is built in Finland!
Fisker Karma: The World’s Most Interesting Car
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577223211286146068.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read
A plug-in hybrid electric luxury sedan that costs more than $100,000, from a California company—Orange County, but still—which has borrowed $169 million from taxpayers as part of the Department of Energy’s advanced-vehicle-technology loan program
And this car is built in Finland
Start-Stop Micro Hybrids Gain Momentum
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239102&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
While lawmakers continue to push fuel efficiency, automakers are looking for inexpensive ways to meet government mandates, and consumers seem increasingly open to the idea of start-stop technology.
“Consumers like this concept, because there’s a tangible feeling that they’re saving fuel,” Kevin See, an analyst for Lux Research, told us. “But the OEMs are also saying, ‘We’ve got to get our emissions down and our fuel efficiency up, and this is the cheapest way to do it.’”
A study Lux recently published suggests the adoption of start-stop in the next few years will be exceptionally fast
But the beauty of start-stop lies in its simplicity. Because it doesn’t use any form of electrification to propel the vehicle (unlike a full hybrid), it doesn’t need a special powertrain or special batteries. Nor does it need a higher-voltage electrical architecture, like the 300V systems used by full hybrids. Instead, the vehicle keeps its conventional lead-acid battery and 12V architecture. As a result, the technology keeps costs low, even though it delivers a fuel efficiency boost of 3 percent to 10 percent.
“This is a substantially lower-cost approach than putting a giant battery in the back of the car,”
User Interface—The next battlefield–Part II
http://www.eetimes.com/design/communications-design/4236456/User-Interface-The-next-battlefield-Part-II?Ecosystem=communications-design
In recent years, cloud computing has become a popular trend across the technology universe. As more applications are moved to the cloud, one key challenge for OEMs is determining where to implement intelligent processing.
For many applications, cloud computing is a highly attractive option for a number of reasons, particularly for embedded devices. One key driver is total cost of ownership: rather than increasing equipment cost by integrating additional computing and storage resources on each device, processing and memory are centralized using the network. This approach allows companies to leverage their technology investment across multiple applications.
In the automotive infotainment segment, cloud computing is used partially to enable advanced functionality for speech recognition, but this feature usually carries a performance penalty. The advantage of the cloud-based approach is it provides greater accuracy (more advanced analysis techniques and features such as agent assist). If a particular phrase cannot be recognized due to an accent or external noise, it can be routed to an operator for further evaluation.
The challenge for infotainment OEMs is to balance the need to support “in car” applications that primarily use the embedded resources within each car’s equipment, with drivers’ need to interact with the outside world.
Street Bump
http://www.newurbanmechanics.org/bump/
The Boston Urban Mechanic Profiler (Street Bump) is the City of Boston’s newest mobile phone app designed to help Boston residents improve their neighborhoods.
Taking advantage of the sensors on smart phones, Street Bump will provide the City with a near-real time picture of Boston’s road conditions and the location of its potholes.
Street Bump app detects potholes, tells city officials
http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/16/street-bump-app-detects-potholes-tells-city-officials/
Plenty of apps – SeeClickFix among them – allow diligent, digitally minded citizens to snap photos of potholes and send them to city hall.
Perhaps the digital sensors in smartphones can do a better job all by themselves.
That’s the idea behind Street Bump, an Android app piloted by the City of Boston. The app, which should be available to the public this summer, makes the smartphone’s accelerometer do the job of sensing potholes. If you’re driving and you hit a pothole while the app is loaded, Street Bump pairs up data about the size of the bump with a GPS coordinate – and sends that to a city database.
Ultimately, that will save the city money, he said.
Learn all the basic algorithms to program your own self-driving car in 7
http://www.edn.com/blog/PowerSource/41637-Learn_all_the_basic_algorithms_to_program_your_own_self_driving_car_in_7_weeks.php?cid=EDNToday_20120222
Stanford professor and Google fellow, and develop of Google’s self-driving car, announced he was leaving Stanford teaching (he will remain as a research fellow) to focus his efforts into reaching a whole world of students by starting his own online teaching company, udacity.
He has already started a free 7-week course that will give you all the tools to program your own self-driving car.
Slideshow: Automotive’s Electric Vehicle Evolution
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=232514&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Nothing in the history of the automobile compares to today’s frantic effort to breathe life into electric cars and hybrids.
15 images, which touch recent developments emerging from the auto industry’s ongoing efforts in alternative power train technologies.
Does world not need more self-absorbed iPhone users talking to the wannabe AI in their phone?
Siri To Power Mercedes-Benz Car Systems
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/02/27/2224205/siri-to-power-mercedes-benz-car-systems
Mercedes-Benz unveiled plans on Monday to use Siri, Apple’s AI personal assistant exclusive to the iPhone 4S, to power its electronics system called ‘Drive Kit Plus,’ which will essentially let drivers access their iPhone apps while driving using voice commands. With Siri, Mercedes drivers will have a hands-free solution to listen to music, change channels on the radio, send texts, or make calls. ‘Drive Kit Plus’ will also come pre-installed with a number of social networks, so drivers will even be able to update their Twitter accounts and post messages to Facebook.
Siri will also be integrated with Garmin’s GPS system, so drivers can navigate and get directions with simple voice commands. With this move, Mercedes-Benz earns the distinction of being the first carmaker to integrate Apple technology into its vehicles’ in-car systems.
COMMENT:
The most interesting thing in this article for me is lifespan. If I buy a phone with a funky feature I expect that feature to be active for the life of the phone – two to five years. However, if I buy a car, I would expect that all the features keep working for the life of the car – which is a lot longer. What is going to happen if in five or ten years time, Apple decides that Siri wasn’t the right direction and makes something else? It comes back to the old DRM needing to be supported for the life of the product. What would happen to all the cars with this embedded if the servers were turned off?
Having said all that, something like Siri is probably the last thing I would want in a car, I am even discouraged by car commercials that offer “Built-in iPod docks” and the like. Too much lock-in for a specific product and brand.
Why Mercedes Benz Picked Apple’s Siri to Power ‘Drive Kit Plus’
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/305485/20120227/mercedes-benz-apple-siri-drive-kit-plus.htm
Mercedes Benz unveiled plans on Monday to use Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant exclusive to the iPhone 4S, to power its A-class electronics system called “Drive Kit Plus,” which will essentially let drivers access their iPhone apps while driving using voice commands.
“Drive Kit Plus” works alongside Digital Drivestyle, which is Mercedes-Benz’s app that can translate the iPhone screen onto the in-car system screen. With Siri, drivers will have a hands-free solution to listen to music, change channels on the radio, send texts, or make calls. ”
Mercedes-Benz plans to integrate Siri into the Garmin GPS system, so drivers can get directions and find routes without stopping their car to input the destination. Instead, navigating the roads will all be accomplished with simple voice commands.
Mercedes-Benz plans to integrate Siri into the Garmin GPS system, so drivers can get directions and find routes without stopping their car to input the destination. Instead, navigating the roads will all be accomplished with simple voice commands.
Mercedes-Benz ultimately picked Siri to power “Drive Kit Plus” because, simply put, no other voice-activated assistant is anywhere as powerful as Siri. The technology, which helps users call, text, e-mail, schedule meetings, surf the Web and find answers to complicated context-sensitive questions, was born out of a $150 million project from DARPA and SRI Ventures, the largest artificial intelligence project in U.S. history to date. The unique feature has driven sales of the iPhone 4S to make the new smartphone one of the most successful product launches in the company’s history.
Thankfully, Apple is looking for other areas to implement its incredibly powerful voice platform, besides its own products. Using Siri in a car makes the most sense, since drivers are now penalized if they are caught texting or calling while driving.
Siri may not show up in most cars — after all, Apple wants to all of its features and tools tightly integrated with one another, not licensed out to others
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/teknologia/sahkoautolle_oma_sahkosopimus
Electric cars could be charged from any outlet
Electric car’s own electrical contracting
Sweden is developing a concept in which an electric vehicle battery charging would be filled car’s electrical contract no matter where the car is plugged to. The concept combines mobile phone and electricity networks, familiar practices.
The system to determine location information based on where the owner of the car batteries to charge. Power companies work out then with each billing. In the same way as the operators handle roaming of mobile phone networks made calls.
Electric car batteries are expected to play an important role in the future, when energy efficiency is smart electricity networks
Rearview Car Cameras Likely Mandated By 2014
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/02/28/2327230/rearview-car-cameras-likely-mandated-by-2014
Every year around 17,000 people are injured and over 200 die in backover accidents involving cars, trucks and SUVs. Now the Chicago Tribune reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will send Congress a proposal mandating a rearview camera for all passenger vehicles starting in 2014. ‘Adoption of this proposal would significantly reduce fatalities and injuries caused by backover crashes involving children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other pedestrians,’ says NHTSA in its proposal.
NHTSA found that adding a backup camera to a vehicle without an existing visual display screen will probably cost $159 to $203 per vehicle, shrinking to between $58 and $88 for vehicles that already use display screens.
U.S. Rule Set for Cameras at Cars’ Rear
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/business/us-rule-set-for-cameras-at-cars-rear.html?_r=1
On average, two children die and about 50 are injured every week when someone accidentally backs over them in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit group that pushed the government to begin tracking such tragedies. And more than two-thirds of the time, a parent or other close relative is behind the wheel.
Federal regulators plan to announce this week that automakers will be required to put rearview cameras in all passenger vehicles by 2014 to help drivers see what is behind them.
Cars are filled with safety features that have been mandated by government regulators over the years, including air bags and the Liddy Light, the third brake light named for Elizabeth Dole
Safety advocates said a mandatory camera is long overdue. “We wouldn’t buy a car if we couldn’t see 30 or 40 feet going forward,” said Janette Fennell, the founder of KidsAndCars.org. “We’re taking this big lethal weapon going in reverse, and we can’t see.”
Backup Cameras Likely Mandated for 2014
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/sns-backup-cameras-likely-mandated-for-2014-20120228,0,2951874.story
If passed, automakers would be required to put rearview cameras in all passenger vehicles by 2014. “Adoption of this proposal would significantly reduce fatalities and injuries caused by backover crashes involving children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other pedestrians,” NHTSA said in its proposal.
In its study, it found that adding a backup camera to a vehicle without an existing visual display screen will probably cost $159 to $203 per vehicle. That number shrinks to between $58 and $88 for vehicles that already use display screens.
Intel VC funds ultimate mobile device
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/29/intel_launches_100m_car_fund/
Intel Capital has emerged as the first VC in the Valley to create a fund dedicated to accelerating technology in the automotive industry.
The US$100 million investment fund, Intel Capital Connected Car Fund, aims to back innovation and the adoption of new technology and services in the automotive industry.
Intel’s Automotive Solutions Division GM Staci Palmer described the car as the “ultimate mobile device.”
“By 2014, automobiles will be among the top three fastest-growing areas for connected devices and Internet content.¹ Intel’s experience in developing personal computing, software, security and cloud computing technologies will bring a new level of innovation to the car to enhance the driving experience for both drivers and passengers.”
The concept feeds into Intel’s core growth areas of cloud engagement, infotainment and data management.
Worldwide Middle East Indian Databases…
[...]Car Electronics 2012 « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog[...]…
GM: We’re Not Pulling the Plug on Chevy Volt
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=240199&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The five-week shutdown, announced on Friday, occurred after the giant automaker saw that it wouldn’t meet its earlier forecasts of 45,000 annual sales for the Volt, and that its inventory levels were rising too fast. “We made the move to keep the proper inventory levels and to match production to demand,” GM spokesman Randy Fox told Design News. “But we have no intention — none whatsoever — to pull the plug.”
Auto industry experts said they believe GM is committed to the Volt, but added that the company’s executives succumbed to the huge hype surrounding the vehicle and began forecasting sales numbers that simply weren’t realistic. “There was never the potential for the Volt to be this high-volume, this soon,”
Debate Continues as Ruling on Backup Cameras Postponed
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239972&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The federal government postponed its implementation of a rule that could require all new vehicles to incorporate backup cameras, but the debate raged on this week.
Proponents of the proposed rule continued to weigh in on the advantages of improved rear visibility, while automakers remained quiet on whether they support the idea.
“The blind zone on today’s cars can be huge,”
The decision is an emotional one for Fennell’s organization and for those who have lost family members to backover accidents. KidsAndCars.org posts photos of children who have been killed in such accidents, and it has conducted studies to determine the size of vehicles’ rearward blind zones.
Most people would be shocked if they knew how big the blind zone behind their vehicle is,” she said. Each year, 221 people, including 100 kids, are killed in backover accidents
“That’s a tragedy waiting to happen. The best way to prevent this tragedy is a rearview camera system with a video screen and an obstruction sensor.”
The decision is not an easy one for automakers. A proposed rule wouldn’t require a backup camera per se, but it would be almost impossible to meet the requirements by any other means. Automakers would have to add a camera near the trunk keyhole, along with a mounting bracket, connector, cabling, and either a monitor or a special mirror that displays the camera view.
Approximately 68 percent of new vehicles are said to offer backup cameras. Forty-five percent include it as standard equipment, while 23 percent have it as an option.
Ironically, while the debate over backup cameras continues, automakers are ratcheting up the availability of glitzy center console systems that include connections to phones, MP3 players, and even the Internet. Virtually every automaker and electronics supplier is devoting thousands of hours to promoting safety and eliminating distractions that infotainment might pose.
Slideshow: Detroit Auto Show’s Concept Cars Roll Hybrid
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239766&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Volkswagen and Smart took aim at the future with a pair of unusual pure electric vehicles. However, if there’s a common theme, it’s hybridization. Even conservative automakers like Cadillac and Lexus rolled out hybrid powertrains.
EV Battery Might Triple Electric Car Range
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=240075&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
A startup company has created a low-cost electric car battery with an energy density they say is almost three times as high as that of the Nissan Leaf battery.
A startup company has created a low-cost electric car battery with an energy density they say is almost three times as high as that of the Nissan Leaf battery.
“If you double the energy density, then the amount of active material in the cell is cut in half,” Atul Kapadia, chairman and CEO of Envia Systems, told us. “So if you have the same material, your cost gets reduced by half.”
The Volvo V40 features newly developed Pedestrian Airbag Technology, which is a world first. Sensors in the front bumper register the physical contact between the car and the pedestrian. The rear end of the bonnet is released and at the same time elevated by the deploying airbag. The inflated airbag covers the area under the raised bonnet plus approximately one third of the windscreen area and the lower part of the A-pillar.
Volvo V40: Pedestrian Airbag Technology VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyvWhJhLL6g
Q&A on auto safety and touchscreens with JD Power
http://www.edn.com/blog/PowerSource/41673-Q_A_on_auto_safety_and_touchscreens_with_JD_Power.php?cid=EDNToday_20120312
Touchscreens already dominate thehigh-end smartphone and tablet markets and are starting to make their way into the automobile cabin. Comments on this recent article on some new touchscreen controller products raised questions about how safe touchscreens are in an application where you really don’t want drivers taking their eyes off the road.
VanNieuwkuyk: Certainly any technology that removes the driver’s attention from the road introduces some level of driver distraction. The position of the screen, screen size, icon/screen buttons, text size, etc. all will affect the effectiveness of a touchscreen. However, there are also features that can be integrated with the use of a touchscreen that provide the driver with feedback to assure the proper/positive execution of a control is achieved.
With any new technology there is a learning curve. Touchscreens do offer great flexibility and creativity. The possibilities for use of touchscreens will come with some difficulty in use until the consumer becomes familiar with the interface. Many consumers are being exposed to touchscreen devices outside of the automobile which creates greater acceptance and high expectations. However, touchsceen use outside of the automobile is highly interactive; [Touchscreen use] within a vehicle cannot be at the same level.
k: There are compelling reasons to use touchscreens in multiple areas of the vehicle. The flexibility and personalization opportunities are appealing to automotive consumers given the time spent in vehicles and consumers’ desire to make this time useful, comfortable, connected and entertaining.
Slideshow: Airbags From the Inside Out
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=240303&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
see a gallery of how automakers are employing airbags in their vehicles
Auto Vehicle-to-Vehicle Comms Viewed as Life Saver
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239835&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications technology received a big vote of confidence this past week, when Consumer Reports came out in support of it.
For many, the term V2V may elicit little more than a puzzled scratch of the head, but the magazine’s support is one more sign that, ready or not, all of us are going to be hearing more about the nascent technology in the near future.
“We believe there are potential safety benefits to a system like this,” Liza Barth of Consumer Reports told us. “And that makes it worth pursuing.”
The big question, of course, is how such technology would enable the country to save more than 25,000 lives per year. The NHTSA and Consumer Reports say the technology would help in a number of ways.
An “intersection assist” feature would alert drivers if a car is about to blow a red light or stop sign. A “left turn assist” feature would let drivers know if there’s enough time to turn left into oncoming traffic. Other features would include forward collision warnings, do-not-pass warnings, lane-change warnings, and blind spot warnings.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication can prevent crashes
Smarter cars that talk to one another are the next step in auto safety
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-reports-magazine/April-2012/vehicle-to-vehicle-communication.html
Imagine that you’re approaching an intersection at about 30 mph, with a green traffic light beckoning you through. What you can’t see, however, is that another vehicle, coming in on the cross street, is about to run a red light. In a typical car, you would enter the intersection and most likely be slammed in the side by the other vehicle, which could seriously injure or even kill you. But in this car, a prominent red warning light flashes on the dash and an alarm blares, giving you time to hit the brakes before entering the danger zone.
That is one of several scenarios in which an ambitious new safety system being developed by the government, universities, and major automakers could help prevent an accident. The system allows cars in the same area to instantly communicate with one another over a wireless network, exchanging data about each vehicle’s speed, location, and direction of travel. With that information, the system can determine whether a crash is likely and warn drivers to brake. In more advanced designs, it can even brake the car if a driver doesn’t respond quickly enough.
In addition to vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, systems are also being developed that allow cars to communicate with roadside infrastructure, such as traffic lights, and work and school zones. Taken together, the technology is now often referred to as V2X.
Chevy Volt Revealed: Teardown Videos
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=240499&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Over a recent three-day period, EE Times, working with the benchmarking consultants Munro & Associates, tore down the car. Brian Fuller, editorial director of the EELife Community for EETimes, had been driving the Volt across the country and blogging about it on Drive for Innovation
CCTV at petrol stations will automatically stop uninsured cars being filled with fuel
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cctv-at-petrol-stations-will-automatically-stop-758518
Downing Street officials hope the hi-tech system will crack down on the 1.4million motorists who drive without insurance
Cameras at petrol stations will automatically stop uninsured or untaxed vehicles from being filled with fuel, under new government plans.
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are already fitted in thousands of petrol station forecourts.
Currently the system is designed to deter motorists from driving off without paying for petrol.
But under the new plans, the cameras will automatically cross-refererence with the DVLA’s huge database.
Slideshow: Autonomous Vehicles Leave the Driving to… Themselves
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=235252&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
When the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle race debuted in 2004, the results bordered on comedy. None of the vehicles drove more than 7.4 miles.
Nineteen months later, five vehicles finished the 132-mile second Grand Challenge. In 2007, six more completed DARPA’s 60-mile Urban Grand Challenge.
Today the work continues. Google’s automated cars have logged more than 140,000 miles. General Motors has predicted that self-driving vehicles will be ready by the end of this decade.
Electric Car Subsidies Won’t Make EV Batteries Better
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=240363&itc=dn_analysis_element&&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Obama’s pitch, made at a Daimler truck plant in North Carolina last week as part of a $4.7 billion energy proposal, calls for $2 billion of additional subsidies for EV buyers. The incentives for those purchases would jump from $7,500 per vehicle to $10,000.
“We need to invest in technology that will help us use less oil in our cars and our trucks, in our buildings and our factories,” Obama told the autoworkers at the plant. “That’s the only solution to the challenge.”
“Our research has shown that, on average, people expect to pay about $24,000 for a plug-in vehicle,” Dave Hurst, senior analyst at Pike Research, told us. “Clearly, that’s a big difference from what they really cost.
President Obama’s call for higher subsidies for electric vehicles is likely to boost sales and help educate the market, but experts question whether it will do much to address the battery dilemma that continues to plague that cars.
Economies of scale would help cut battery costs to some degree, but they would not necessarily bring the costs low enough or the energy density high enough for mass adoption of EVs.
“Everybody who’s capable of engineering batteries is already working overtime. When it becomes economical, it will take off. But you can’t force it to go any faster than it already is.”
New automotive designs need buck-boost converters
http://www2.electronicproducts.com/New_automotive_designs_need_buck_boost_converters-article-fapo_LTC_mar2012-html.aspx
Every year automobiles incorporate increasingly complex electronic systems to maximize comfort, safety and performance while simultaneously minimizing harmful emissions. According to market researcher Databeans, automotive semiconductors are expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% from 2011 to 2014. Increasing electronic content in cars is driven by new safety systems, infotainment systems (telematics), engine and drive train management, satellite radio and TV, LED lighting, Bluetooth and other wireless systems, and rear-view cameras. Five years ago, these systems were found only in high-end European luxury cars, but now they are now being integrated into midrange automobiles from every manufacturer, accelerating automotive IC growth at an even faster rate.
A key driver for electronics systems is the adoption of new engine and drive-train designs, which include direct injection, stop-start controls, and various levels of hybrid/EV configurations.
As the electronic component count in automotive systems increases, the available space requirements continue to shrink, greatly increasing the density of each system. All of these systems require power conversion ICs, usually with multiple voltage rails for each subsystem.
Most luxury cars have over 100 of these DSPs onboard and 10% to 20% of these will operate in two different modes. First, when the car is running the power supplies that power these DSPs will generally operate at full current fed by the battery and charging system.
However, when the car ignition is turned off, the microprocessors in these systems must remain alive, requiring their power ICs to provide a constant voltage while drawing minimal current from the battery.
The capability of new power ICs to continually deliver a well-regulated output, regardless of wide input voltage swings, has created new challenges for power management ICs
High Voltage Amps Up the Automobile
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=239663&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
For decades, automobiles have employed relatively small batteries with 12V electrical architectures.
But times are changing. Although most vehicles still use the old 12V architecture, a new breed of hybrids and electric cars is changing the landscape
Mild hybrids, for example, operate at 60V-80V. Full hybrids fall in the 85V-100V range. Plug-in hybrids range from 150V to 300V, and full electric cars check in at 300V or more. Amperages are running as high as 200A or more.
For engineers, that’s a big jump. In many cases, the old switches, relays, wires, isolators, interconnects, and passive components cannot handle the bigger electrical load. Automakers are looking for new components designed to handle the higher voltages and currents.
“Most of us have 200A service in our homes, and that usually powers the whole house,” Sumner said. “Now we’re talking about power service of the same magnitude inside the car.
“The wires are much, much bigger,”
“Interconnects are getting increasingly larger in order to handle the larger cables,”
“You’ve got a lot of electrical systems within the ‘brain’ of the car,” Wilburn said. “That’s why the shielding is necessary. Any time you put those kinds of voltages and currents through a wire, you’re going to potentially create electromagnetic interference.”
Connection system makers also must provide safety for mechanics and first responders who might flip open the hood. For that, they offer high-voltage interlock (HVIL) connectors that piggyback atop the main connectors.
“Until the advent of hybrids, people did not put isolators in vehicles,” said David Krakauer
But with hybrid vehicles, all of a sudden your batteries are between 200V and 600V, and you need an isolator in there to protect the other equipment and to protect the mechanic.”
The 400 horsepower device
http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Vector/The-400-horsepower-device
When web development reached critical mass in the early-mid 2000’s, there was a lot of discussion about what it all meant for native development and apps that are optimized for devices, but developers’ penchant for exploiting what devices can do has persisted through all of that, and it keeps getting more interesting with every passing year: devices are smarter, faster, and more packed with features than ever before. Gone are the days when developers had to wait patiently for hardware to catch up to software. Now it’s the other way around, and it’s great for developers, who just can’t seem to get enough of cameras, accelerometers, location sensors, touch screens, gesture inputs, voice inputs, and a bevy of other previously-unheard-of coolness.
Since then, we’ve seen the term “device” take on all sorts of different meanings … most people think of it as a smartphone, or a PC, or a tablet, or a game console to name a few form factors, not to mention the embedded world of ATMs, traffic lights, and sensor networks. But anything with a microprocessor can run software, and as things get smaller and more modular, the sky’s the limit in terms of developer creativity and imagination, which brings us to today’s post.
long with Ryan Friedlinghaus and his crew, we started with a 2012 Mustang, retrofitted it with Dynacorn’s 1967 Mustang fastback replica body. From there, we piled on Microsoft’s latest technologies, many of which have never been used in automotive applications. We created heads-up displays with augmented reality in the windshield. We put a Kinect on the front and a Kinect in the rear for skeletal tracking and live streaming video feeds. We added swipe-able touchscreen dashboard displays and then we tied it all together with Windows Azure in the cloud and Windows Phone applications to control it all. And that’s just the beginning.
We want you to think BIG about the types of scenarios you can create. Think bigger – beyond the devices we hold in our hands, those that sit on our desks and the things that mount to our walls.
Ford Escape Taps Capacitive Sensing for Hands-Free Liftgate
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1395&doc_id=240630&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Kick your foot under a 2013 Ford Escape, keep a key fob in your pocket, and the vehicle will open its rear liftgate automatically. That might not seem like a particularly hairy technical challenge, until you consider that the vehicle has to discern the difference between your foot and, say, a cat or a basketball. What’s more, it has to understand your intentions.
The tricky part is verifying intent,” William McRoy
To accomplish that, Ford’s hands-free power liftgate employs capacitive sensing. Two sensors (one at the top and another at the bottom of the car’s bumper fascia) “look” for the driver’s foot and shin.
“The idea is you don’t have to put down your groceries before you open the door.”
Ford’s use of capacitive technology is really just the tip of the automotive sensor iceberg. Today’s vehicles are increasingly employing sensors of all kinds to let the control systems know what’s going on around them. Resistive pressure sensors have found a home in intake manifolds and air conditioning. Optical sensors are playing a role in forward- and backward-looking systems. MEMS gyroscopes aid in stability control. Encoders monitor wheel speed, and resolvers are increasingly being used for motor positioning in electric cars. And with the advent of new touch screens and hands-free liftgates such as Ford’s, capacitive technology is now making its entry into the vehicle.
Get with the times: You’re driving all wrong
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10795756-get-with-the-times-youre-driving-all-wrong
Safer cars make old-school ways dangerous
As cars have become safer over the years, “the steering wheel and associated mechanisms (have) changed dramatically,” it says, meaning the familiar driving maneuvers “needed to turn the wheel have all changed.” Principal among the changes is the incorporation of airbag modules in the steering column, which are designed to deploy upward to protect your head and chest.
‘If you’re a conscientious motorist who still does everything the way your driver’s-ed instructor told you to, you’re doing it all wrong. For decades, the standard instruction was that drivers should hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions, as envisioned on a clock. This, it turns out, is no longer the case. In fact, driving that way could cost you your arms or hands in particularly gruesome ways if your airbag deploys. Instead AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and many driving instructors now say you should grip the wheel at 9 and 3 o’clock.
Among the injuries the NHTSA reports from improper placement of the hands when an airbag deploys are amputations of fingers or entire hands, traumatic fractures and a particularly stomach-churning injury called “degloving,” which — trust us — you definitely don’t want to look up.
AAA says the bags can also slam your hands directly into your head, causing broken noses and concussions.
“If the bag is going to go, it’s going to take my hand and put it into my face — either one of my hands,”
Fed driver distraction guidelines make navigation unusable
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57401786-48/fed-driver-distraction-guidelines-make-navigation-unusable/
The recently issued National Highway Transportation Safety Agency guidelines for automakers to minimize distraction for in-vehicle electronics included few surprises, except for the proposal to freeze maps on navigation systems.
Every current installed navigation system uses the car as a fixed point, and shows the map moving around it. NHTSA wants that changed so as to keep the map fixed. Even showing the position of the car moving on the map could be considered a dynamic image. The recommendation seems to suggest that the position of the car could only be updated every couple of seconds. Likewise, the map could be refreshed once the car has left the currently displayed area.
This recommendation would essentially make navigation unusable. The system could still give an auditory warning for the next turn, but without being able to glance down at the map and see how close the next street is would likely lead to a lot of missed turns and resultant frustration.
And although NHTSA includes the results of driver distraction studies in the guidelines, it has no testing directly related to using a navigation system
The NHTSA guidelines also conclude that drivers can not comprehend more than 30 characters of text with a quick glance. Here is an example of 30 characters of text: “The new NHTSA guidelines make navig”.
Along with recommending that in-vehicle electronics display no more than 30 text characters at a time, the guidelines also take a position against scrolling text, so you could not read the rest of that sentence by having it roll on by.
NHTSA guidelines assume that when text is displayed, we drivers will be compelled to read all of it.
The NHTSA document cites a few studies to back up its recommendations, but none deal specifically with navigation system use.
companies backed standards for in-vehicle electronics drafted by The Auto Alliance. This document, from 2006, lays out a number of principles for designing in-vehicle electronics systems with the intention of reducing distraction. Its guidelines include putting LCDs as close to the driver’s line of sight as is practical.
NHTSA also cites The Auto Alliance guidelines in its document, and lifts many of its recommendations directly from those standards.
Clearly, there are many, many other things causing accidents than drivers using a navigation system or other vehicle electronics.
The Geek Dream Car: Project Detroit Brings Windows 8 and Kinect to a Mustang
http://www.pcworld.com/article/252368/the_geek_dream_car_project_detroit_brings_windows_8_and_kinect_to_a_mustang.html
What do you get when you cross a retro Ford Mustang with the finest of new technology, such as Microsoft Kinect and a variety of other Windows services? A dream car that can’t possibly exist. Fortunately, it is very much real, thanks to West Coast Customs.
The California-based car customizers teamed up with Microsoft to create this impressive car, currently named Project Detroit. The car itself is actually a 2012 Ford Mustang in a 1967 Mustang fastback body, modded with neon blue under-car lighting.
First off, you can remotely locate, lock, and unlock the car using the Viper SmartStart app on a Windows Phone. Once you’re inside the car, the dashboard greets you with a whole load of awesome: In addition to Ford SYNC, a Windows 8 touchscreen on the passenger’s of the dash side lets a passenger play on Xbox without distracting the driver, surf the Web, or pull up Bing maps-to give you directions or find the nearest restaurant so you don’t have to.
The car also has a heads-up display on the windshield. Plus, for extra entertainment, when you park, the rear windshield doubles as a projector for playing Xbox Kinect.
This car also has sensors all over the place: The Kinect can help you park, while front and rear cameras will look for pedestrians and cyclists
Pretty awesome right? Microsoft will officially introduce Project Detroit on March 25 on Discovery’s Velocity Network
Could 4G phones drive wireless charging acceptance in autos?
http://www.edn.com/blog/PowerSource/41693-Could_4G_phones_drive_wireless_charging_acceptance_in_autos_.php?cid=EDNToday_20120327
A survey of 4G smartphone owners indicated that poor battery performance is dragging down the phones in customer satisfaction.
It’s not that batteries are more poorly designed compared to previous generations of smartphones, but rather that the phone technology places more demands on battery power: 4G phones having to search for a 4G network to connect to, which is a big drain on battery life, plus, purchasers of the new phones use them more than do purchasers of older technology-based phones.
Vijay Ullal, Group President for Consumer and Automotive Solutions at Maxim, thinks that 4G phones could unwittingly serve as a killer-app for wireless charging technology. Because the phones tend to run low on battery power in the middle of the day, this could make it attractive to simply place the phone on an easy-to-use charging mat, for example, in the car, where attaching to a plug-in charger can be cumbersome. True, tossing a phone onto a charging mat is not significantly different from plugging in a charger, but it has two benefits: It’s slightly easier, and it’s much more technologically advanced/cool, which is a very important factor for early phone tech adopters.
Chips ease users’ frustration with frozen gadgets
http://www.edn.com/article/521204-Chips_ease_users_frustration_with_frozen_gadgets.php?cid=EDNToday_20120327
STMicroelectronics’ new generation of smart-reset chips provide a safe, convenient, and intuitive means of resetting “frozen” gadgets, such as mobile phones, media players, and other portable consumer devices. Traditionally, when electronic devices freeze or lock up, users either try to remove the battery, which is sometimes inconvenient, or find an appropriate tool to press the dedicated reset button, which is typically in a hole that is often difficult to access.
Smart resets extend the functional capability of a device’s buttons so that users can simply reset their frozen device by simultaneously pushing one or two buttons for a long time.
The proliferation and complexity of mobile apps, operating-system versions, and hardware platforms has inevitably brought about interoperability issues, with consumers increasingly experiencing frozen operation, or the ‘white screen of death,’ on their portable devices,” says Alberto De Marco, director of the standardand high-resolution-products business unit at STMicro.
The proliferation and complexity of mobile apps, operating-system versions, and hardware platforms has inevitably brought about interoperability issues, with consumers increasingly experiencing frozen operation, or the ‘white screen of death,’ on their portable devices,” says Alberto De Marco, director of the standardand high-resolution-products business unit at STMicro.
Blind Man Test Drives Google’s Autonomous Car
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/03/29/0258233/blind-man-test-drives-googles-autonomous-car
“‘This is some of the best driving I’ve ever done,’ Steve Mahan said the other day. Mahan was behind the wheel of a Toyota Prius tooling the small California town of Morgan Hill in late January, a routine trip to pick up the dry cleaning and drop by the Taco Bell drive-in for a snack. He also happens to be 95 percent blind. Mahan, head of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, ‘drove’ along a specially programmed route thanks to Google’s autonomous driving technology.
company noted that it has hundreds of thousands of miles of testing under its belt, letting the company feel confident enough in the system to put Mahan behind the wheel.
World on cusp of EV tipping point, says Tesla CTO
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4370061/World-on-cusp-of-EV-tipping-point–says-Tesla-CTO?cid=EDNToday_20120329
Slow, steady improvement in battery technology over the past several decades as brought the world to the cusp of a tipping point that will lead to greater adoption of electric vehicles (EV) that could help curb civilization’s reliance on fossil fuels, according to JB Straubel, chief technology and co-founder of Tesla Motors Inc.
Straubel said battery technology has improved to the point that EVs can offer a driving range of 200 miles or more under normal driving conditions on a full charge. Batteries will continue to improve to offer higher ranges, better performance and potentially lower costs, he said. “Cost is still the most important challenge for batteries,” Straubel said.
In the U.S., he said, 96 percent of all transportation is drive by petroleum. “We cannot keep doing that for decades to come,” Straubel said. “Certainly not centuries.”
Straubel said Tesla applauds the fact that major automakers have come around. Making a real dent in fossil fuel consumption requires that all automakers offer EVs, he said.
Model S includes a direct current fast-charge capability that can re-charge the vehicle to about half of its maxim range in 30 minutes, Straubel said. Thus, drivers could conceivably drive very long distances, stopping every 150 miles or so for 30 minutes to re-charge, he said.
“People aren’t used to paying for fuel costs up front, when they buy the car,” Straubel said.
Are Automakers’ Managers Hurting Engineering?
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=240475&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Some cars are reliable and cleanly designed. Others are complex and riddled with problems. And the same manufacturers seem to have the same problems, year after year, notes Consumer Reports.
Champion contends that the differences between vehicles could be too easily laid at the doorstep of the engineering staff. In fact, he believes the problems are at a much higher level. “It’s the business culture that sets the engineering culture,” Champion says. “It comes from the very top.”
“The bottom line is that some companies want to make their profits today and they keep their vehicles reliable for three years, so that they don’t have to pay out a lot on warranty costs,” Champion said. “But when we look at problems per hundred after five years, we see them escalating considerably with some of the manufacturers, such as Mini, GMC, BMW, Audi, and Chrysler.”
Previous years’ studies, based on about 1.3 million annual user surveys, have had strikingly similar results.
“People believe that Japanese automakers build all their parts very precisely, and it just isn’t true. We found they don’t care about making each part to a precise spec. They just want the assembly to be in spec.”
“It’s the assembly that counts,” he told us. “Among the Japanese automakers, there’s great attention to detail and time spent making sure that nothing rubs and everything is beautifully laid out.”
He added, however, that those differences are a result of corporate culture. “It’s just a matter of what’s most important to the company,” he said.
In contrast, North American companies tend to appease stockholders who want short-term profits — often at the expense of long-term reliability, he said. As a result, the focus shifts to cost-cutting, instead of to engineering and quality.
“It comes down to what upper management instills in its work force,”
Slideshow: Electric Car Batteries Get Bigger
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=238863&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
To boost the range of pure electric vehicles (EVs), automakers need more onboard energy. To get more energy, they need bigger battery packs.
That’s why manufacturers such as Tesla Motors and BYD Automobile are rolling out vehicles with massive EV battery packs.
Not all automakers are building such massive packs.
Major Milestone takes “Flying Car” Closer to First Delivery
http://www.terrafugia.com/newsreleases.html#PPFlight1
Second Generation Transition® Street-Legal Airplane Takes Flight