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.”
Slideshow: ‘Start-Stop’ Hybrids Hit the Road
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=237015&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
If you start your car two or three times a day, prepare for a shock. Over the next decade, that figure is likely to rise by a factor of 10. Soon your car’s engine will automatically shut down at traffic lights and stop signs. It will turn off during heavy rush-hour driving.
Experts say the so-called start-stop wave is coming, and the auto industry is bracing for its arrival.
“It’s going to start happening in 2012,”
“And it’s going to ramp up fast. The start-stop change will affect a large percentage of the market over the next three years.”
Ford, Chevy, Buick, Kia, and BMW will roll out the technology early in 2012. Their vehicles will join a handful of models from Fiat, Volvo, and Alfa Romeo that already have it.
Safety Standard Could Disrupt MEMS in Automotive
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=241289&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
While there is much anticipation of high-end functions for sensors in automobiles, to aid self-parking and even autonomous vehicles, a panel of experts agreed it was likely to be the more mundane legal mandates, such as environmental pollution and safety, that would keep demand for automotive MEMS sensors climbing for the foreseeable future.
ISO 26262 is a Functional Safety standard , titled “Road vehicles — Functional safety”.
ISO26262, is going to have on makers of automotive MEMS. MEMS makers are going to have to implement more complex design procedures for devices if they wish to carry on selling in to the automotive supply chain, according to a panelist from automotive tier-1 supplier Continental.
ISO26262 also applies more generally to silicon and software, although the role of MEMS sensors in a number of safety-critical systems makes the standard particularly relevant to MEMS components.
Some carmakers have reportedly been asking for ISO26262 compliance since early 2011, although most silicon and software, developed before the publishing of the standard, is inherently non-compliant.
Dixon named the usual MEMS sensor suspects: pressure sensors in the powertrain and tire pressure monitoring system, accelerometers in the airbag safety system, and gyroscopes in electronic stability control (ESC) systems. He said that iSuppli has spotted 36 design slots for MEMS in the automobile, but that growth would come as more regions adopted mandates that demanded these slots be filled.
Meanwhile, automobile purchasing worldwide is set to increase from 70 million cars in 2012 to 100 million cars in 2015. In terms of growth beyond that, it is likely to be sensors to monitor and help automotive companies cut down on emissions
Flying Car Makes Successful Maiden Flight
http://pal-v.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Pal-V_press_release.pdf
The Dutch company PAL-V Europe NV has successfully concluded test flights of its flying car, PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle).
The patented vehicle flies in the air like a gyrocopter with lift
generated by an auto-rotating rotor and forward speed produced by a foldable push propeller on the back. On the road it drives like a sports car.
A PAL-V offers the choice of flying like a plane or driving like a car.
On the ground the slim, aerodynamic, 3-wheeled vehicle
It runs on gasoline like a conventional car and there will also be versions that use biodiesel or bio-ethanol. It can reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (110 miles/h) both on land and in the air.
Flying, a PAL-V is like a standard gyrocopter.
A flying car has been a dream cherished for almost 100 years. Now it has become reality.
EV Battery Report Says Costs Going Down
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=241175&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
A new Obama administration report predicts a sharp decline in the cost of hybrid-electric vehicle batteries over the next three years, but industry analysts are calling that forecast optimistic
The Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future: A Progress Report” says battery pack costs could drop as low as $360/kWh by 2015:
In 2008, a typical battery for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with a 40-mile electric range cost $12,000 (assumes 10kWh batteries). But in part because of the investments made by the Administration, the United States is on track to demonstrate technology by 2015 that would reduce the cost to $3,600.
Such a drop could be a big step forward for the electric car market. A Chevy Volt battery would cost about $5,760, significantly less than it is believed to cost today. Similarly, a Tesla Roadster battery — which, according to recent news reports, is being offered to customers at a replacement price of about $40,000 — would drop to $14,400.
But industry analysts questioned whether the going rate of $800-$1,000/kWh could drop that far in such a short time.
imPassed…
[...]Car Electronics 2012 « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog[...]…
Many hybrid-car owners buy once — but not again, Polk study says
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-repeat-hybrid-car-buyers-20120409,0,416214.story
Only 35% of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the market in 2011, according to auto information company R.L. Polk & Co.
It’s hard to know what’s causing the low repurchase rate. One reason is that about 17,000 people purchased electric cars last year, and other data shows that many of those were trading in a hybrid vehicle.
Hybrid vehicles represent just 2.4% of the overall new vehicle market in the U.S., according to Polk, down from a high of 2.9% in 2008.
Slideshow: Top Cars From 2012 New York International Auto Show
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1381&doc_id=241826
Have automobiles become electronics platforms with engines and transmissions thrown in as afterthoughts? One might be forgiven for thinking so. At the 2012 New York International Auto Show, taking place at New York City’s Javits Center April 6 through 15, there was less differentiation amongst products outside the sheet metal than beneath it.
Under the hood, power trains are moving forward via the slow but steady mainstreaming of hybrids and electric vehicles.
MEMS Sensors Driving Smart Automotive
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=241581
Rapid advances in intelligent automotive systems were showcased during the first European edition of the MEMS Executive Congress. Such systems can tell whether a child is in the street and enable the car to avoid impact. MEMS can ensure that a driver is not inebriated before getting behind the wheel; this is already a reality in France, and would seem to beat the pants off the old-fashioned Breathalyzer.
MEMS can make a car smarter in how it utilizes and conserves energy and power through energy harvesting. It can make a car easier to drive, through sensor-enabled steering that senses the curvature of the road and accounts for torque and speed.
MEMS make drivers safer and smarter with anti-roller stability, airbags, and tire-pressure monitors.
Dixon described how the automotive market recovered very quickly after a dip in 2008 to 2009, mainly driven by safety mandates. There has been a steady 10 percent growth rate (primarily from pressure sensors, airbags, gyros, and flow sensors) since then, and Dixon expects this trajectory to continue for the next five years. Safety mandates are driving mature markets forward, while there is just plain growth in automotive MEMS in emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) markets, as their middle classes grow and demand for automotive increases. Applications like driver-assist will become more prevalent in the near future, further driving demand for MEMS in this sector.
Chrysler is introducing the first car manufacturer in the market of mobile phone wireless charging accessory this year.
Chrysler’s press release explains that the company was the first car manufacturer that is moving away from hanging mobile device chargers. Chrysler Group, part of Mopar has developed a wireless mobile plasters loading device, which launched a new Dodge Dartin as an option.
Mobile phone charging is done completely wirelessly and automatically, every time a car engine is running. Special-made protective cover is available for the iPhone and some BlackBerry and Android phones and MP3 players.
Option to pay the U.S. $ 199 (without installation), which includes the power adapter and custom-made protective cover for the selected device.
Source:
http://www.tietokone.fi/uutiset/chryslerilta_langaton_kannykkalaturi
Sweden: talk, text and drive? OK
A ban wouldn’t work anyway
Sweden is bucking the international trend towards restricting the use of mobiles in cars, reasoning that drivers would just ignore a ban.
Swedish news site The Local is reporting that the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute (VTI) has decided there is “no reason” to ban drivers from talking or even texting – partly because half of the country’s drivers do so anyway.
Looking at the overseas experience, the VTI says the benefits of introducing a ban “generally dissipate within a year or so” of legislation being introduced.
Source:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/12/sweden_not_banning_mobiles_in_cars/
The automotive industry is under pressure to provide new and improved vehicle systems, ranging from body, chassis and powertrain systems to extremely complex advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) with accident prediction and avoidance capabilities. Electronics play a key role in these systems, and ISO 26262 has been developed to address the design of electronic systems that could otherwise lead to hazardous situations if these systems fail in an uncontrolled way.
Safety goals from ASIL-A to ASIL-D.
Source: Functional Safety for the Automotive Design Engineer Webinar advertisement mail from Design News
ISO 26262 is very difficult to understand, requires lots of reading and studying
And to muddy the water between international standard requirements and customer requirements, here is the scope of the unpublished standard: Systems developed prior to the publication of ISO 26262 are exempt from the scope.
Source: http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=48321
Patent filing: Google’s self-driving car could pick up the kids, swerve to avoid deer
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/patent-filing-googles-selfdriving-car-pick-kids-swerve-avoid-deer/
A Google patent application made public today goes into great detail about the possibilities of its self-driving car project – and no, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke.
According to the filing, features would include the ability to autonomously pick up kids from school and drive them home, communicate with other vehicles to avoid obstacles such as a deer in the road, let people doze on special “sleeping surfaces” inside the car while the computer drives, and change shape automatically depending how the vehicle is being used, among many other features.
Google first detailed the autonomous car project in 2010, using technology including video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to allow the cars to drive themselves. Prototypes have alternatively thrilled, impressed and scared earlier testers, as shown in the video above. The project is an outgrowth of U.S. DARPA Challenge for autonomous vehicles.
If you use the google app you can’t save the images, you have to search for pictures on safari to save them.
In three years, 700 electric car charging points to Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland
Metropolitan area should be about 700 electric car charging points by 2015. The City of Helsinki was purchased 30 electric car this year and next.
Metropolitan area should be about 700 electric car charging points by 2015. The Ministry has already provided support for 712 charging points.
It is already working on about a hundred charging points Design in Helsinki. At the moment there are only five streets along the way.
- Electrification of it is justified, and it will happen. Therefore, it is the city of Helsinki has set up a steering group to plan turn electronic communications.
The City of Helsinki will acquire this year, a dozen electric cars next year, and about twenty.
Turning to electronic transport is also well prepared in the new construction projects, such as Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari.
Source: http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/auto/index.jsp?oid=201204151061
Mercedes sends software updates over the mobile network
Mercedes-Benz solve software problems with automatic online update. The car no longer need to bring either a service upgrade or update the software of the manufacturer by sending a memory stick.
In some card flash drive update requires leaving a car running nearly an hour.
In the current S-Class Mercedes there is 20 million lines of code and about a hundred electronic control units.
Mercedes’ solution is updated with wireless cellular networks. Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA-DM) group has developed standards for these types of updates. The update will start, if necessary, and will continue from the same point, even if the car is turned off the range. Shortest updates take a few minutes.
Online updates are considered to be particularly useful for electric cars
Last August alone Honda was forced to update the software for two million cars due to a fault.
Source: http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/ict/mercedes+lahettaa+ohjelmistopaivitykset+matkapuhelinverkossa/a798896
Carmakers Keen on Turning Driver Distraction Into Features
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1395&doc_id=241290&cid=Newsletters+-+DN+Daily&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_auto,industry_consumer,bid_22,aid_241290&dfpLayout=blog
There’s no stopping the march of electronic distractions into the vehicle. Smartphones, satellite radios, video, iPods, Internet, navigation, CDs, and a host of other products have already made their debut on the dashboard, and there’s more to come.
“Consumers have a stated desire for these things,” Scott Geisler, engineering group manager for active safety at General Motors, told us. “Either their drive is boring or unproductive, but there’s a definite perception that they can do more than just control a vehicle on asphalt.”
And therein lies the problem. Drivers believe they can do more, so they text, dial phones, browse the Internet, and look at social media — all while trying to keep eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.
The National Transportation Safety Board is worried about this growing electronic phenomenon.
“People are smart enough to recognize that they shouldn’t be doing in the car what they do in the living room,” Glen DeVos, global director of engineering for the infotainment and driver interface business unit at Delphi Corp., told us. “At the same time, though, they still want to have their connectivity.”
That’s why automakers, suppliers, and government agencies continue to look for ways to build smarter, safer dashboard systems.
Delphi recently demonstrated its MyFi Connecting with Safety system, which attempts to curb distraction by drawing the driver’s attention back to the road. It works by using a dash-mounted infrared camera to monitor the driver. In essence, it sees and reacts to what the driver is doing in real-time. “The idea is to use closed-loop control and adaptive counter measures,” DeVos said. “MyFi makes sure the driver is staying in the sweet spot and not glancing away for more than two seconds.”
the system uses an “exogenous display” above the dashboard to draw the driver’s attention back toward the centerline. The display — a series of LEDs — flashes in a way designed to be almost irresistible for the driver.
“Texting and cellphone usage tend to dominate the discussion today,”
Detecting distraction is only part of the battle. Automotive engineers are also trying to build better in-dash systems, so that the distraction doesn’t happen in the first place.
Voice recognition combined with Bluetooth headsets can help drivers direct the operation of many of the car’s features.
The CCC’s MirrorLink standard will let drivers bring a phone into a vehicle and connect it, not only to the center console display, but also to the steering wheel knobs and buttons that control various vehicle functions.
All this is being done to make connectivity easier for drivers.
Experts say there’s virtually no chance that automakers will throw their hands up and refuse to let new electronic apps and features in the vehicle. One big reason is consumer demand. “There’s some indication that people are making purchasing decisions based on electronic products and services,” Geisler said.
“Many people don’t want a car with no extra features.”
Suppliers say the ultimate responsibility lies with the auto industry. “Consumers will find a way to bring these devices into the vehicle,” DeVos says. “For us, it’s a matter of finding a way to improve the driving experience and mitigate the distraction.”
Sensor architecture allows real-time auto emissions monitoring, Part 1
http://www.edn.com/article/521516-Sensor_architecture_allows_real_time_auto_emissions_monitoring_Part_1.php?cid=Newsletter+-+EDN+on+Analog
As opposed to current periodic emission-control system testing-sensors, MCUs, and memory come together in an updated approach to real-time exhaust monitoring for improved pollution control.
“Green” is the buzzword these days. Globally, various organizations are striving to make their processes as eco-friendly as possible, with the automotive industry one of the leaders in this endeavor.
Vehicle-emissions are being strictly monitored and emission-norms being revised regularly to ensure a “greener” and pollution-free environment. However, present vehicle pollution-checking is still dependent on old mechanisms of manual-regular-checking of the auto-exhaust. The exhausts are sensed and analyzed by a machine and a pollution certificate is issued.
This article highlights inherent limitations of this traditional approach and proposes a real-time exhaust monitoring solution to enforce better pollution control for a greener future.”
EV Like It’s 1910 Again
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1381&doc_id=241114&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_auto,bid_647,aid_241114&dfpLayout=blog
Whether the electric vehicle will survive its current technological success is an important question. The design advances evident in modern EVs aren’t being matched by a commensurate surge in consumer uptake.
Sure, sales of the hybrid electric Chevy Volt have broadened beyond cutting-edge early adopters. Unfortunately, the sales haven’t been high enough to stop GM from idling production for five weeks and laying off more than 1,000 workers.
Another high-flyer is the Nissan Leaf. This is a true, all-electric where there’s no backup if battery anxiety becomes discharge reality. The Leaf is billed as the first affordable electric, yet its MSRP starts at $35,000,
In the early decades of the automobile industry, electrics were competing with gas- and even steam-powered cars. For a while, they did quite well. Thomas Edison even set up a factory that manufactured EV batteries.
We all know what happened. By 1920, the first EV era was mostly over. So will it be déjà vu all over again? Paradoxically, the main adoption impediment isn’t EV sticker prices, daunting though they are. It’s the lack of recharging infrastructure.
There’s also a technology wild card. EV power packs haven’t kept up with Moore’s Law, and it’s not clear if they will ever get significantly beyond the 200Wh/kg energy densities of today’s top Lithium-ion batteries. We also don’t know how quickly the packs will dip below their not atypical $10,000-plus replacement costs, nor do we know how this will affect vendor warranty costs or used-car resale values.
bicicleta eléctrica…
[...]Car Electronics 2012 « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog[...]…
Mandatory ‘Big Brother’ Black Boxes In All New Cars From 2015
http://www.infowars.com/mandatory-big-brother-black-boxes-in-all-new-cars-from-2015/
Provision is part of controversial MAP-21 bill expected to pass House
A bill already passed by the Senate and set to be rubber stamped by the House would make it mandatory for all new cars in the United States to be fitted with black box data recorders from 2015 onwards.
Section 31406 of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), calls for “Mandatory Event Data Recorders” to be installed in all new automobiles and legislates for civil penalties to be imposed against individuals for failing to do so.
Although the text of legislation states that such data would remain the property of the owner of the vehicle, the government would have the power to access it in a number of circumstances, including by court order, if the owner consents to make it available, and pursuant to an investigation or inspection conducted by the Secretary of Transportation.
Given the innumerable examples of both government and industry illegally using supposedly privacy-protected information to spy on individuals, this represents the slippery slope to total Big Brother surveillance of every American’s transport habits and location data.
The legislation, which has been given the Orwellian title ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act’, sailed through the Senate after being heavily promoted by Democrats Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer and is also expected to pass the Republican-controlled House.
Given the fact that the same bill also includes a controversial provision that would empower the IRS to revoke passports of citizens merely accused of owing over $50,000 in back taxes, stripping them of their mobility rights, could the mandatory black boxes or a similar technology be used for the same purpose?
Biometric face-recognition and transdermol sensor technology that prevents an inebriated person from driving a car by disabling the automobile has already been developed, in addition to systems that refuse to allow the vehicle to start if the driver is deemed to be overtired.
The push to pressure car manufacturers to install black box tracking devices in all new cars has been ongoing for over a decade.
AT&T releasing Watson voice recognition APIs to developers in June
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2959854/att-watson-voice-recognition-api-june-release
AT&T’s research arm has spent over two decades developing its Watson speech and language engine, which translates spoken words into text. Now, AT&T is planning to release a number of Watson APIs for developers in June, in an effort to accelerate development and innovation in the voice recognition space.
AT&T had plenty of Watson enabled experiments to show us at an event in New York today, the most flashy of which was a QNX-equipped Porsche 911 that used the carrier’s cloud-based service to handle voice commands. The convertible has its top down and unfortunately had trouble picking up commands accurately and reliably with the din of New York City around it
Touchpads Put In-Car Entertainment at Your Fingertips
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=242267&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_auto,industry_consumer,aid_242267&dfpLayout=article
A tiny touchpad in the armrest or steering wheel of future vehicles could enable drivers to more easily communicate with a car’s audio, radio, phone, or navigation system, thus reducing driver distraction.
“When drivers are unable to input information in the correct way, they get distracted,” Frank Koch, advanced engineering manager for TRW Body Control, told us. “What we’ve done is calculate the position and motion of your finger, and then translate that into numbers, letters, and words.” The automotive supplier has accomplished that by creating a small screen that allows the driver to keep his or her arm fixed and merely move a thumb or finger to give a command. “You have to have your arm fixed and the touch pad must be near your finger,” Koch said. “You could do that in an armrest or in the steering wheel, where your arm is fixed to the rim of the wheel.”
Only 1 In 25 New Cars Has A Manual Gearbox Now: Why?
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1075508_only-1-in-25-new-cars-has-a-manual-gearbox-now-why
Go to any given dealership with 100 new cars.
On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes.
Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals.
It’s more than a little contradictory to automotive reviews (including many you’ll read here) extolling the pleasure of enthusiastic driving with a true manual gearbox. Likewise, purists gravitate to manuals for tackling their favorite twisting road or occasional track day. It’s the original form of in-car connectivity.
What was once derided as the slushbox has seen major improvements in efficiency, performance and weight; all were former advantages of manuals.
Tomorrow’s Privacy Struggles, On Display Today
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/tomorrows-privacy-struggles-on-display-today/
A number of the tools focused on taking advantage of data about a user’s location, pointing toward tensions that will very likely increase as products are developed that use mobile devices as sensors and transmitters.
Driving Safely, which is being developed by a group of Israeli developers who are working with AT&T, uses a smartphone and sensors in a car to allow parents to keep track of how their teenagers are driving. The system can disable certain functions of the phone, like calling or texting, when it is in a moving automobile. Apps intended to discourage distracted driving already exist — AT&T has an app that shuts down some functions in response to a car’s movement. But its settings can be controlled by whoever is using the phone at the time which, depending on your perspective, could be seen as a shortcoming.
“It needs the kid’s consent, so he has to download and use it,” said Raz Dar of Amdocs, who is working on the project.
Another project that AT&T is testing is Donde, a location-based messaging system that could one day end up as part of its network’s basic SMS service. The program allows someone to send a text that will be delivered when the recipient arrives at a specific location.
Pilot project to focus on bi-directional data link between electric vehicles and the power grid
http://www.edn.com/article/521577-Pilot_project_to_focus_on_bi_directional_data_link_between_electric_vehicles_and_the_power_grid.php?cid=EDNToday_20120423
IBM has teamed with American Honda Motor and Pacific Gas and Electric Company on a new pilot project that will allow communication between electric vehicles (EVs) and the power grid.
This project is aimed at demonstrating and testing an electric vehicle’s ability to receive and respond to charge instructions based on the grid condition and the vehicle’s battery state. With visibility into charging patterns, energy providers will have the ability to more effectively manage charging during peak hours and create consumer-friendly programs to encourage electric vehicle adoption.
The energy requirements for electric vehicles will challenge the current power grid as plug-in vehicle counts continue to grow to an expected 2.9 million worldwide by 2017. This project has the potential to ease the infrastructure and consumer concerns associated with the mass adoption of EVs, by adding another layer of agility to the EV charging process. This level of intelligence will help make charging seamless for consumers, while ensuring the electricity source is reliable and the infrastructure is stable.
This demonstration combines grid and vehicle data to create an individualized charging plan for Honda’s Fit EV battery electric vehicles (BEV), using IBM’s cloud based software platform.
Once plugged into a charge post, the Honda Fit EV initiates a charge request via the vehicles telematics system, an integrated telecommunication application that is often used for navigation. This request is sent to IBM’s Electric Vehicle Enablement Platform where vehicle data such as battery state and grid data received from PG&E, is combined to create an optimized charge schedule, which is then communicated back to the vehicle in seconds. Using this aggregated data, the vehicle has the intelligence to charge to the level that is needed while factoring any current grid constraints.
For example, the IBM’s cloud based platform could provide charge post location information and availability directly to the EV, using the telematics and Satellite-Linked Navigation to guide the driver to the most convenient place to charge.
In addition to the two pilot projects, IBM is currently a member of the EcoGrid EU consortium, a group focused on developing an energy grid that uses at least 50% of renewable energy sources, such as wind power, solar energy and biogas.
Slideshow: Electric Car Batteries Get Bigger
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=238863&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_auto,bid_318,aid_238863&dfpLayout=blog
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.
Google Seeks Partners for Its Autos
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304811304577365792554560470-lMyQjAxMTAyMDIwNTEyNDUyWj.html
The leader of Google Inc.’s effort to develop self-driving cars was in the Motor City on Wednesday to send a message that the Internet company is looking for partners to bring its innovations to market within the next decade.
“We’re talking to every car company to see what their level of excitement is,” said Anthony Levandowski, head of Google’s project to develop software and sensors to allow vehicles to drive themselves. Mr. Levandowski spoke at the Society of Automotive Engineers conference
Google still needs to do “millions of miles” of testing before it is ready to offer a self driving car system for sale, Mr. Levandowski said. It also is discussing with insurers how to address the liability issues raised by self driving cars. But he said he expects a system could be ready “much sooner than the next decade. If not, shame on us as engineers.”
It isn’t clear how interested the automotive establishment is in Google’s approach.
Standards effort seeks to put a charge in EV deployment
http://www.edn.com/article/521609-Standards_effort_seeks_to_put_a_charge_in_EV_deployment.php?cid=EDNToday_20120426
In a sign that the electric vehicle market is maturing, a key industry group has taken the first pass at an EV standards roadmap that will tackle technical issues such as developing an interoperable charging infrastructure for emerging plug-in EVs.
Version 1.0 of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) roadmap for EV standards seeks to identify and evaluate existing rules of the road for plug-in EVs and determine where there are gaps in technical specs. ANSI is working with several auto makers along with a host of cleantech companies and utilities focusing on smart grid deployment.
Jim McCabe, ANSI’s senior director for standards facilitation, said the group hopes to capitalize on the momentum generated by President Obama’s goal of 1 million EVs on the road by 2015. The standards roadmap represents an attempt to explore technical issues like an EV charging infrastructure “at a deeper dive level,” McCabe said.
Along with addressing safety and interoperability issues, the standards effort will seek ways to reduce the overall cost of EVs.
Coordinating to replace proprietary specs with technical standards will provide greater certainty in emerging cleantech markets, observers said. The ANSI effort “is good for the overall transition to EVs,” said a spokesman for Better Place, a cleantech group that is promoting the transition to electric vehicle technology.
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1 in 5 young drivers play Draw Something behind the wheel
http://recombu.com/cars/news/1-in-5-young-drivers-play-draw-something-behind-the-wheel.html
Young drivers are so addicted to their smart phones, they’re even playing Draw Something or Angry Birds behind the wheel, a survey has found.
‘Digital’ car insurer Ingenie pulled 1,000 young drivers aged 17-25 away from Twitter momentarily to find out how they used their phones while driving. 18 per cent of the youth who have Draw Something on their handsets have played the game while driving, while 17 per cent of youngsters admit to playing Angry Birds behind the wheel.
It gets worse. Up to a third of those surveyed admitted to checking Facebook while driving. Next time you see a kid in a Fiesta, he’s probably spending more time fiddling with his Internet than looking at the road ahead.
They survey suggests it’s not just smart phones that are to blame — ordinary feature phones can prove an even bigger distraction. Over 40 per cent admitted to answering calls while driving without a hands-free set.
Text messaging seems an even bigger distraction, with 44 per cent saying they’d sent a text, and a whopping 62 per cent admitting to having read a message whilst on the move.
1 in 5 young drivers play Draw Something behind the wheel
http://recombu.com/cars/news/1-in-5-young-drivers-play-draw-something-behind-the-wheel.html
Ingenie provides car insurance for young drivers aged 17-25 using the latest telematics black box technology to detect your individual driving style, rewarding those who drive well with cheaper insurance premiums.
Slideshow: Plastics Drive Auto Lightweighting
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=242954&cid=NL_Newsletters
Automotive lightweighting is a big deal these days in the world of plastics, with US Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) requirements that will force automakers to jack up mileage to 35.5 mpg by 2016, and to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Major plastics manufacturers are responding with new formulations to achieve these drastic reductions in fuel consumption by losing as much weight as possible in every part of the vehicle while maintaining strength, toughness, impact resistance, chemical resistance, and other properties in replacement materials.
Laser System Paints Information on the Road Ahead
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/40311/?p1=A1
Head-up displays, which project visual data onto the windshield and the driver’s view of the road, are debuting in a growing number of car models. But more vibrant, compact, and efficient displays being developed by Microvision, a company based in Redmond, Washington, could help the technology become much more common.
Cheaper green semiconductor lasers could bring a novel display technology to market.
Japan’s Pioneer Corporation plans to release its first head-up display product based on Microvision’s novel technology this year. Major carmakers in Detroit are also planning to integrate the technology into their vehicles by 2016, says Lance Evans, a director of business development at the company. Microvision’s image projector relies on semiconductor lasers and a microscopic mirror.
The company’s head-up display is already in some concept cars but has so far been too costly for commercial models, says Evans. Now, falling prices of green lasers—a significant cost component of the display—should make the technology competitive with conventional displays, he says.
Most existing head-up displays generate images using LCDs.
This approach drains power, and the images often aren’t bright enough to be visible in daylight.
Newer displays use either liquid crystal devices or hundreds of tiny mirrors to reflect light onto each pixel. While more energy efficient, these displays are still not very bright.
Microvision’s system uses a set of three lasers—red, green and blue—and a single, millimeter-wide silicon mirror that tilts on two axes.
In the past few years, though, half a dozen key players, such as Nichia,Osram Opto Semiconductors, and Soraa, have developed cheaper pure-green lasers. They’re slowly scaling up production, which should lower costs.
“Green lasers alone are $200 each now,” he says. “Car companies are looking at the whole display to be that much.”
US, Euro e-car makers back ’standard’ AC/DC jack
Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please welcome the J1772 Combo Connector
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/05/04/eight_world_electric_car_makers_back_ac_dc_power_port_standard/
Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen have joined Ford, Chrysler and General Motors to back a standard fast-charge connector and jack for e-cars.
The system combines a multi-pin AC port with a two-pin DC inlet. Slow, but cheap, overnight charging is handled by the AC lines, but drivers will be able to use the same connected to use DC points for quick top-ups.
But not until 2013, when the vehicle makers expect to start rolling out production vehicles fitted with the appropriate socketry, dubbed the J1772 Combo Connector by standards body SAE.
The connector will allow for charging up to 500V, with maximum current of 200A, which could yield a charger up to 100kW.
The J1772’s AC section is already being used on the Chevy Volt – and its European version, the Vauxhall Ampera.
The new port is set against Japanese car makers’ CHAdeMO (CHArge and MOve) system, used by Nissan and Mitsubishi for their e-cars’ separate DC fast-charge ports.
The Duck face is the annoying look that girls make when trying to post a “creative” photo. We get it. You’re different just like everybody else when making that face. I really want to smack girls that do that. Does this make me a bitch?
Running Apps From Your Car’s Dashboard
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/05/05/2125240/running-apps-from-your-cars-dashboard
“I guess is was inevitable, now that BMW is letting you view and make tweets from behind the wheel, but is it really a good idea to let people run smartphone apps from their dashboard monitor?”
“I’m not sure I want people playing Angry Birds while they drive.”
#WIRELESS: “View Apps on Your Auto Dashboard”
http://nextgenlog.blogspot.com/2012/05/wireless-view-apps-on-your-auto.html
The video monitors built into many new car models can now view apps running on your smartphone, thanks to a virtual network computing (VNC). STMicroelectronics is the latest supplier of infotainment solutions for automobile manufacturers to adopt VNC, allowing any smartphone to use the larger dashboard display for its apps.
STMicroelectronics has integrated remote-control technology from RealVNC, the original inventor and provider of VNC®, onto ST’s automotive-grade infotainment application processors. The integration will simplify and accelerate the roll out of mobile-to-vehicle connectivity solutions, supporting the seamless and safe interplay of phones, apps and cars.
Smartphone-centric in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems are the next step in mobile convenience; they allow the car to access the contents of the portable device and display the data and apps on the in-dash head unit. For example, drivers can pipe Google Maps or smartphone navigation apps onto the car’s display screen and control the applications from there.
When integrated into the application processor, VNC Automotive enables automatic detection, screen replication and control of virtually any mobile device from a vehicle’s touch-screen or fixed-input controls such as steering-wheel switches and head-unit buttons. With RealVNC’s remote-control capabilities pre-integrated onto ST’s processors, head-unit and infotainment system, manufacturers can fast-track time-to-market for smartphone-centric in-vehicle infotainment systems.
VNC Automotive provides full cross-platform remote access and control of mobile devices from IVI systems. The technology also enables many additional features, greater performance and robust, production ready availability on the widest range of mobile handsets.
RealVNC goes mobile (October, 2008)
http://www.realvnc.com/company/press/news/mobile.html
VNC to offer two-way remote control for mobile devices including Symbian, Microsoft Mobile, iPhone, Linux and Blackberry platforms.
RealVNC, the home of VNC remote control software, is extending its flagship VNC Enterprise Edition product to mobile devices. VNC now supports a wide range of mobile handsets and PDAs including Symbian, Microsoft Mobile, iPhone, Linux and Blackberry platforms, with support for additional platforms to follow.
“As mobile devices become more sophisticated and IP connectivity to them improves, they are increasingly being used to perform core business functions. Remotely accessing a PC desktop from a mobile device has obvious benefits for individual users, and is now possible through our full range of VNC viewers for mobiles,”
Dr Harter adds: “IT departments and third-party support agencies are facing the challenge of managing the growing cloud of mobile devices that are appearing within corporate networks. With VNC, system administrators will be able to take control of a mobile device anywhere in the world, remotely configure or troubleshoot a problem, and offer remote assistance and training on how to use the device and its applications. Remote control of mobiles is also of great interest to network operators, who currently have few effective tools to support customers with handset problems.”
AT&T has high hopes for pushing itself into every corner of your life.
And AT&T wants access to your car, too. We saw prototypes for Got My Stuff, a system that scans the car for a list of pre-determined and RFID-tagged items to see if you’ve remembered them. The idea is that a customizable dashboard would be available via an app across multiple devices.
AT&T is already working on “the car of the future” in collaboration with Porsche, QNX, and Panasonic, so a push into the home right now only makes sense in preparation for a push into our automotive lives.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/06/att-introduces-digital-life-ip-based-home-automation-and-security-system-with-247-monitoring-centers/?grcc=33333Z98ZtrendingZ0
Army Concept Vehicle Can Double as Electricity Generator
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=243207&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The US Army has unveiled a concept combat vehicle that’s been designed not only for fuel efficiency, but also to act as a generator in remote locations like Afghanistan. The Army demonstrated the Fuel Efficient ground vehicle Demonstrator (Bravo version) — or FED Bravo, as it’s been dubbed — at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2012 World Congress last week in Detroit.
At the core of the Army’s concept vehicle is a Ford 4.4-liter, twin turbocharged, 268-horsepower V8 diesel engine.
The vehicle also runs partly on an advanced lithium-ion battery designed for high energy and power density.
The Army designed the concept vehicle with a team of 18 students in the automotive design program at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies
Slideshow: ‘Start-Stop’ Hybrids Hit the Road
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=237015&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
If you start your car two or three times a day, prepare for a shock. Over the next decade, that figure is likely to rise by a factor of 10. Soon your car’s engine will automatically shut down at traffic lights and stop signs. It will turn off during heavy rush-hour driving. It may even shut down when you pull your foot off the accelerator and coast, possibly at speeds of up to 75mph. Experts say the so-called start-stop wave is coming, and the auto industry is bracing for its arrival.
“It’s going to start happening in 2012,” says Doug Patton, senior vice president of engineering for Denso International America, an automotive supplier introducing a family of starters. “And it’s going to ramp up fast. The start-stop change will affect a large percentage of the market over the next three years.”
Google gets license to test drive autonomous cars on Nevada roads
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/05/google-gets-license-to-test-drive-autonomous-cars-on-nevada-roads.ars
On Monday, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles approved Google’s license application to test autonomous vehicles on the state’s roads. The state had approved such laws back in February, and has now begun issuing licenses based on those regulations.
The state previously outlined that companies that want to test such vehicles will need an insurance bond of $1 million and must provide detailed outlines of where they plan to test it and under what conditions. Further, the car must have two people in it at all times, with one behind the wheel who can take control of the vehicle if needed.
“The unique red plate will be easily recognized by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles.”
Slideshow: Smarter Cars Paving Road to Intelligent Highways
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1395&doc_id=243590&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
Experts say that the intelligent highway will save more lives than seat belts, airbags, and electronic stability control. For sheer lifesaving capacity, nothing in the history of the auto industry will come close to it.
The reason for the superlatives around the technology is simple: Vehicle infrastructure integration (VII), as it’s known, will allow cars to talk to one another, as well as to traffic lights and stop signs. It will enable them to communicate with municipalities, government agencies, car dealerships, and traffic control centers.
As a result, cars won’t collide. They’ll “know” when to slow down, when to turn, and when it’s safe to enter an intersection. They’ll prevent drivers from making dangerous lane changes and enable them to head-off multi-car crashes.
The slideshow shows 13 examples of these potentially lifesaving technologies.
Project e-smart, part 1: Students convert Smart car into an EV
http://www.edn.com/article/521745-Project_e_smart_part_1_Students_convert_Smart_car_into_an_EV.php?cid=Newsletter+-+EDN+on+Embedded+Processing
Nowadays, energy economy is one of the most important topics in all areas of technical research, especially in the automotive sector. Dwindling oil supplies and fossil fuels rising prices force automobile manufactures to develop less energy consuming vehicles. Furthermore, proceeding urbanization and a changing in young people’s user behavior require new mobility concepts. Concepts such as car sharing, the smart grid, and advanced driver assistance systems or the interactive vehicle are being advanced. Independent of which trends will prevail, it is obvious that future mobility will become increasingly manifold, complex, and electric.
All this will bear huge challenges to automotive design engineers.
This report presents a student project at the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Automotive Engineering (IVK) at the University of Stuttgart in which a commercial compact car with combustion engine was converted to an electric vehicle. The whole process of conversion including planning and specifying the requirements onto to electric vehicle, electric components selection, E/E-architecture design, control software design as well as implementation of hardware and software was done by students of the University of Stuttgart under the supervision of the Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS) which is in tight cooperation with the IVK.
NHTSA to Brake Unintended Acceleration
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=243326&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The debate over unintended acceleration, having lingered around the periphery of the auto industry for more than two decades, may be about to receive a fatal blow.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed inclusion of a system that would shut down the throttle in the event that the brake and accelerator pedal were depressed simultaneously, and most automakers appear to be squarely behind it. Known as a brake-throttle override (BTO), the system would minimize the risk that drivers would lose control of their vehicles due to a stuck accelerator or entrapped floormat.
“We support the idea of making it standard,” Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told Design News.
Although the new proposal is still out for comment, auto industry experts said they expect the mandate to build atop the widespread availability of electronic throttle control (ETC) systems. ETC operates the throttle with a sensor and small electric motor, essentially eliminating the mechanical cable that would otherwise run from the accelerator to the throttle valve. Because such systems are essentially electronic, automakers could add the override capability with little or no additional hardware, simply by employing software that initiates a throttle cut-off if the accelerator is stuck and the brake is depressed.
“If you decide you want to brake, and the engine is at wide-open throttle, the ECU tells the engine, ‘No, we don’t want to go fast; we want to stop,’ ” David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research, told us. “And the vehicle stops.”
Toyota reportedly began incorporating BTO to its vehicles in 2010 by adding new software code as a running change.
“From what we’ve seen, it’s very simple,” David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Division, said. “We don’t know of any new car that doesn’t have an electronic throttle. We haven’t seen one of the old throttle cables in a long time.”
Not everyone is happy with the idea. Race drivers, who occasionally hit the brake and gas pedals simultaneously, foresee a problem. What’s more, some industry analysts see the mandate as yet another form of inappropriate government intervention.
Still, analysts said that automakers are likely to accept the mandate
Teardown reveals Chevy Volt’s electronic secrets
http://www.edn.com/article/521722-Teardown_reveals_Chevy_Volt_s_electronic_secrets.php?cid=EDNToday_20120510
Beyond battery chemistry and electric propulsion and control, the Chevy Volt enhanced-range electric vehicle builds in flexibility, ruggedness, and diagnostics—with attention to quality construction.
Infineon, Fuji agree on HybridPACK 2 automotive power module specs
http://www.edn.com/article/521770-Infineon_Fuji_agree_on_HybridPACK_2_automotive_power_module_specs.php?cid=EDNToday_20120510
Fuji Electric and chip manufacturer Infineon Technologies agreed to extend the supplier base for power modules deployed in automotive hybrid and electrical vehicles (HEV). At the PCIM Europe trade show in Nuremberg, the two companies announced their agreement on a joint common footprint for automotive IGBT power modules using Infineon’s Hybrid PACK 2 power module. In response to the need for supply security for HEV power modules, the companies agreed on the size of the module, the position of pin-outs, the use of the pin-finned copper base plate, and on other mechanical features.
The agreement comprises the HybridPACK 2 module, the FS800R07A2E3 featuring 650V/800A. It effectively makes the IGBT power modules from these two vendors interchangeable. For customers in the automotive industry, the move translates into a second-source option for the power modules in question, doing away with the undesired dependence from a single vendor.
Infineon developed its power modules HybridPACK 2 for direct liquid-cooled systems as common in hybrid vehicles and electrical vehicles.
Today’s electronic control systems for full hybrid cars and electrical vehicles equal the size of two standard shoe boxes, weighing an average of 30 kilos. A system with HybridPACK 2 power module technology is only about the third its size and only weighs approximately 20 kilos compared to other state-of-the-art solutions.
Use GPS and MEMS sensor combo for next-gen positioning and navigation
http://www.eetimes.com/design/communications-design/4372757/Use-GPS-and-MEMS-sensor-combo-for-next-gen-positioning-and-navigation?Ecosystem=communications-design
Over the past decade, GPS positioning was transformed from a specialized high-end technology, mostly used by professionals, to a technology used by consumers on a daily basis. This transformation is the result of two generations of GPS-enabled devices that have commoditized GPS positioning in mass-market devices. This article looks at the next exciting stage in GPS evolution that solves the problems of non-availability of GPS location information – often when the user needs it most.
The first generation of devices that appeared in the early years of the past decade, consisted of aftermarket personal navigation devices (PNDs) which enabled turn-by-turn navigation at a price point that facilitated mass-market penetration. The next stage of the revolution was marked by the appearance of the smartphone. Smartphones today offer various positioning capabilities, and heavily rely on the GPS functionality for accurate positioning and turn-by-turn navigation applications.
GPS-enabled smartphones not only extend turn-by-turn navigation applications to pedestrians and cyclists as well as drivers, but offer positioning capability to any smartphone application, from local restaurant location to ‘live’ star maps and augmented reality.
The use of MEMS sensors enables mobile handset platforms, for the first time, to measure parameters that are related to the platform position and movement in the real world. Such types of measurements are often referred to as “inertial measurements”. The use of inertial measurements (or INS–inertial navigation systems) is well-known and established in the world of GPS and radio-navigation. Inertial navigation is often used to improve radio-navigation or complement it in environments where radio navigation is hard or impossible. Examples for such situations in GPS receivers are dense-urban areas, underground or indoor locations.
It is important to note the differences between the two methods of positioning. GPS or radio navigation relies on measuring the distance (or delay) to several known transmitters in order to triangulate the mobile receiver’s position.
On the other hand, inertial navigation system measure physical parameters of the platforms such as linear acceleration (accelerometers), angular acceleration (gyroscopes) and absolute direction of orientation (3D compass). By integrating over the acceleration data, a navigation system can calculate the position and orientation of the user, assuming the initial position is known.
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Slideshow: Top 5 Automotive Trends to Watch in 2012
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=236557&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The trend toward fuel efficiency isn’t going away in 2012, or at any time in the foreseeable future.
The most effective way to accomplish that is through the introduction of electric cars and hybrids of various types.
The innovation won’t stop there, however. In 2012, we’ll see the industry pushing the limits on a number of different fronts.
Autonomous cars: Sooner than we think?
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/automotive-designline-blog/4372952/Autonomous-cars–Sooner-than-we-think-?Ecosystem=communications-design
Last week, the New England Motor Press Association (NEMPA) and MIT held a technology conference at the institute on the state of the art of autonomous vehicles. The experts there, along with presentations at last month’s SAE Congress in Detroit, paint a picture of where the technology for self-driving vehicles stands—and how far we have to go for true autonomous operations.
One of the highlights of the SAE meeting was a presentation by Anthony Levandowski, business lead for Google’s Self-Driving Car project. He noted that today “driving is the distraction” for many drivers who engage in other tasks while at the wheel. As part of the company’s mission to foster innovation and meet challenges that will have a high, positive impact on society, developing technology for self-driving cars can reduce road fatalities and the more than 90% of collisions caused by human error. Google looks to furnish building blocks of such technology for industry.
Levandowski “drives” the Google vehicle to work about 60 miles one way. When he “boots up” the car, a digital world model, based on Google mapping, provides the car’s location within ±5 cm, including “knowledge” of lanes, crosswalks, etc. Onboard sensors detect surrounding vehicles and objects for processing the traffic situation to determine a path to follow. He admits that construction zones challenge the mapping-based architecture because they can have “daily” changes to painted markings and safety-cone placement.
Finally, he observes that the first autonomous applications will be limited to monitoring functions, keeping the driver in the loop rather than “being asleep in the back.” Software updates can improve and expand functions, but Levandowski says a major challenge will be in handing off control of a vehicle to a driver in the event of failure.
The NEMPA presentations reflected Google’s experience, and added insight from the standpoint of academic researchers and automotive OEMs.
Spy under your car bonnet ‘worth billions by 2016′
Break the speed limit, break the bank with your insurance quote
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/15/telematics_industry_worth_billions/
Technology that allows cars to snoop on motorists and tell insurers about their bad driving will form a worldwide market worth $14.4bn (£8.95bn) by 2016, analysts reckon.
A new report from Juniper Research suggests intelligent vehicles chock-full of gear for navigating, recording info for insurance purposes, and telling the AA exactly where you broke down on the M25 will bring in the big bucks as newer telematics units can be stuffed into motors as an afterthought.
Firms touting the technology will expand into new countries and extend their product lines, although the US will have the most clever vehicles, Juniper said.
The ball-gazers also reckon that every new car model will have a way to hook up punters’ smartphones by 2016, putting 92 million internet-connected jalopies on the road.