Mike Shulman, a technology leader at Ford, explains current efforts to expand active safety technology in vehicles. As opposed to passive safety technology, in which cars are designed to protect passengers in the event of an accident, active safety technology is designed to avoid an accident in the first place. This is done by designing vehicles that are capable of collecting information from their surroundings: lane markings, other vehicles, traffic signals, etc. The challenge is developing technology that can communicate quickly, frequently, effectively, and securely. But, the potential upside is clear: a dramatic decrease in the number of traffic accidents (early estimates are in the 80% range). This is why Ford is cooperating with its competitors—virtually every other auto manufacturer—to try to establish an all-inclusive standard for equipping all vehicles with wireless communications technology. Toward that end, the FCC has allocated a certain range of wireless space that is dedicated to this project and shared by the entire industry. Ford has been showing off these new features by conducting WiFi and crash avoidance demonstrations with its new vehicles. Each is equipped with wireless technology that allows each vehicle to communicate with each other. So, information like which lane a car is in or if another driver is about to run a red light is sent from one vehicle to another, warning the driver of a potential collision. Because the vehicles are communicating with each other in addition to transmitting GPS information, the relative accuracy is surprisingly good: less than one meter. The idea is to securely transmit safety information about ten times a second that is accurate within one meter.Perhaps even more exciting is the aftermarket possibilities for this technology. For a nominal cost, any vehicle can be equipped with a gadget that will incorporate this technology. There is even discussion about integrating it into smartphones and other devices, which may decrease vehicle/pedestrian accidents as well. In addition, because traffic information could be transmitted more effectively and accurately, drivers could avoid congested areas by responding to constantly updated traffic data. A look at the antennas and the technology behind the safety systems with Joe Stinnett Embed this video Copy the code below and paste it into your website. Close We take the Car for a Drive with Ford Engineers Joe Stinnett & Farid Ahmed-Zaid Embed this video Copy the code below and paste it into your website. Close An Interview with Mike Shulman about some more of the technical details of the systemsand some thoughts about when you can buy this technology and how much it will cost. Embed this video Copy the code below and paste it into your website. Close
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Updated 02-05-2011 at 04:46 PM by optikalefx
Embed this video Copy the code below and paste it into your website. Close Sean Clark, from mp3Car, interviews Chris Demeniuk from Ford about the application design process for the vehicle. Simplicity, usability, and engineering with the end user in mind are all important themes.
Updated 01-09-2011 at 01:14 PM by Jensen2000
Embed this video Copy the code below and paste it into your website. Close Although not available yet, the Foryou Electronics double din unit in this video features the Android 2.2 operating system. With it, a plethora of app possibilities can now exist in the vehicle, with a user interface conducive to in-vehicle use. Bluetooth, music, email, radio, internet access, and a fast processor are now all easily possible from your dash.
Updated 01-07-2011 at 01:15 PM by Jensen2000
NASIOC and mp3Car team up to offer a contest on the NASIOC forums. The forum member to post the best DIY write-up about a car audio setup, install, build, or system design will win a free Lilliput EBY701-NP/C/T to begin their in vehicle computing project. See the NASIOC Contest Thread HERE. Get involved to see if you can claim the free Lilliput!
Updated 07-14-2010 at 01:52 PM by Jensen2000
Tom Berry (bugbyte) and I talk about our closing thoughts on CES 2009. The main theme this year from CES is having all of your devices connected and having location aware content. The biggest challenge is going to be for device manufacturers and software developers to create products which will deliver this explosion of data in a way that users can consume it. These products must be aware of the users activity and location. For example, if you are sitting down you will consume and control data in a different way than you would if you were walking or driving a car. Our favorites from this year were Airbiquity's innovations, Intel SSD, and the hardware that Giantec is developing for themselves(here and here) and for Intel. We are also very excited about the possibilities that ICO's satellite system opens up.
Updated 09-17-2009 at 03:24 PM by optikalefx
