6 New Car Technologies in Your Not So Distant Future Read more: 6 New Car Technologies in Your Not-So-Distant Future
1. Electronic Sun Visor
Sun visors never quite hit the mark if you travel east in the morning and west in the evening. We've even taped pieces of opaque paper to the bottom of the visor in an attempt to block the sun. A corporate research project at Volkswagen is developing an electronic anti-glare system using an electronic matrix within the glass controlled by a computer to block the rays.
A sun status sensor and a sensor that determines the eye position of the driver both feed signals to the computer, which calculates the point of sunlight entry within the viewing angle of the driver's eyes. The computer then produces a dark "spot" in the glass electronic matrix to block sunlight at that location (similar to the automatic darkening of rear-view mirrors). The spot moves across the windshield as the car changes direction. Right now, the technology doesn't allow for use on all glass, but it would be a huge improvement over the archaic sun visor if and when it's implemented.
2. Family Tech
"Are we there yet?" It's a question every father hears at least 600 times every hour on a family road trip. In the past, dad would roll his eyes and say, "Not yet, sweetie." Soon, the kids may be able to answer their own question. VW's child navigation system is essentially a rear DVD screen with a simplified representation of the route, plus special descriptions of scenes along the route. A "time worm" on the screen "eats" away at the length of the route, so the children can see it decreasing. A cartoon character on screen plays games and asks the children to do in-seat exercises and even goes to sleep when the kiddies are napping.
Got kids that still need the child's seat? VW showed a special power seat that mounts to the second row. The system is controlled by the driver, who can raise the seat so a child can see through the windshield--or fold it back flat for naptime. Plus, the seat can swivel out, making it easier for any parent to lift the child in and out of the vehicle. Cool.
3. Traffic Decongestion
The freeway you drive everyday suddenly slims down one lane because of an accident--how frustrating. The cars in that blocked lane have to move over. So they inevitably cause a slowdown in traffic in all the other lanes. But is that slowdown really inevitable?
The German government is sponsoring an auto industry initiative called "ACTIV," intended to spur use of technology for traffic management and lead eventually to automatic guidance. As one of its contributions, Volkswagen's engineers produced a study that shows how to free up traffic snarls by having cars speed up at exactly the right time. It's basically what you've always wished drivers would do: speed up and let the other drivers in.
Here's how it would work: Instead of letting all cars slow down in the traffic flow, a car in the lane adjacent to the closed lane would be instructed to speed up just before reaching the snarl. That would create a space behind it for a car in the blocked lane--without coming to a near stop and trying to edge in at the last minute. A traffic management system, tricked out with cameras and computers to record and analyze the road, would provide instructions on when to stop and go.
A more effective system would assume semi-autonomous control of the vehicles approaching the bottleneck. This could be used with an advanced version of adaptive cruise control and interactive communication to a local traffic management system. The reality, of course, is that without fully automated highways, there's not much that can be done about a rubberneck at the site of an accident.
4. Hands-off Doze Control
Drowsy driving is a major cause of accidents around the world. Soon, sophisticated camera systems will be able to read highway markings and sound a gentle warning to alert the driver if the vehicle is drifting. But even more aggressive intervention is in development, and Volkswagen showed us a car that was able to correct its own path in such a scenario.
At the Volkswagen proving grounds in Germany, we tested the system at moderate highway speeds. We didn't exactly fold both arms into our lap and forget about driving--it is rather tough to trust a computer with your life--but it did work quite well. Here's how: Thanks to electric power steering, a computer can control the steering gear motor signaled by a camera system and another computer judging the situation. If the camera and sensors detect drifting outside normal driving parameters, it takes control. Although the VW system is aggressive, it can be overridden. For example, activating a turn signal or dialing in extra steering effort will disable the system.
Because of a lack of public acceptance, cars equipped with electronic steering have seen very limited computer intervention. It's usually just enough assistance to improve handling. Cars that take complete control away from the driver better be flawless. One of the most pressing issues is how to determine when the driver is losing attention or intentionally trying to switch lanes. So the first applications of this technology are likely to be paired with adaptive cruise control.
The car we drove actually used sensors to monitor a driver's heartbeat to determine if we were awake and alert or sleepy and dozing. As software engineers better learn such human performance, they can use all sorts of signals to activate or disable the system--body temperature, movement in the seat hands on the steering wheel, even eye movements. At this point the hardware is there, but we're just waiting for the right computer programs.
5. Cleaner Fuel
VW and the rest of the German auto industry are taking a hard look at synthetic fuel, made by solid-to-liquid or gas-to-liquid processes. Most of these methods, including improved versions of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis invented in the 1920s, use catalysts (usually iron or cobalt) to convert solids like coal and agricultural waste or natural gas into liquid fuel. Also under development is ethanol produced from cellulose (straw, wood and various waste materials), rather than from corn or beets, which affect food supply.
Biomass fuels, called "SunFuels" because of their renewable origin, are made by the same basic processes as other synthetic fuels. Synthetic fuel can be designed for the precise combustion characteristics needed for certain advanced engine technologies.
And as a VW engineer said, if lithium-ion or another battery technology can achieve an energy density to propel a car 200 kilometers (120 mi.) per 100 kg weight (220 pounds), "the fuel cell is surpassed." At this point, lithium-ion is at just 7 km (4.2 mi.) per 100 kg, and the ones in development will reach 21 km (12.2 mi.) per 100 kg soon. The research is apparently underway for 70 km (42 miles) per 100 kg performance in these batteries.
Source:http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/4219496#sthash.1t6Ri2Jq.dpuf
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