Autumn 2013
Short distance internet
key to connectivity
The development of dedicated short
both because of the larger number
range communications systems
of vehicles in a cellular area and the
(DSRCS) is the key to a future where
delay through the phone operators.
cars help each other to deal with
Getting the WLAN system isn't really
traffic problems in real time.
a matter of cost — the units might
These systems will effectively be caronly add €100 euro to the cost of the
borne WiFi transmitters by which all
car at current prices.
the vehicles in an immediate area can
"And that could come down,"
communicate.
says Dr van der Jagt. "We know
that systems get cheaper once the
With a range of around 300
metres, such wireless local area
automotive industry gets involved."
networks (WLANs) will handle the
communication 'around the bend'
of stopped traffic, obstacles, and
crashes.
"It will require a special
communications device to be
mandated for every new car," says
Dr Pim van der Jagt, who says it will
need an 80-90 percent penetration to
be workable.
An intermediate step might be to
utilise the mobile phone devices
already carried by 90 percent of
Tony Conlan IMWA; Derek Sherwin, Mary Crotty
drivers. But this wouldn't be as useful, PR; and Paul Maher from Citroen Ireland.
Health spend prompts
Ford diagnostic research
Technology related to health may well
trigger the 'next big thing' in cars.
That's what has prompted Ford to
develop a driver's seat that measures
its occupant's heart rate, and which
can send a full ECG to the driver's
physician.
A blood sugar monitor for diabetics
is in development to perform a similar
service to, for instance, the parents
of a diabetic child in the back of their
car.
"More older people will be driving
cars in the future," says Dr Pim van
der Jagt. "There's a lot of consumer
interest in ageing drivers, so it is
important that we are researching
what systems we can bring to the
vehicle to support them."
He noted that there are regular
occurrences of people having heart
attacks while driving, resulting in them
impacting with other cars or buildings.
"One recent case in Germany involved
a car driven directly into a gas station,
which had significant implications."
He suggested a future where remote
control could be taken of a car where
the driver had become unable
to continue driving because of a
health issue.
It's not just emergency matters,
though, which are relevant to the
technology. It's about productive
use of time. "Some people spend
three hours a day in their car.
Spending on medical monitoring
devices is exploding. If somebody
can do the tests in their car which
they would normally have to do at
home, it's just an example of many
things that you can do in your car
while commuting."
Trish Whelan IMWA, Publisher Irish Car+Travel
magazine; Claire Mulcahy, and Deirdre Schwer, both
from BMW Ireland.
26
Automation
'slows reaction'
Laura Hardy, Continental Tyres; and Dr
Natasha Merat.
Drivers who need to react to
emergencies do so more slowly from
an automated driving scenario than
from fully manual driving, according
to tests carried out by the Institute of
Transport Studies at Leeds University.
Dr Natasha Merat said tests in
the facility's driving simulator also
said that when given a secondary
task while the 'car' was in fully
autonomous mode, it took the
subjects much longer to react to an
emergency. "That's when it gets really
bad, because they have to switch
their attention back on again."
Dr Merat said that in an ideal world,
taking the human 'out of the loop'
in driving provides an argument that
there is improved safety.
"But we need to understand that
drivers know what's going on with
the automation, what it is doing, and
what happens when it switches off
... because that's where things go
wrong. We don't know what happens
to drivers when we increase the use
of these technologies, when they
become more supervisors of systems
than actual drivers."
Dr Merat also noted that drivers
need to be aware of the meaning of
the various signals, such as 'beeps',
when the vehicle systems are trying to
warn about something.
She added that finding out the
effects on drivers of new technologies
in motoring is always trying to catch
up with the developing technology.
"We can be a million years behind
in this, but unfortunately tha