November 2011 ~ Automotive

Pimp your ride with augmented reality — Part II

Last week, I introduced you to some cool examples of augmented reality, or AR, and stated that AR can help drivers deal with the burgeoning amount of information in the car.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at some use-cases for both drivers and passengers. Remember, though, that these examples are just a taste — the possibilities for integrating AR into the car are virtually endless.

AR for the driver
When it comes to drivers, AR will focus on providing information while reducing distraction. Already, some vehicles use AR to overlay the vehicle trajectory onto a backup camera display, allowing the driver to gauge where the car is headed. Some luxury cars go one step further and overlay lane markings or hazards in the vehicle display.

Expect even more functionality in the future. In the case of a backup camera, the display might take advantage of 3D technology, allowing you to see, for example, that a skateboard is closer than the post you are backing towards. And then there is GM's prototype heads-up system, which, in dark or foggy conditions, can project lane edges onto the windshield or highlight people crossing the road up ahead:

AR can be extremely powerful while keeping distraction to a minimum. Take destination search, for example. You could issue the verbal command, “Take me to a Starbucks on my route. I want to see their cool AR cups”. The nav system could then overlay a subtle route guidance over the road with a small Starbucks logo that gets bigger as you approach your destination. The logo could then hover over the building when you arrive.

You'll no longer have to wonder if your destination is on the right or left, or if your nav system is correct when it says, “You have arrived at your destination.” The answer will be right in front of you.

AR for the passenger
So what about the passenger? Well, you could easily apply AR to side windows and allow passengers to learn more about the world around them, a la Wikitude. Take, for example, this recent video from Toyota, which represents one of the best examples of how AR could make long road trips less tedious and more enjoyable:

Paul Leroux

This just in: SWSA, a leading electronics supplier to the Australian automotive industry, and NNG, the developer of the award-winning iGO navigation software, have created a QNX-based navigation system for Ford Australia. The new system has been deployed in Ford Territory SUVs since June of this year.

To reduce driver distraction, the system offers a simplified user interface and feature set. And, to provide accurate route guidance, the system uses data from an internal gyroscope and an external traffic message channel, as well as standard GPS signals. Taking the conditions of local roads into account, the software provides a variety of alerts and speed-camera warnings; it also offers route guidance in Australian English.

The navigation system is based on the iGO My way Engine, which runs in millions of navigation devices worldwide. To read NNG's press release, click here.

SWSA's new nav system for the Ford Territory is based on the Freescale
i.MX31L processor, QNX Neutrino RTOS, and iGO My way Engine.

Paul Leroux

This just in: The OnStar FMV aftermarket mirror, which brings the safety and security features of OnStar to non-GM vehicles, has won a coveted CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award.

To clinch this award, a product must impress an independent panel of industrial designers, engineers, and trade journalists. Speaking of impressions, it seems that OnStar FMV also made a hit with the folks at CNET, because they've chosen it as one of their Top Holiday Shopping Picks for 2011.

As you may have guessed, OnStar FMV uses QNX Neutrino as its OS platform. It also uses the QNX acoustic processing suite, which filters out noise and echo to make hands-free conversations clear and easy to follow. The suite includes cool features like bandwidth extension, which extends the narrow-band hands-free signal frequency range to deliver speech that is warm and natural, as well as intelligible.

Have time for a video? If so, here's a fun look at FMV's features, including stolen vehicle recovery, automatic crash response, turn-by-turn navigation, hands-free calling, and one-touch emergency calling:

At the time machine working, friction occurs repeatedly antar komponen machine. This can lead to wear and tear on the surface. Lubricating oil would create a slippery surface, so that direct friction antar komponen machine can be prevented. The amount of friction can cause the engine to run into over-heat until jam or cause damage to the cylinder and piston, such as irregularities oil pump, oil leakage on the channel, and could also be because of incorrect use of type of oil itself. For that, it's good to follow tips as noted, the following, to use a lubricating oil.

* Type of Oil (Lubricants)

Based on raw materials there are three types of oil circulating in the market, namely mineral, semi synthetic, and synthetic. Mineral lubricant, the material is essentially oil, which is processed into lubricating oils. If then the processed results coupled with other synthetic materials to achieve a better quality standards, then the product is called a semi-synthetic lubricants. Higher quality synthetic lubricant called.

* Standard Viscosity Oil

Oil can be classified from viscosity or viscosity levels. In containers of oil, commonly found code letters and numbers that show it. For example SAE 40, SAE 50, SAE 90, and so on. SAE stands for Society of Automotive Engineers or the Association of Automotive Engineers, which sets the standard viscosity at a temperature of 100 oC. Behind the numbers indicate the level of consistency.

Code numbers such as multi-grade 10W-50 is a viscosity which can change according to temperature in the vicinity. W letter behind the number 10 stands for Winter (winter). So lube it means to have an equivalent level of viscosity SAE 10 (in the cold), but when the hot air viscosity equal to SAE 50.

* Classification of Oil Quality

Classification is determined by the quality of lubricating oil of API (American Petroleum Institute). Classification of the quality of an oil marked with code letters on the packaging, there are usually two parts separated by a slash, eg API Service SG / CD, SH + / CE +, and so on. Code with the letter S is an abbreviation of service (or spark which means spark), is a specification for gasoline engine oil usage. The letter C is an abbreviation of commerce (or compression because the combustion occurs at a higher air pressure), is the specification of the use of oil for diesel engines. Then for the second letter in the code is the level of quality in accordance with the sequence of alphabet letters. The closer the letter Z, the higher or better quality.

* Choose The Right and Qualified

Follow the vehicle owner's manual instructions that we use. If advised to use SAE 20W-50, then do not buy oil with different viscosity standards. Moreover, because the reason is cheaper and so on. For performance and character of its own engine oil specifications require.

* Beware of Oil Asphalt. Purchase or sale of oil in place of the formal workshop.

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Three seconds is most decisive for the driver as he slung his seatbelt on and finish with a click!. That's when he put himself in optimal protection, which until now continues to be praised.

In the USA, seatbelt being touted as a device capable of providing maximum protection to reduce serious injuries and deaths. In a country with a population of the world's largest car, seatbelt saved over 10,000 lives per year.

Just look at the figures released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the institute, between 1982 - 1988 seat belts have saved lives and special 118.361 1999, a total of 11.197 inhabitants. It is estimated that if all the passengers in the front seat seatbelt installed in that year, a total of 9.553 lives could be saved again.

While research conducted by the Ministry of Transport Canada suggests, seatbelt (just) managed to save 11.690 lives in the timeframe 1990 to 2000. For comparison, airbags (only) just to save 313 lives.

Unfortunately, lack of seatbelt usage in Indonesia is realized. In fact, many people judge seatbelt just make it complicated. Though the driver / front passenger have a risk of death 55% higher when not using a seatbelt (NHTSA, 1996).

In the USA it is also common. There, users seatbelt just in the range of 73% only. While the people of Europe and Canada is more to know yourself, seatbelt usage rate reached 90%.

Why seatbelt highly recommended? Imagine that. At the car pound something, direct velocity dropped to zero, while the passenger keeps moving with the velocity just before collision (remember 'law of inertia Physics first?).

Passenger without a seatbelt would slide hard mashing everything in front of him, from the dashboard, steering wheel, windshield, and even thrown out (in New Jersey, in the last decade, about 700 people thrown out because of not wearing a seatbelt). Passenger with a seatbelt while still restrained in his seat, because the kinetic energy of the body muted seatbelt.

To get maximum protection, use the seatbelt as directed. Currently most cars using three-point seatbelt. Make sure the seat belt across the shoulder, across his chest and across his lap. Make sure the lock also has worked well. Often users are careless and place athwart seatbelt in the abdomen or neck. This can actually be fatal in case of accident.

But the seatbelt has a negative side as well. This appliance is not safe to use parents, because it can cause injury to the chest. Seatbelt is not safe for pregnant women. To reduce that risk, sophisticated seatbelt is usually equipped with additional tools such as pretensiometer and force limiters.

Pretensiometer tighten the belt when the crash occurred, and help the body eliminate kenduran passenger / driver remains in his seat. Force limiter, which is usually found with pre tensioners, loosen the belt shortly after the collision, in order to avoid injury to the chest.

To reduce the potential for injury, Safety Research Center belongs to Ford Motor Co.., Are now being developed that can inflate seatbelt, which is expected to be safer and more optimal to protect motorists.

The new seatbelt called inflatable belt, works like an airbag. In the event of collision, the seatbelt it will inflate to expand the area to hold the body, so the body's kinetic style is more rapidly absorbed.

Currently, about 2 inches wide seatbelt. In the inflatable belt, the width can be expanded up to three-fold to 6 inches. In effect, the weight can be distributed in a wider area, the automatic pressure on the body becomes smaller. Thus, the risk of chest injury can be reduced.

To increase seatbelt use in the USA, NHTSA urged automakers to install a new device that can propel the rider put his seatbelt.

Institutions even require all cars marketed in the USA comes pendengung (buzzer) and the lights flashing on the dashboard to remind motorists to put his seatbelt.

Prangkat kind of Ford Motor Co. has applied. on all products output in 2002. Device called BeltMinder will be buzzing and the lights on the dashboard will blink, if motorists did not put his seatbelt more than five minutes.

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Disney World to Offer World-Class Driving Experience

Recent visitors of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida might have wondered what their Speedway is primarily used for, since it's almost always clear of cars and the stands are just as empty.

While at one time it hosted professional racing competitions, lately it's been the scene of the company's introduction of the “Richard Petty Driving Experience”, an expensive ride for grown-ups which allows them to test-drive NASCAR stock racers. But recently Disney has decided to give visitors the chance to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini or Ferrari in addition to the stock car options. It's a totally different new offering as compared to the usual draws of the theme park, and car enthusiasts are certainly now more likely to take out auto title loans in order to afford the formerly too-expensive family trip to Florida.

Dubbed “The Exotic Driving Experience” by the Speedway's chief marketing officer Mike Bartelli, the addition is expected to start in January, with pairs of Ferraris and Lamborghinis, an Audi R8 and a Porsche 911. According to the Orlando Sentinel, all available vehicles will come with automatic transmission, and the starting price of $199 for a six-lap experience will be preceded by an instructional class where an instructor will accompany you on the raceway. For half that price, thrill-seekers can pay to sit in the passenger seat while a professional driver whizzes them through the three-turn tri-oval track. Either way, Bartelli and his Disney overlords all both counting on boosted success at the Walt Disney World Speedway.

That's because the Speedway has been a thorn in the company's side ever since it was built back in 1995. Originally meant to be a site for the newly created Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, the track hasn't seen a professional race in over a decade. Since then, it's either sat deserted or used sparingly in various driving experience thrills over the years. But a constant high price, a required half-day devoted to preparation, training, and the thrill itself, and a general lack of target-market visitors has made the Speedway the source of cost over-runs for sometime. In the mid-2000s Disney saw an opportunity in the rising popularity of NASCAR, but in the wake of the global recession, NASCAR numbers have dwindled and Disney is once again looking for a way to turn a profit from the Speedway.

Starting in January, visitors will have the chance to experience what it's like to operate some of the world's most luxurious sports cars. It will certainly entice a wider variety of car enthusiasts than just letting people get behind the wheel of some retired NASCAR stock racers. However, the question is whether there is a market it needs to sustain itself? Those immediately informed may attempt to orchestrate the annual family trip to include Disney World in order to jump on the opportunity, but what about the long-term? Disney is desperate to find a way to make their Speedway useful, and they hope they've finally found what they were looking for.

Listen to the music

The audio CD is on its last track... Internet radio, anyone?

I don’t think anyone will disagree with me when I say that music still represents the most important element in an infotainment system. Just look at the sound system capabilities in new cars. Base systems today have at least 6 speakers, while systems from luxury brands like Audi and BMW boast up to 16 speakers and almost 1000 watts of amplification.

For nearly as long as I can remember, cars have come with CD players. For many years they’ve provided a simple way to take your music on the road. But nothing lasts forever.

Earlier this year, Ford announced it would discontinue CD players in many of its vehicle models. Some industry pundits have predicted that CD players will have no place in cars in model year 2015 and beyond. A few weeks ago, Side-Line Music Magazine reported that major labels plan to abandon the CD format as early as 2012. This revelation has created a flurry of activity on the Net, but the labels have yet to confirm it’s true.

Steady decline
The fact is, CD sales have declined steadily for the last several years, down 16 percent in 2010 alone. Digital downloads (the legal kind), on the other hand, have been growing quickly and are expected to exceed CD sales for the first time in 2012.

Where does that leave us in the car? Obviously, media device integration will be key in the coming years. QNX Software Systems has long supported Apple iPod integration and supported Microsoft’s ill-fated Zune for a while. USB connectivity is a given, and soon you’ll be able to stream music from your phone.

Radio redefined

The QNX-powered Toyota Entune system
supports both Pandora and iHeartRadio.

But what’s more exciting is how radio is evolving in the vehicle. Along with the steering wheel, radio has been a staple of car pretty much since day one. As the connected vehicle moves to the mainstream, internet radio will become a huge part of the automotive experience.

Companies like Slacker extend the concept of radio beyond audio to include artist bios, album art, photos, reviews, and more. Pandora, through its work with the Music Genome Project, expands the musical experience by playing songs it predicts you will appreciate. iHeartRadio aggregates American radio stations for replay throughout the US. TuneIn takes it one further with a global view. Driving down highway 101 in California, you’ll be able to tune in all your favorites from around the world.

Beyond entertainment
These services are changing the way people consume music. Today, I rely on my car radio not only to entertain but also to educate by constantly exposing me to new artists and content. Internet radio in the car will expand my horizons even further. And as online music stores like 7Digital integrate their service with the internet radio stations, I’ll be able to download the song I just heard at the push of a button. Not good for CD sales, but it seems that’s the way of the future anyway.

We are, of course, working with the leaders in internet radio and online music services to bring them to a car near you.

The use of electronics is exploding in automotive. Just last week, Intel proclaimed that the connected car “is the third-fastest growing technological device, following smartphones and tablets.”

Ten years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 32-bit processor in your car. Now, some cars have 4 or more 32 bitters: one in the radio, another in the telematics module, yet another in the center display, and still another in the rear-seat system.

Heck, in newer cars, you’ll even find one in the digital instrument cluster — the QNX-powered cluster in the Range Rover, for example. Expect to see a similar demand for more compute power in engine control units, drive-by-wire systems, and heads-up displays.

The Range Rover cluster displays virtual speedometers and gauges, as well as warnings, suspension settings, and other info, all on a dynamically configurable display.

What do most of these systems have in common? The need to process tons of information, from both inside and outside of the vehicle, and to present key elements of that data in a safe, contextually relevant, and easy-to-digest fashion.

The next generation of these systems will be built on the following principles:

Fully integrated cockpits — Vehicle manufacturers see system consolidation as a way to cut costs and reduce complexity, as well as to share information between vehicle systems. For instance, your heads-up display could discreetly let you know who is calling you, without forcing you to take your eyes off of the road. And it could do this even if the smarts integrating your phone and your car reside in another cockpit component — the telematics module, say.
Augmented reality — With all of the data being generated from phones, cloud content services and, perhaps more importantly, the vehicle itself, presenting the right information at the right time in a safe way will become a major challenge. This is where augmented reality comes in.

Augmented reality is a cool use of cameras, GPS, and data to create smart applications that overlay a virtual world on top of the real world. Here are some of my favorite examples:

AR Starbucks cups — Use your phone to make your coffee cup come alive:

AR Starwars — Blast the rebel alliance squirrels!

AR postage stamp — Add a new dimension (literally) to an everyday object:

And here are a couple more for good measure:

AR ray gun — Blast aliens around the house!

Wikitude AR web browser — Explore the world around you while overlaying social networks, images, video, reviews, statistics, etc.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I will explore how AR could enhance the driving experience for both drivers and passengers — Andrew.

My colleague Jeff Schaffer sent me this link, which gives an interesting analysis of Android support on various devices.

Clearly, it's pretty tough to stay on top of the Android release game. One very good reason for car makers to be wary, as they'll be bound to move even slower than handset makers.

The need for environmentally friendly practices and products has become so painfully obvious in recent years that it’s no longer possible to call it a debate or a controversy. Nowhere is this more conspicuous than in the automotive industry.

US Environmental Protection Agency

Working at QNX has given me insight into just how complex the problem is and how going green in automotive is not going to be a revolution. I've come to realize that it will require a good number of players on a large number of fronts.

An example of what happens when
your car takes way too long to boot. :-)

What we at QNX are doing to move the cause forward is called fast booting. Some operating systems take up to 60 seconds to boot. Can you imagine getting in your car, turning the ignition, and waiting a minute for your radio to work? Me either.

To prevent such undignified delays, these systems typically do not power down completely. Instead, they suspend to RAM while the vehicle is off. This lets the system boot ‘instantly’ whenever the ignition turns over. But because there’s a small current draw to keep RAM alive, this trickle continually drains the battery. This might have minimal consequences today (other than cost to the manufacturer, which is a whole other story) but in the brave new world of electric and hybrid cars, battery capacity equals mileage. Typical systems thus shorten the range of green vehicles and, in the case of hybrids, force drivers to use not-so-green systems more often. More importantly perhaps, these systems give would-be buyers ‘range anxiety’. Indeed, according to the Green Market’s Richard Matthews, battery life is one of the top reasons the current adoption rate is so low.

A little-known feature of QNX technology helps solve this problem.

Architects using the QNX OS can organize the boot process to bring up complex systems in a matter of seconds. Ours is not an all-or-nothing proposition as it is with monolithic operating systems that must load an entire system before anything can run – Windows and Linux are prime examples. QNX supports a gradual phasing in of system functionality to get critical systems up and running while it loads less-essential features in the background. A QNX-based system can start from a cold boot every time. Which means no battery drain while the car is off.

And while this is no giant leap for mankind it is certainly a solid step in the right direction. If the rest of us (consumers, that is) contributed similarly by trading in our clunkers for greener wheels, the industry could undoubtedly move forward in leaps and bounds. I suppose this means I’m going to have to take a long hard look at my 2003 Honda Civic.

The new BMW M5

The BMW M5 will be launched on Nov 19‎ and according to news reports, will be priced at at £73,040. Check out the video of the new BMW M5 being put through its paces.

The car is powered by a 560hp 4.4-liter Twin-Turbo V8 rear drive engine. The car is said to have a a top speed of 190mph and goes from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds.

Paul Leroux

True story: When a train on the Trans-Mongolian Railway crosses from Mongolia into China, it must stop and have all of its wheel assemblies replaced. Why? Because the track gauge (distance between the rails) is 1520 mm in Mongolia and 1435 mm in China. Oops!

The rail industry realized long ago that, unless it settled on a standard, costly scenarios like this would repeat themselves ad infinitum. As a result, some 60% of railways worldwide, including those in China, now use standard gauge, ensuring greater interoperability and efficiency.

The in-car infotainment market should take note. It has yet to embrace a standard that would allow in-car systems to interoperate seamlessly with smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Nor has it embraced a standard environment for creating in-car apps and user interfaces.

Of course, there are existing solutions for addressing these issues. But that's the problem: multiple solutions, and no accepted standard. And without one, how will cars and mobile devices ever leverage one another out of the box, without a lot of workarounds? And how will automakers ever tap into a (really) large developer community?

No standard means more market fragmentation — and more fragmentation means less efficiency, less interoperability, and less progress overall. Who wants that?

Is HTML5, which is already transforming app development in the desktop, server, and mobile worlds, the standard the car infotainment industry needs? That is one of the questions my colleague, Andy Gryc, will address in his seminar, HTML5 for automotive infotainment: What, why, and how?. The webinar happens tomorrow, November 15. I invite you to check it out.

Specification tires are often forgotten. In fact, the numbers found on the tire wall is very informative and payers are known.
We can know the tire size, type tubles or not, the rate of speed, maximum carrying capacity and more tire information that we use. Below will explain the meaning of the row number.

Take for example P215/65R15 89H. Let's look at one-one:

Q: For passenger vehicles (passenger)

215: This symbol indicates the tire width is measured from one wall to another. That is, it determines the number of millimeters of tread. The bigger the number, the tire treads will look more broadly.

65: The ratio of height to width. The larger the numbers side of the tire will look higher. The smaller the number the lower the tire wall.

R: Construction of tires. The symbol R represents radial tire type.

15: The diameter of the tire, or better known by the ring 15. Usually correspond to the diameter (ring) wheels.

89: Index Power. Each figure has a different level haulage. It is also associated with the maximum wind pressure of n measured in units of PSI (pounds per square inch) and Kpa (kilopascals).

H: The rate of speed. Each letter has a different speed levels. The rate at which it covers:
- Q a maximum speed of 158 km / h
- S a maximum speed of 179 km / h
- T a maximum speed of 188 km / h
- U a maximum speed of 198 km / h
- H a maximum speed of 208 km / h
- V maximum speed of 240 km / h
- Z maximum speed above 240 km / h

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After working more than 20 years in high tech, I've settled on a mantra: This too shall pass. (Hey, I didn’t say it was original!) To that end, patience is critical, as is flexibility. And ultimately, success depends less on predicting technology trends and more on responding to them. You've got to be tech-nimble, which requires not only the willingness to change, but the technology to accommodate — and profit from — that change.

Yesterday, Adobe announced a restructuring based on a change in direction, from mobile Flash to HTML5. Some might consider this development as proof that Adobe lost the battle to Steve Jobs. But to my mind, they've simply recognized a trend and responded decisively. Adobe has built a product portfolio based heavily on tooling, including tools for HTML5 development. So they definitely fall into the tech-nimble category.

QNX has an even greater responsibility to remain tech-nimble because so many OEMs use our technology as a platform for their products. Our technology decisions have an impact that ripples throughout companies building in-car infotainment units, patient monitoring systems, industrial terminals, and a host of other devices.

So back to the Flash versus HTML 5 debate. QNX is in a great position because our universal application platform approach enables us to support new technologies quickly, with minimal integration effort. This flexibility derives in part from our underlying architecture, which allows OS services to be cleanly separated from the applications that access them.

Today, our platform supports apps based on technologies such as Flash, HTML5, Qt, native C/C++, and OpenGL ES. More to the point, it allows our customers to seamlessly blend apps from multiple environments into a single, unified user experience.

Now that’s tech-nimble.

Tata invests in the West Midlands

There was some good news for the automotive sector in the UK today as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced that they plan to increase their workforce at their plant in Solihull by more than 25%.
For more info read their press release here.

This follows the opening of their new Global Headquarters at the Company's site in Whitley in Coventry last week.

From left: Mr Ravi Kant, Vice President of Tata Motors, Mr Ratan Tata (cutting the tape) Chairman of Tata Sons, and Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover (Right).

Tata the Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover will be investing more than £1.5 billion pounds annually for the next five years.

Together with the BMW 328 Roadster (1936–1940) and the Dyna Panhard (1954),
Rover and Land Rover were among the first users of aluminium in Europe, the
ubiquitous Defender models using the 3xxx series alloys for flatter panels with the
Al–Mg 5xxx series being used in other applications, a wealth of experience being
gained in pressing, assembly and paint pre-treatment and finishing. Although the
chassis was cumbersome it was – and still is – ideal for mounting the extensive range
of Land Rover Defender body variants. Until this day the hot rolled grades of steel
are used (typically HR 4) but it is easy to see why efforts are being made to downscale
these relatively massive ladder frames with consideration being given to using newer
material in thinner gauges, e.g. high strength steels up to 300 N/mm2 (TRIP steels up
to 590 N/mm2 are now being used for 80 chassis parts on the Mitsubishi Paquera).
Design modifications must be made to accommodate the thinner gauges and
consideration has already been given to alternative material forms such as hydroformed
sections (described later), as referenced by the ULSAB process, which could be used
to bolster stiffness and crashworthiness. Although better suited to more conventional
car body design, the incorporation of tailored blanks again offers an alternative
approach giving the engineer strengthening exactly where required and a further
opportunity for parts consolidation/reduced weight. This enduring type of rugged
and versatile design has persisted as it answers the diverse needs of military purchasers
but it is not surprising that as fleet average economy targets are considered more
critically the monocoque is now becoming more stringent for the more volumeoriented
4 × 4 vehicles – as featured by the Land Rover Freelander. Durability is
satisfied by the use of hot-dip or iron–zinc alloy coating as steel substrates replace
the use of expensive aluminium for outer panels (see Chapter 7) and the model
features another material innovation in the selection of polymer front wings.
Before leaving body-on-chassis design it should be mentioned that other types of
chassis include the steel backbone type used by Lotus and the designs featuring
triangular sectional arrays as shown in Fig. 2.4. These were steel square or tubular
sections, and later Lotus adopted another chassis configuration termed the ‘punt’,
also shown.

Materials for Automobile Bodies
Geoff Davies F.I.M., M.Sc. (Oxon)

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The blogosphere is a-buzz with Adobe’s apparent decision to abandon Flash in mobile devices. I get the impression, though, that many people haven’t bothered to read Adobe’s announcement. If they did, they would come away with a very different conclusion.

Let me quote what Adobe actually said (emphasis mine):

"Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores.

What’s being discontinued is the Flash plug-in for mobile browsers. Adobe will still support and work on Mobile AIR, and on the development of standalone mobile applications.

A number of cross-platform applications today are implemented in Adobe AIR, and that’s staying the same. Adobe is being smart — they’re picking and choosing their battles, and have decided to give this one to HTML5. We’re big believers in HTML5, and Adobe's announcement makes complete sense: Don’t bother with the burden of Flash plug-in support when you can do it all in the browser. You can still build killer apps using Adobe AIR.

Paul Leroux

Earlier this week, I referred you to a whitepaper written by my colleagues Scott Pennock and Andy Gryc. In the paper, Scott and Andy argue that driver distraction is not, in fact, a problem of distraction, but of situational awareness, or SA. Boost a person's SA, and you improve their ability to drive safely.

But how, exactly, do you improve SA? The paper discusses various techniques, and I couldn't possibly do justice to all of them here. But one approach is to supplement the driver's eyes and ears with indicators and warnings, based on information from sensors, roadside systems, and other vehicles.

Here's an example: A system in your car learns, through cloud-based traffic reports, that the road ahead is slick with ice. It also determines that you are driving much too fast for such conditions. The system immediately kicks into action, perhaps by warning you of the icy conditions or by telling you to ease off the accelerator.

Too bad the engineers who designed the 1939 Plymouth P8 didn't have access to such technology. I'm sure they would have embraced it totally.

You see, they too wanted to warn drivers about excess speed. Unfortunately, the technology of the time limited them to creating a primitive, one-size-fits-all solution — the safety speedometer.

Color coded for safety
From what I've read, these speedometers switch from green to amber to red, depending on the car's speed. I've only seen still photos of these speedometers, but allow me to invoke the magic of PhotoShop and reconstruct how I think they work.

The safety speedometer has a rotating bezel, and embedded in this bezel is a small glass bulb. At speeds from 0 to 30 mph, the bulb glows green:

At speeds from 30 to 50 mph, the bulb turns amber:

And at over 60 mph, the bulb turns red:

Given the limitations of 1939 technology, the Plymouth safety speedometer couldn't take driving conditions or the current speed limit into account. It glowed amber at 30 mph, regardless of whether you were cruising through your neighborhood or poking down the highway. As a result, it was more of a novelty than anything else. In fact, I wonder if people driving the car for the first time would have focused more on watching the colors change than on the road ahead. If so, the speedometer may have actually reduce situational awareness. Oops!

Compare this to a software-based digital speedometer, which could take input from multiple sources, both within and outside the car, to provide feedback that dynamically changes with driving conditions. For instance, a digital speedometer could acquire the current speed limit from a navigation database and, if the car is exceeding that limit, remind the driver that they risk a speeding ticket.

That said, I have a soft spot for anyone who is (or was) ahead of their time. Some enterprising Plymouth engineers in the 30s realized that, with faster speeds, comes the need for even greater situational awareness. Their solution was primitive but it offered a hint of what, more than 75 years later, can finally become reality.

Jeremy Clarkson vs Karun Chandhok

Clip from Jeremy's new DVD.

Paul Leroux

Hey, have you ever panned your camera? It's really easy: You just track a moving subject with your camera and then squeeze the shutter while both you and the subject are in motion. It's a great technique for creating images that evoke a sense of speed, which makes it popular among photographers for Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and other automotive magazines.

When you pan, you never really know what kind of image you're going to get. Often, the results are interesting. And sometimes, they're downright interesting. Take this shot, for example:

Lattés and overdrive don't mix. Just sayin'.

Now, holding a cellphone while rocketing down the highway is just plain wrong. To anyone who does it, I have one thing to say: "You're endangering other people's lives for the sake of a f***ing phone call. Where the hell do you get off doing that?"

But look at this guy. He's isn't holding a phone, but a coffee — even worse. Just imagine if he gets into a situation that demands quick, evasive action. He will, in all likelihood, hold on to the cup for fear of burning himself. Whereas if he had a phone, he would simply drop it and put his hand back on the wheel.

Mind you, I have no data to prove that coffee cups poses a greater evil than cellphones. But the core issue remains: Cellphone use is just one of many factors that contribute to driver distraction. In fact, research suggests that cellphones account for only 5% of distraction-related accidents that end in injury.

So, even if every cellphone on the planet disappeared tomorrow, we would still have a massive problem on our hands. To that end, my colleagues Scott Pennock and Andy Gryc suggest a new approach to designing vehicle cockpit systems in their paper, "Situational Awareness: a Holistic Approach to the Driver Distraction Problem."

The paper explores how system designers can use the concept of situational awareness to develop a vehicle cockpit that helps the driver become more aware of objects and events on the road, and that adapts in-vehicle user interfaces to manage the driver’s cognitive load.

It's worth a read. And who knows, perhaps someone, someday, will develop a cockpit system that detects if you are sipping something and tells you what you need to hear: "Dammit Jack, put that cup down. It's not worth endangering other people's lives for the sake of a f***ing latté."

Wood used in conjunction with fabric has been referred to already and was the construction of the bodywork of many cars in the 1920s before its replacement by steel. For outer panels this was of fairly thick gauge between 0.9 and 1.00 mm and

much of it destined for the UK Midlands car plants was produced in the South Wales steelworks in ingot cast rimming or stabilized grades (Chapter 3). The rimming steels could be supplied in the ‘annealed last’ condition for deeper drawn internal parts but

for surface critical panels a final skin pass was essential to optimize the paint finish.

For complex and deeper drawn shapes the more expensive stabilized or aluminium killed material was used which conferred enhanced formability. Gradually a change took place – due to weight and cost reduction studies the average thickness of external panels reducing progressively to 0.8 mm in the 1950s/1960s and to the current level of 0.7 mm in use today for the production of the body of unitary construction shown in Fig. 2.1. Internal parts for structural members range from 0.7 to 2.0 mm, the scope for downgauging over the years being limited by stiffness constraints. Therefore although the thickness of strength related parts such as

longitudinal members can be reduced by utilizing high strength grades on the basis of added impact resistance, as rigidity is a major design criterion, and the elastic modulus of steels is constant throughout the strength range, opportunities for substituting lighter gauges are limited. This situation can, however, be improved by use of adhesives or peripheral laser welded joints and examples of the use of these techniques are

given later in this chapter and in Chapters 4 and 6. Although not introduced until 1948 the Land Rover provides a good example of a modern vehicle with a chassis of two standard lengths serving a myriad of agricultural and military purposes. Although answering the rugged off-road requirements of the 4 × 4 vehicle virtually any type of body shape could be tailormade and constructed without the need for a dedicated higher volume facility. When steel was difficult to obtain in sheet or coil form in 1948 the underbody frames were produced by welding together strips of steel cast off remnants and aluminium was used for many body

panels.

Materials for Automobile Bodies

Geoff Davies F.I.M., M.Sc. (Oxon)

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BMW’S EFFICIENTDYNAMICS CONCEPT HEADS TO PRODUCTION AS A SCREAMING SUPERCAR—ONE EVEN

ENVIRONMENTALISTS CAN EMBRACE.

BMW’S STRIKING VISION E cientDynamics concept is headed for production in late

2012 or early 2013 as a 450-hp, twin-turbocharged halo for the company’s new environmental initiative. Theoretically at least, the production car, which may be badged M100 (shown here as an artist’s interpretation based on spy photos), has

what it takes to eclipse its most serious rivals. Extensive computer simulation

suggests that it will outpace the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the Audi R8 5.2, and the Porsche 911 Turbo. Power will likely come from the twin-turbo in-line six that’s being cooked up for the next M3 and will be transmitted to the rear wheels via a dual-clutch automatic transmission.

How can such a car be considered at all environmentally sensitive? Well, it will

be available in slightly tamer, greener form, tentatively dubbed the i100

ActiveHybrid. More important, though, the new sports car scores green points by

sharing its platform and composition with Project i, BMW’s ambitious range of

minicars. In fact, the i100 and the M100 are a big reason why Project i needed to have a rear-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. By moving the engine as close as possible to the rear wheels, BMW’s packaging wizards created something most

sports cars cannot o er: two usable, if not quite commodious, rear seats. Access to the second row shouldn’t be a major issue, as the production car will feature the gull-wing doors from the 2009 Frankfurt show concept car. To stow a limited quantity of luggage, the top-hinged rear window lifts up. A second cargo receptacle can be found in the nose of the vehicle.

Like other Project i variants, the sports car consists of a carbon-fi ber passenger

compartment fi xed to an aluminum chassis. While the M100 will be rearwheel drive only, the i100 will feature an electric motor at each wheel, in addition to a smaller gas engine. What that engine will be is still up in the air. The engineers

seem to favor a new 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, but top management,

fearful that sports car buyers will shy away from such a small powerplant, may

still tip the scales in favor of a turbo four-cylinder.

Altogether, the i100 should put out nearly 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque.

Lithium-ion batteries to power the electric motors will be tucked away in the

center backbone and near the fi rewall. The plug-in hybrid version of the i100 is

said to o er a zero-emissions driving range of ten to thirty miles, depending

on conditions. The M100 ditches the batteries and front motors but will still get an

electric boost via supercapacitors.

The supercapacitors, which are smaller and lighter than batteries, can store surplus energy from regenerative braking and then send it to the rear wheels to

support full-throttle takeo and passing maneuvers.

The M100 should be the fastest M car ever. In all likelihood, it will also be the most expensive. Prices are expected to start at about $225,000, with the i100 coming in at a more reasonable, but still very dear, $125,000 or so. AM

by GEORG KACHE

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Last month BMW officially announced that the new BMW 3 Series Saloon would be launched here in the UK on 11 February 2012. There would be be four trim specifications, namely Sport, Modern, Luxury and ES/ SE.

Prices start from £24,880 (OTR) for the 316d ES Diesel model.

In case you were not aware, the BMW 3 series remains their best selling model. Even if you can't afford to buy a new model, there are so many affordable used cars out there in the market. Though you can sometimes get a fantastic bragain from private sellers, there are several risks involved. It is always better to buy from trusted dealers as they offer several advantages over private sellers including warranty, minimum MOT, finance options and also to avoid the risk of being sold a stolen car. In fact there is a large co-operative of Trusted Dealers BMW (used).

The trusted dealers site has a huge range of second-hand BMWs for sale which you can search by post code and your budget. So if you are thinking of buying a second hand BMW 3 series model from a trusted dealer, check out Trusteddealers.co.uk

The end of my street is governed by a three-way stop. The other morning I was backing out of my driveway when someone rolled past the stop sign and came within inches of hitting me. I stopped, glared at him, and resumed driving. Two stop signs later, the same guy squeezed past my car (in the same lane), completely oblivious to what he was doing.

Why was he driving like this? Probably because he was deeply engrossed in a conversation on his cell phone.

Where I live, using a handset while driving has been illegal for over a year. You cannot talk, you cannot text, you cannot “Facebook”, you cannot Tweet — even if you're stopped at a red light. This makes perfect sense to me. As a driver, your primary responsibility is to control the vehicle. And yet I see people texting on the freeway, talking on their cell phones, and doing who knows what else on an alarmingly regular basis.

The QNX-powered BMW
ConnectedDrive system

Society has become obsessed with mobile devices, and it will take more than legislation to change its behavior. The answer, I think, is to embrace the behavior in a way that makes it possible to interact socially while maintaining control of the car. We’ve seen great progress in hands-free/phone integration, and BMW ConnectedDrive offers an example of how drivers can access email and other smartphone services more safely.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Integrating the handset with the infotainment unit is going to change the way you interact with your car. Intelligently designed apps, combined with multi-modal human machine interfaces, will let you Tweet or update Facebook using speech recognition, keeping your eyes on the road.

Without taking your hands of the wheel, you’ll be able to call a friend and decide that you want to go to dinner, do a local search to find out what’s available, check a restaurant review on Yelp, make a reservation, text your friend back with the time and place, and aim your navigation system at the restaurant. And you’ll be able to do it using natural language. None of this “please say a name” stuff.

Seems futuristic? It’s not. People are working on it today. In fact, QNX-based systems, such as Toyota Entune, already offer a taste of this hands-free and highly personalized future.

Discovery 4 in the Malaysian Jungle

The unmodified Land Rover Discovery 4 takes on the Malaysian jungle and survives. With help of course.

Mantis Waterless Car Cleaners

A couple of weeks back I received some samples of a new car cleaning products from the guys at JML.

The unique feature about these car cleaning products is that it's water free - yes, that's right. This was ideal for me as I do not have a driveway and I am not really keen on washing the car on the pavement carrying bucket loads of water and soap.

They sent me the Mantis Instant Shine, the Mantis Scratch Remover and the twin pack microfibre towels - one for application and another for buffing.

The Mantis Instant Shine combines a wash, polish and wax and has a fabulous fruity fragrance. It retails at £9.99 from is available on the Mantis site, in ASDA and few other places as well.

I had a slight problem when I roughly pulled the paper cover and some parts of the spray mechanism came off (see pic). However, I was able to put it back and works all fine.

I followed the instructions and sprayed the liquid over the bonnet of my car (which had been unwashed for a few weeks) and left it on for a few minutes. I then wiped it clean with the supplied application towels and polished the cleaned surface using the buffing towel.

Check out my car bonnet - the left side (top in picture) has not been cleaned while the right (bottom in picture) has been cleaned and buffed. Though not very clear from the photograph, there was a clear visible difference.

I also tried out the Mantis Scratch Remover on some of the scratches on my car. Key scratches on door locks and shoe scuffs can seriously dent your car’s resale value. As directed, I applied the paste to the affected area and rubbed it in a circular motion until my arms ached.

However, it did not do much for the deeper scratches on my car bonnet. I found that it works best with the light scratches (as shown below). The light scratches are barely visible afterwards.

The scratch remover also retails at £9.99 on the Mantis site and is also available in a few other stores including ASDA.

This water free cleaning kit is ideal for guys like me who hate hauling buckets of water and soap to clean their cars on the pavements (sidewalk in the US).

Over 500,000 units of Mantis Instant Shine has been sold in the UK and I am not surprised.

There have been trials to improve the strength of gray cast iron without losing its superior properties. Petrol engines have cylinder pressures ranging from 7 to 12 MPa, while heavy-duty diesels operate in excess of 20 MPa.

This high pressure generates much higher mechanical and thermal stresses on the cylinder block. The use of a cast iron block is widespread because of the high strength needed. However, a much stronger material is required to enable a lightweight design with decreased thickness. For these requirements, a block made of compact graphite iron has been proposed.

The graphite shape greatly influences the material characteristics of cast iron. Figure 2.17 gives a schematic representation of graphite morphology.

In the conventional casting procedure, cast iron generates a flaky shape (a)

in the iron matrix. However, when a special modification treatment is implemented on the molten iron just before pouring, graphite becomes round (b). Cast iron having this shape is called spheroidal graphite cast iron or nodular cast iron. The additive for spheroidizing is called a nodularizer. Compared to the flaky shape, this geometrical shape can avoid microstructural stress concentration to give higher mechanical strength and ductility. This is also referred to as ductile iron. However, the thermal conductivity and resistance to scuffing are not so high.

The third microstructure (c) is compact graphite iron (CGI) containing graphite of a vermicular (worm-like) form (c). This is a relatively new alloy that has improved mechanical strength without diminishing the favorable

properties of flaky graphite iron. As may be inferred from the shape, the properties of this iron are positioned between flaky and spheroidal iron. It has a higher tensile strength being 1.5 to 2 times as strong as flaky iron,

higher stiffness and approximately double the fatigue strength of flaky iron.

The thermal conductivity lies between flaky and spheroidal iron. This makes it possible to produce a cylinder block that is both thinner and stronger. The nodularizer inoculated in the molten iron gives perfect spheroidal

graphite. An imperfect spheroidizing treatment before pouring generates CGI. The nodularizer contains Mg. After the inoculation of the nodularizer, the graphite shape gradually changes to a flaky shape via a vermicular shape as shown in Fig. 2.18.6 The residual Mg content in the molten iron decreases with time due to the evaporative nature of Mg. This causes degradation of the spheroidal graphite to give CGI. An additional explanation is given in Chapter 4 and Appendix D.

The number of cast iron blocks used for petrol engines has decreased, while CGI is seen as a new cast iron for diesel engines. To meet Euro IV (2005) emission regulations, cylinder pressures of 18 MPa and higher are

being planned for car diesels. Even more stringent requirements under Euro V will come in from 2007 and 2008. Higher strength blocks with good thermal discharge properties will be required.

The science and technology of materials in automotive engines

Hiroshi Yamagata

Woodhead Publishing and Maney Publishing

on behalf of

The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining

CRC Press

Boca Raton Boston New York Washington, DC

WOODHEAD PUBLISHING LIMITED

Cambridge England

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Automotive

Include stories and information on automotive technology.

Pages

Unordered List

Pimp your ride with augmented reality — Part II

QNX-based nav system helps Ford SUVs stay on course down under

QNX-powered OnStar FMV drives home with CES Innovation award

Adjust the engine oil with the character of your machine

Three seconds is most critical

Disney World to Offer World-Class Driving Experience

Listen to the music

Pimp your ride with augmented reality — Part I

I've always wondered about Android support...

The need for green in automotive

The new BMW M5

Can HTML5 keep car infotainment on track?

Reading a Tire

Tech-nimble

Tata invests in the West Midlands

BMW 328 Roadster

Adobe’s out of mobile? Read the fine print

A cool and innovative speedometer... for 1939

Jeremy Clarkson vs Karun Chandhok

Some people drive me to distraction

Early materials and subsequent changes

The fastest, most expensive

The new BMW 3 series and buying used BMW cars

Building a hands-free future

Discovery 4 in the Malaysian Jungle

Mantis Waterless Car Cleaners

The compact graphite iron monolithic block

Automotive technology

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