Innovations in automotive industry
It’s not enough just to design a car with traditional functions anymore. Manufacturers need to design smart innovative features which will help improve a driver’s experience. Here are some interesting innovations in the automotive Industry in the last couple of years.
- Start-stop green technology helps drivers to conserve their fuel by automatically shutting the engine off when idling or if the car comes to a stop e.g. stopping at a red light. The engine similarly turns on when needed with a simple press of the clutch, giving more mileage in congested cities.
- Pre-Collision and pedestrian detection technology helping the driver detect blind spots and alerting the driver when they are not paying attention on the road and delivers an audio and visual warning when there is a risk of a head-on collision. If the driver falls asleep and does not respond to the warning, then the system applies the brakes on its own. The two types of sensors include millimetre-wave radar located inside the front grille, and the second is a monocular camera mounted on the upper, inside part of the windshield.
- Autonomous driving vehicles refer to self-driving cars and the vehicle to vehicle communication modules. It uses technology to drive independently with the help of their pre-collision devices including cameras, sensors and brake actuators. Ford is working on autonomous capability with their self-driving fusion hybrids. The improvement of this research in this area could potentially reduce fatalities, car accidents and reduce the amount of traffic on the roads.
- Vehicle to vehicle communications is an exciting advancement in technology which would allow vehicles to “talk” to each other exchanging predetermined data for example speed and location to avoid collisions, reduce road accidents and overall improve safety. This ability for vehicles to communicate with each other and relay important information is essential for autonomous driving.
Smart Car which Google who launched its ‘Android Auto’ software that can be connected to a car and Apple also introduced their Carplay software allowing IOS devices to function with built-in displays. This type of technology also enables the driver to access GPS, maps, streaming music, weather, similar to what you can access with a smartphone.
Author
Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader
in automotive intelligence and vehicle
data supply to the entire motor industry.
He has almost 20 years experience in
building systems from the ground up.
As the Managing Director of Vehicle
Management System, he understands the
need and importance of trustworthy and
reliable vehicle history and advice to
both the trade and the public.
Follow me on LinkedIn