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Technology EDF ENERGY AND TOYOTA LAUNCH UK TRIALS OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE EDF Energy and Toyota have teamed up to road trial the first Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) introduced by a car manufacturer to the UK. Trials start today and will continue for more than one year. Toyota’s right-hand drive PHV will make its on-the-road debut as part of EDF Energy’s company fleet and will be tested by employees under every-day driving conditions. The results are expected to play a pivotal role in the development of Toyota’s PHV technology, which represents a further improvement on Toyota's hybrid technology, one of the world's most environmentally friendly mass-produced vehicle powertrain technologies.       'TRAVOLUTION' Frustrating, fuel-sapping stops at red traffic lights could soon be the exception rather than the rule thanks to a new initiative being championed by Audi aimed at streamlining urban traffic flow and reducing CO2 emissions. The experimental ‘Travolution’ system, developed with Audi support by traffic management experts in the brand’s German home town of Ingolstadt, will not only improve synchronisation and phasing of traffic light networks to reduce stopping times, but could also dramatically reduce the number of actual stops needed by creating a communications link between cars and the traffic light network. Communications modules built into each traffic light are able to send messages to cars in the vicinity, alerting them to the time remaining until their next green phase. The car’s onboard system is then able to calculate the speed which the driver must maintain in order to pass through the light during this green phase, and displays this via the Multi Media Interface display. A network of 46 of the ‘intelligent’ traffic lights has been installed in the centre of Ingolstadt, the software to which they are all linked optimising their phasing to bring stopping times down to a minimum, reducing fuel consumption and pollution in the process. Of the 46 light gantries, three have been upgraded to enable communication with the specially modified A5 and A6 Avant models provided by Audi as part of the 1.2-million Euro pilot project. A further 20 cars and 50 light installations are to be incorporated as the project evolves.   VAUXHALL INSIGNIA TO 'READ' SPEED LIMIT SIGNS Vauxhall’s upcoming Insignia will be the first car with a system that can ‘read’ speed limit signs and warn the driver. The optional new technology, combined with a lane departure warning system, will become available from 2009 on the Insignia and is expected to be rolled out on future new Vauxhalls.     Developed by Vauxhall’s parent company General Motors and sister firm Opel, the system is claimed to ‘reduce stress and can even prevent costly speeding tickets’. Expected to be known as Vauxhall Eye, the system uses a wide-angle, high-resolution camera in the windscreen and computers to detect road signs and lane markings. A GM spokesman explained: “The notices are displayed for a few seconds as a symbol in the centre of the instrument panel between the main round dials. In addition, drivers can recall the image any time by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Traffic sign detection can be activated via a sub-page in the car’s onboard computer menu.” (BusinessCar: June 18).
WORLD PREMIERE AT THE HANOVER FAIR VOLKSWAGEN PRESENTS "PARK ASSIST VISION" Wolfsburg, April 2008. There is something decidedly fantastical about this scene: Observe the approach of a Passat estate, it stops, the driver gets out, slams the door shut and, as he walks away from the car, he aims a remote control back at it. That car now proceeds to reverse park itself into the available space, it then independently cuts the engine and activates the door locks. End of performance. In reality, there is nothing at all fantastical about this demonstration.
The live performance by Volkswagen was viewed at this year’s Hanover Fair (April), where the carmaker premiered its “Park Assist Vision”, a system with the ability to guide a Passat prototype with absolute precision into a perpendicular parking space, i.e. the kind available on parking lots and in underground car parks. These parking spaces are often too narrow to allow drivers and passengers to get in and out of the car comfortably. In the not too distant future, “Park Assist Vision” will put an end to that. Having already launched a semi-automatic park-steering system, the “Park Assist”, in its Touran, Tiguan, Passat and Passat estate to help drivers parallel park, Volkswagen presented a concept system at the Hanover Fair which is capable of perpendicular parking – and of doing so fully automatically. The only thing the driver needs to do is select an available space on the monitor of the navigation system, set the selection lever of the automatic-drive vehicle (DSG) to “P” and alight from the car. The driver can, of course, choose to stay in the vehicle until the vehicle has been manoeuvred into its space. Cameras and ultrasound sensors as parking aids Two cameras located in the left and right exterior mirrors are responsible for gauging the dimensions of the parking space. The video signals are transmitted to a 2-GHz high-performance computer which then analyses them and sends commands to the steering and drive systems. If the driver has himself initiated the parking manoeuvre, the “Park Assist Vision” will reverse the vehicle into the parking space in accordance with the previously computed course and using electromechanical power steering, the electronic parking brake, DSG and the engine power produced by the idling mixture. Two additional cameras at the front and rear of the vehicle as well as the system’s ultrasound sensors monitor the operation and will stop the vehicle if necessary. The driver may also interrupt the manoeuvre at any time using the remote control. This new driver assistance system is still in the trial phase of development, and a date has not yet been set for introduction of the system to series production.
TIME FOR A CLEAN SWEEP A recent innovation has appeared in the car design business, which could see the end to windscreen wipers. Apparently, using "nanotechnology", Italian car designers have come up with a self-clearing windscreen.
It uses a special oxide to repel water and miniature nozzles which blast out water and air to get rid of dust and dirt simultaneously on water and dust. The windscreen uses super-think layers of nanoparticles on top of the windscreen. Each layer is a couple of atoms thick, meaning they can work. It seems a good idea, as even the best windscreen wipers don't reach the whole screen, which means that drivers have to put up with a permanent "film" that restricts vision at the extremes. Windscreen wipers also get frozen to the glass overnight in winter, a major cause of callouts for breakdown companies, when fuses blow as a result of drivers starting the car without first freeing up the wipers. Whether the new wiper-free technology could cope with UK road salt and grime though has yet to be seen!
SMART KEYLESS TECHNOLOGY FOR FORD FOCUS AND MONDEO New Ford Focus and Mondeo drivers no longer need their keys ready either to unlock their car or to start its engine. Thanks to Ford's new keyless entry and ignition technology, the doors unlock automatically as the driver pulls a door handle. Similarly once inside, ignition is triggered at the press of the motorsport-inspired Ford power button.
Customers using Ford's new keyless entry and ignition technology, the doors unlock automatically as the driver pulls a door handle. Similarly once inside, ignition is triggered at the press of the motorsport-inspired Ford Power button. If in a hurry or carrying a load, there is no need to stop and hunt in pockets or bags for the car key - especially helpful in bad weather. The car's electronics confirm the valid key's presence, unlock the doors and, if dark, activate the car's 'puddle' lights in the wing mirrors immediately once door or boot handle are applied. Once behind the wheel, inserting a key in the side of the steering wheel column is not necessary, thus avoiding a bunch of keys dangling at knee level. The engine is fired up by touching the Ford Power button with the clutch pedal depressed. The button is the same as fitted in Ford World Rally Championship and Formula Ford race cars. Applying Ford power without disengaging the clutch is the equivalent of turning the ignition on so all equipment operates without starting the engine. Switching off the engine is by simply pressing the Ford power button. In the unlikely event of having to cut the engine while in motion, hitting the button three times in quick succession or once for longer than three seconds both work. Locking the car is by pressing a lock button on the driver's door handle or bootlid - enabling unimpeded keyless exit just as the car is entered. As emergency back-up a conventional key is contained within the electronic fob. Keyholes are in the driver's door for access and steering wheel mount for ignition. The door handle-mounted antennae recognise the key fob's signals within a two-metre radius. Interior antenna locations are at the rear of the centre console, between the front seats underneath the centre console and behind the rear seats. Encrypted communication between antennae and fob ensure the car only responds to the right key holder.
SOLAR POWERED ROAD STUDS The next generation of ‘smart’ solar-powered road markings which warn of bad weather or slow-moving traffic ahead and can help reduce motorway hold-ups, have proved a significant success on highways in the Netherlands. Two installations have significantly eased traffic congestion on Holland’s most crowded motorways, while the system is also proving a success in trials on the M8 in Scotland.
The Astucia road studs were chosen by the Dutch Ministry of Transport who are at the forefront of looking at new ways to improve traffic management on crowded motorways which are nearing their capacity during the rush hour periods. One solution has been to increase the capacity of the road by opening the hard shoulder as an extra lane during the rush hour combined with Dynamic Lane Marking to indicate when the hard shoulder is open for use as an additional ‘plus-lane’. The ‘smart’ solar powered road studs are ‘hard wired’ to traffic control rooms and are illuminated during times of congestion, directing traffic from the motorway’s entry-ramp to the hard shoulder. The illuminated studs delineate the additional lane and also guide drivers onto the main carriageway when the plus-lane system is not in use. The first sets of Astucia ‘smart’ studs were installed in November 2004 by InterTraffic Systems B.V., the authorised distributor of Astucia in the Netherlands, on the busy A50 motorway linking Arnhem to Zwolle in the Gelderland province. The road carries an average of over 200,000 vehicles a day. A second installation is on the A44 motorway taking traffic from The Hague to a busy junction near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, carrying an average of over 100,000 vehicles per day. Calculations have found shown that the management system can increase the capacity of the motorway by as much as 40%, as well as reducing accident rates. Currently, the Department for Transport are still evaluating the installations for future use on roads in England, but Astucia's Intelligent Road Stud technology is currently under trial on Scotland’s busiest motorway, the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The “smart” studs have been fitted to a 3 kilometre stretch of Scotland’s busiest motorway, linked with traffic speed collection data to provide feedback to road users of approaching hazards. The chosen trial site chosen is on the approach to Junction 6 on the west-bound section of the M8, a busy and fog-prone section of motorway which each day is used by an average of 51,000 vehicles. In the event of a bad weather, an incident or queuing traffic, control units automatically relay instructions to the appropriate strings of Intelligent Road Studs. The activated studs then flash to provide hazard warning to approaching traffic. The System performs intelligent queue tracking so that only the strings of studs upstream of any slow moving or stationary traffic are activated.
Volvo improving road safety Volvo is showcasing a new generation of groundbreaking protective safety systems to help improve safety on our roads. Collision warning with auto brake for pedestrians, collision avoidance by auto steering and vehicle to vehicle communication are three Volvo concepts, which are currently in development to provide better protection for people, both inside and outside the car.
The Volvo that sees people Developing Volvo's newly-introduced collision warning with auto brake (for detecting vehicle to vehicle collisions) further, this future system will assist the human eye and help the driver to 'see' people. It uses radar technology with a wide-angle search area to detect objects in front of and around the car. If the car approaches a pedestrian, a red warning light will come on first on the windscreen's head-up display and a warning signal will sound. This helps the driver to react, and in most cases an accident can be avoided. If the risk of a collision increases further, assisted panic braking is activated to provide more pressure when the brakes are applied and if the driver still doesn't brake, and the collision is imminent, the car's brakes are activated immediately. The automatic braking has the capacity to reduce the car's speed by approximately 15mph. Depending on the situation and the car's speed, this may mean in certain cases, that a collision cannot be completely avoided. Steer away from danger Collision avoidance by auto steering is a further development of lane departure warning, which uses a camera to monitor the car's position between lane markers. If a car wanders across any of the lane markers without using the indicator, the driver is warned by an audible signal. Collision avoidance by auto steering is significantly more advanced. The system is designed to help prevent a frontal collision caused by temporary distraction by using both a camera and radar to monitor the position of the car itself and the oncoming traffic. If the car is about to move into the wrong lane and the system detects that an oncoming vehicle is on a collision course, the car is automatically steered back to a safe position in the original lane. The high demands for reliability mean that Volvo experts are still assessing which degrees of steering wheel intervention are relevant and the exact speed range the system can operate within. Talk to each other Volvo research shows that cars that can communicate with other vehicles and the surrounding traffic environment can enhance the potential for safer driving and fewer traffic accidents. Volvo has a number of test vehicles that can communicate with each other. For example, a driver in one car can receive information that another car further ahead on the same road, or around a blind corner, has come across an obstacle and has slammed on the brakes - and this makes it possible to brake in good time. However, for communication to work, it is necessary to have a standard "language" so that all vehicles can talk to each other, irrespective of make or model.