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Post# of 616692
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midastouch017

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midastouch017

Re: mick post# 70636

Tuesday, 10/11/2005 12:22:31 PM

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 12:22:31 PM

Post# of 616692
Re smart cars,

Wi-Fi May Make Cars Smarter

The wireless technology in vehicles might help prevent crashes by enabling cars to talk to each other.
October 6, 2005

In as few as five years, cars may come equipped with Wi-Fi systems that enable motorists to make automatic payments or help them avoid wrecks, as autos will be able to talk to other vehicles, according to automaker prototypes displayed Thursday.

Wi-Fi systems for cars, also called Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), would allow cars to talk to one another and to external objects, said officials at a sneak peek in Oakland, California, previewing the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) World Congress. The conference on car technology will take place in San Francisco beginning November 6.

In addition to safety applications, the systems could potentially be used to make automatic payments—like payments for tolls or drive-through restaurants—and could help provide more accurate, up-to-the-minute traffic information as cars exchange real-time travel information.

“The potential is incredible,” said Neil Schuster, CEO of the Intelligent Transport Society of America.

In the United States, manufacturers are concentrating on the safety applications that these systems could enable. Mr. Schuster said crashes and congestion cost $300 billion annually in the U.S.

“Our vision is zero fatalities and zero delays,” he said.

Japan, with its high penetration of smart tags and Wi-Fi, is the leader, said Chun Hee Lee, a senior project engineer at Volkswagen of America. Manufacturers in Japan are taking a different approach, emphasizing the convenience angle of smart tags and automatic payments, he said.

General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, and Volkswagen all plan to demonstrate safety-related systems at the ITS World Congress.

Danger Alerts

GM’s concept system would warn drivers of stopped or slowed vehicles, collisions, or vehicles that are braking hard ahead of them. It would also alert drivers if they are in danger of hitting other cars around them, and would slow or stop the car if a crash is imminent.

DaimlerChrysler is demonstrating a signal approach warning, which could one day prevent crashes caused by drivers running red lights, said Christopher Wilson, vice president of ITS strategy at DaimlerChrysler. About 2,300 lives and $19 billion are lost annually in crashes related to intersection violations in the U.S., he said.

The systems could also be used to update car maps and to provide speed warnings and alert drivers of upcoming potholes, as well as traffic signals, he added. DaimlerChrysler plans to pay for the DSRC technology by charging customers for map updates.

Aside from safety, Volkswagen said Wi-Fi could be used to add entertainment features, and to integrate portable devices.

But none of those systems are at the production stage. Many policy and privacy issues need to be ironed out before they can be universally deployed, automakers said.

Tracking Speeding

For instance, cars would transmit speed and other driving information that could be tracked. Automakers say the information would be anonymous, but consumers are concerned about privacy. One example: New York City cab drivers are opposing plans to install GPS (global positioning system) in their taxis.

In addition, the Wi-Fi systems won’t work well unless many cars have them. What’s more, they will have to be standardized so cars can communicate with other brands. That means competing automakers as well as government agencies must work together to develop the systems.

“Wi-Fi is a proven technology; all the issues are institutional,” said Mr. Wilson. “We’ve never worked closely with the Department of Transportation and other OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] in the past, and we’re not used to working together. We’ve got to learn because if we can cooperate, we can do a lot to save lives.”

An industry and U.S. DOT working group is cooperating to develop standards and policies, and a DOT committee plans to decide whether to go forward with DSRC infrastructure, called Vehicle Integration Infrastructure (VII), in 2008.

Automakers said they are unsure when these systems could launch commercially, but GM estimates the technology could be ready to go in five to 10 years.

Other Wi-Fi systems that will appear at the World Congress could launch within the next year, however. Navteq and Circumnav, for instance, both showed navigation systems that incorporate traffic information from users’ cars.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13902&hed=Wi-Fi%20May%20Make%20Cars%20Smarter

Dubi

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