Sunday, October 3, 2010
Audi A8 – VW Technology Inches The Car Closer to Autonomy
Cars weren't meant to drive themselves, or were they? I was appalled when a famous Beverly Hills plastic surgeon drove his Jeep off a cliff two months ago while tweeting about his collie. As drunk driving accidents decline, tragic stories involving driver distraction are piling up.
Laws to prevent drivers from texting or speaking on cellphones are likely to be futile. Rather, with the rise of wireless gadgetry including satellite radio and vehicle-based Internet, safety considerations dictate that cars will take over more and more tasks from the driver. Eventually engineering may be able, at a minimum, to prevent collisions entirely or minimize their danger. Audi's new A8 shows how seamless and clever some of this high-tech know-how may look.
On a 500-mile drive to northern Michigan and back, I used and paid special attention to the A8's "lane assist" feature. When enabled, a radar sensor determines that the car is drifting out of its lane and ever so slightly sends a vibration to the steering wheel, encouraging the driver to return to the lane. Adaptive cruise control allows the driver to set the car's speed and determine a distance to keep from any cars ahead. If the car closes too quickly, the brakes take over and slow it down. A blind spot indicator warns of a car passing on the left or right. These three features made it much easier for me to change the channel on the radio, take a telephone call or sip coffee without danger. I like doing those things while I drive, and I'm not giving them up.
Of course the A8 is a $90,000 car, in part reflecting the research and development costs for advanced safety devices. But just as stability control was once an advanced safety device and became standard, so will lane change and other technologies enter the automotive mainstream.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Doron, as long as you're not using these devices to assist you in putting on make-up I guess they're okay. What I'd really like to see, however, is a device that prevents motorists from hitting me when I'm riding my bike or running. A non-lethal jolt of electricity for the offender would also be a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with enforcing personal responsibility to control your car? The drivers should be responsible for this - not the electronic gadgets.
ReplyDeleteDoron, I'm surprised that you found the adaptive cruise control acceptable. The one on the A8 works about as poorly as most of them, meaning that the closest following distance that it allows is two to three times as great as it should be. As a result the cruise control is unusable except on virtually empty roads. Even on those, if you approach a slower moveing vehicle, the adaptive system starts to slow you down when you are still very far away from the vehicle you are approaching--much further than the distance when you would normally change lanes to overtake. Aadaptive cruise control has been around for about ten eyars now and it it hasn't gotten any better. I wouldn't have one of these systems on a car if I were offered a $5000 discount to put up with it.
ReplyDeleteWhat Csaba said. Just dumb, along with: push button starting buttons, any/all manner of iDrive-like "interface", et al. Not only do most new cars have way too many buttons, they have way too many pricey, unwanted gizmos that add marginal to no value.
ReplyDelete