Computers & Automobile Safety

Overview: Computers & Car Safety

• How are computers helping now?– Airbags, Emergency services notification– Drive-by-wire solutions: ABS, ASR/TC, ESC

• How will computers help in the future?– Road warning networks– Autonomous vehicles

You

• Today’s drivers aren’t the best trained– Have little experience handling a vehicle

in an emergency situation

– Often do not know how to make their vehicles perform to their fullest

The Pros

• Have excellent reflexes

• Sense when the car exceeds its performance limits and appropriately correct

• Make full use of the car’s handling capabilities

The Pros

Today

• Automakers use computer intelligence to make up for driver incompetence.

• Increased performance through computer intervention– Antilock Braking System (ABS)

– Acceleration Slip Regulation (ASR)/Traction Control (TC)

– Computers compare actual and intended performance, then make corrections by braking and/or accelerating

ESC – Electronic Stability Control

• Corrects instability during cornering

• Reads sensors monitoring driver input, rotational velocity of wheels, yaw-rate

• Applies brake to wheel(s) with traction

• Recent studies show ESC greatly reduces single-vehicle accidents

Emerging Driver-Aids

• Adaptive cruise control• Lane-departure warning systems• Advanced-warning systems

– GPS + Wireless Networking

– Centralized database of road alerts

Autonomous Vehicles

• Benefits: save lives, increase productivity

• Foundations– Drive-by-wire

– GPS

– Radar/vision systems

Autonomous Vehicles

• Obstacles to overcome:– Better sensing for world

awareness

– Complex-realtime systems

– More computational power needed

– Newer/smarter algorithms• Collision-detection