The Future
coming - robot cars ... get ready
Connectivity, more
interactive devices, robot cars ... get ready
We shouldn’t be amazed
anymore. Yet every time we go to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we
come away thinking everything's going to be different from now on. This year,
seven carmakers and three major suppliers offered car-related systems and
gizmos to make our wheeled lives easier and/or more pleasant.
As for robot cars?
Everyone agrees autonomous vehicles are coming, but no one can say when or in
what form. Most cars today have electronic cruise control and lanekeeping
assist in some form. It's not too far a leap to imagine those two relatively
simple ideas taking over the tedious task of commuting. If they can handle
commuting's drudgery, why not also handle the parking and valet work? And if
they can do that, how soon till we simply whistle for them and they come get us
curbside like faithful automotive schnauzers? Audi, Bosch, Ford and Delphi all
had some sort of autonomous-vehicle tech to show.
In the meantime, there
were neat little gizmos everywhere to entertain and amuse us. Here are a few:
Corvette Performance
Data Recorder
Cosworth's recently announced
Performance Data Recorder for the Corvette Stingray draws on Corvette Racing's
decade-plus of motorsports experience. Via 720p video from the cabin, the
system overlays vital data like engine RPM, acceleration and braking levels,
g-forces, steering angle and gear position-even lap times and a track map.
Cosworth's recently announced Performance Data Recorder for the Corvette
Stingray draws on Corvette Racing's decade-plus of motorsports experience.
Your first Autonomous
Ride
The Navia autonomous
shuttle uses laser beams to map its route. Once its brain recognizes where it
needs to go, you push a button on it, just like in an elevator, and it takes
you directly to your stop. It's a purpose-built autonomous shuttle, not a
reconfigured SUV or anything. Navia's makers have said that the $250,000 price
is about the cost of running a conventional shuttle for a year.
The Navia autonomous shuttle uses laser beams to map its route.
Frickin' Lasers!
This Audi coupe quattro
concept came with laser-beam headlights oscillating at 450 nanometers and
putting out 1,200 lumens, good for 500 meters- or over a quarter-mile-of night
vision. We'll see the headlights first on the Rl8 Le Mans race car, then on
production cars as a high-priced option.
We'll see the headlights first on the Rl8 Le Mans race car
Beat Traffic Lights
Audi's Smart City
Traffic Light Assistance receives data from city traffic signals and tells you
the optimum speed to travel so you can hit all green lights on your commute.
Audi gave demo rides with this technology in Las Vegas during CES.
Audi's Smart City Traffic Light Assistance receives data from city traffic
signals and tells you the optimum speed to travel
The Solar Powered Car
Ford's new C-Max Solar
Energi concept features solar panels on the roof for charging the car when it's
parked underneath a Fresnel lens that Ford has deemed a "solar
concentrator." It does exactly what Ford says: It supplies enough solar
energy to charge the C-Max in the same time as the plug-in Energi at a 120-
volt outlet.
“It does exactly what Ford says: It supplies enough solar energy to charge
the C-Max in the same time as the plug-in Energi at a 120- volt outlet.”
Dash Cams And Dinky
Jumpers
When you think Cobra
Electronics, you might think radar detectors. Cobra still does those, but this
year it introduced dash cameras like the ones made famous by all those crazy
Russians you've been watching on YouTube. An 8-gig micro SD card records an hour's
worth of crashes and moose strikes for as little as $99. Add CPS to record
exactly where the moose was struck, and the price rises to $149. Cobra also
showed what must be the world's smallest jumper battery. The JumPack fits
snugly in your hand and yet it has enough juice to start a car. Price is $129.
When you think Cobra Electronics, you might think radar detectors.
The Virtual Cockpit
Visteon showed two
concepts: The Horizon replaced traditional knobs, creating a virtual map of
your hand so you can give a virtual knob a virtual twist via gesture control.
The Visteon HMeye tracks the driver's eyes so precisely that all you have to do
is gaze upon an interface to activate the system.
The Horizon replaced traditional knobs, creating a virtual map of your hand
so you can give a virtual knob a virtual twist via gesture control.
Mercedes Turns Up The
Heat
Heat your house with
Mercedes- Benz through a partnership with Nest. As your Benz drives nearer to
home, the Nest smart thermostat turns up the heat. Mercedes is also offering
the Digital DriveStyle app, which delivers social- media connectivity and car data
to you via the Pebble smartwatch, sort of a halfsized smartphone you wear on
your wrist.
Heat your house with Mercedes- Benz through a partnership with Nest.
Electric Ska Teboards
At least two
electric-skateboard prototypes were shown, and we rode one. The E-Go from
Yuneec has a lithiumion battery good for 20 miles or three hours on a charge.
It's available now. The Onewheel prototype from Future Motion was like an
electric BongoBoard. It's in development, but you can invest in the company.
Could be the future. Of electric skateboards.
The Onewheel prototype from Future Motion was like an electric BongoBoard.
