SpenniesTalking Cars
June 24th 2007 02:40
You are driving in wet weather, cursing quietly to yourself, when a warning flashes up on your dashboard. The car in front has just told your car there is icy road ahead.
What might appear to be a science-fiction scenario is actually the way of the very near future.
Researchers from the Network Research Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and car manufacturer BMW are working on an autonomous, self-organising communication network that connects cars to each other, allowing them to collect data from their immediate surroundings, process it and exchange it with other cars.
The wireless network means cars will be able to talk to each other about traffic conditions as well as allowing drivers to download movies, images and songs.
Cars will be able to hold a wide range of data, from the headlights, the fog lamps or brake lights, as well as the ABS system, windscreen wipers and external thermometer, making for a well-informed driving experience.
The car's program senses the situation of the car and monitors weather, traffic, road conditions and surroundings. The network could give emergency workers a reliable channel on which to issue warnings.
The software is designed to use existing wireless channels. The typical range has been between 100 and 300metres.
The US Department of Transportation has embraced the new technology, developing a dedicated short-range communications standard signal that will allow high-speed communications between vehicles or between vehicles and the roadside. A car can access the internet from hot spots, or, if outside a hot spot, talk to another car that has what it wants.
"In some applications, a car just needs internet content, say a local map or picture," Professor Mario Gerla, of the UCLA Network Research Lab told the ABC.
"The car can get the data second-hand from another car that was earlier connected to the internet and happened to have downloaded that map or picture."
Manufacturers such as BMW plan to install the wireless connectivity equipment in their cars to enable this car-to-car communication.
If the concept of a talking car unnerves you, consider the big picture - no longer will exchanges between road users be limited to horn blasts. So don't be alarmed when the car in front says hello - it's welcoming a new age in technology.
What might appear to be a science-fiction scenario is actually the way of the very near future.
Researchers from the Network Research Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and car manufacturer BMW are working on an autonomous, self-organising communication network that connects cars to each other, allowing them to collect data from their immediate surroundings, process it and exchange it with other cars.
Cars will be able to hold a wide range of data, from the headlights, the fog lamps or brake lights, as well as the ABS system, windscreen wipers and external thermometer, making for a well-informed driving experience.
The car's program senses the situation of the car and monitors weather, traffic, road conditions and surroundings. The network could give emergency workers a reliable channel on which to issue warnings.
The software is designed to use existing wireless channels. The typical range has been between 100 and 300metres.
The US Department of Transportation has embraced the new technology, developing a dedicated short-range communications standard signal that will allow high-speed communications between vehicles or between vehicles and the roadside. A car can access the internet from hot spots, or, if outside a hot spot, talk to another car that has what it wants.
"In some applications, a car just needs internet content, say a local map or picture," Professor Mario Gerla, of the UCLA Network Research Lab told the ABC.
Manufacturers such as BMW plan to install the wireless connectivity equipment in their cars to enable this car-to-car communication.
If the concept of a talking car unnerves you, consider the big picture - no longer will exchanges between road users be limited to horn blasts. So don't be alarmed when the car in front says hello - it's welcoming a new age in technology.
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