Computers add fun, safety to concept cars

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enables people to download movies, music and games from the Internet, just like a cellular phone. It also incorporates twin slots that hold MP3 players and a projector in its cabin roof, enabling it to show movies.

"This effectively turns the car into an entertainment system when it's parked," Jim Farley, chief executive of Toyota's Scion division, said at a news conference to introduce the concept auto.

Under the hood
The inner workings of cars are also changing, thanks to electronics. It's now commonplace for vehicles to include numerous sensors to measure wheel speed, steering-wheel angle and other factors. High-speed networks connect these sensors to each other and to various computer modules to compare complex data, creating the equivalent of a nervous system and a brain (or two or three) for each car. This information can be used to create computer fail-safe mechanisms such as a dynamic stability control that kicks in when a driver's reflexes fail.

"The natural progression of that is to have the systems start talking to each other," said John Heinricy, director of high-performance vehicle operations at General Motors. Things like shock damping can thus be automatically adjusted around a driver's steering inputs, improving handling, he said.

Ultimately, car computer systems can start to predict what might happen, allowing them to get an auto ready to take action to help a driver avoid a crash. "There are some things that a driver might not know that you (as car designers) know more about," Heinricy said.

Many of the systems would most likely be optional, allowing drivers to turn them off or to select from different modes, such as one for driving in the snow or one for aggressive, on-track driving.

There's also some way to go before stability control and other active systems reach every model. Many of the most computer-centric autos still sell at premium prices. BMW's latest 3 Series sports sedans, which made their debut at the show, come standard with dynamic stability control. They start at about $30,000.

But over time, safety aids such as dynamic stability control, active cruise control and collision avoidance systems, as well as navigation systems, will work their way into less pricey autos--either as standard equipment or as an option, auto executives said at the show.

GM, for one, is moving in that direction, Heinricy said.

"We have a plan to put stability...on all of our cars in the very near future," he said.

Changing to dash-top?
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs), satellite radio and MP3 players are all along the road ahead as well.

Nearly every major car manufacture now offers satellite radio as an

[AuriRahimzadeh]

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[Prndll]

lol....

Putting all this this computerized technology into cars is not adding fun or safety to cars. At best it just raises the price. At worst, it creates problems. I do understand the need to increase fuel economy. But, it has gone way beyond that. Since the very beginning of the automotive industry, people have contributed many designs that actually work in making cars safer, use less fuel, and last longer. Most of these things are shot down by buying the pattents and just not being used. All the cars makers know that there is alot of money to be made on parts. This knowledge is pushes cars into a state where their parts are made to be replaced. Yes, it is true that you can now get 200,000 to 300,000 miles on a car now. But, that doesn't come without a price. There are plenty of things that people never see, atleast until the car is wrecked. It is just plain insanity to replace a simple two wire switch with a $500 computer module that requires a 75 wire connector and a $2000 scan tool only available to dealers to access that computers' trouble codes. They will design these cars with computer modules made inside the headlight switch, inside the fuse block, or place them inside doors and fenders. The mechanical link between the accellerator pedal and the engine has been removed. The mechanical link between the steering wheel and the front wheels are about to be removed. We all want style and luxury, but to do some of these things is just plain crazy. There seems to be a serious misunderstanding in the engineering departments of the differance between "electronics" and "computers". To computerize things is not the way to go. Using simple electronics would be better and more worth while. The auto makers haven't clicked to the idea that their customers understand electronics more than they understand computers. But, then maybe that's just it. This could easily be more about getting people into the dealerships and away from doing things for themselves. A money thing. Computers deffinately have their place in this world, I just do not believe that place is in cars. With the direction this is all going, someone on the other side of the globe could end up taking control of everything my car does or maybe just monitoring by microphone and video. You may call this paranoid. But, it's the reality of computers at this point. Doing these kinds of things to cars is really nothing more than overkill.

[DynoEnvy]

What ever happened to the act of actually DRIVING your car. The thrill of getting on the open road and feeling real feedback from the steering wheel, clutch, brake, throttle and gearstick? While technology has done some great things for automobiles, I don't want to drive a PC.

http://www.dynoenvy.com