Computers add fun, safety to concept cars

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option on at least a few models, and many are also moving to add MP3 player connectors to their stereo systems.

Hyundai this week trumped competitors by announcing that it will include XM Satellite Radio receivers as standard equipment in several of its 2006 models and in all 2007 vehicles.

Hyundai would not comment on its plans for MP3 player connectors. However, almost every auto model is expected to offer some type of MP3 player link in the next few years.

Mazda, for one, gets several e-mails per week asking for an iPod slot in its Mazda3 sedan, said Robert Davis, the company's senior vice president of marketing and product development. It aims to add an MP3 player connector to its cars next year, he said.

GM, Nissan and Volvo all announced plans to begin offering connectors for Apple Computer iPods earlier this year. BMW was the first to make that link in 2004.

News roundup
Road raves at the N.Y. auto show

Future car tech on display includes hybrids and iPod hookups.

Those connectors may become obsolete, however, as cars may simply come with embedded hard drives. Those would let people download and store their own music, movies or other files, auto executives said.

"I don't see why you couldn't have a 20-, 40-, 80-gigabyte hard drive in the radio and download music directly, with proper licensing," Heinricy said.

Hybridization
Possibly the greatest users of silicon are hybrid gasoline-electric cars. Toyota's fourth-generation hybrid gas-electric drive train, found in its forthcoming Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX400h, uses a total of six processors in three separate control boxes, said David Hermance, executive engineer in Toyota's Environmental Engineering group. That set-up includes controllers for its regenerative braking system linked to a high-speed bus.

Toyota hybrids can start driving with the electric motor and switch the gas engine on and off, using the brakes to help charge the batteries. Their computer systems control when the gas engine switches on, for example. At the same time, they work to mask the transitions between electricity and gas to make driving the hybrid feel just like any other car.

The Highlander Hybrid will get nearly 30 miles to the gallon in average driving. Not only does the computer system make that possible, it also "makes for a better overall driving experience," Hermance said. "It makes the hybridization more transparent."

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi has fitted its forthcoming all-wheel-drive Lancer Evolution IX sports sedan with a series of sensors to measure things such as yawing, as well as a special active center differential. It all is designed to route the car's engine power to whichever tires have the most grip at a given moment.

"There's a host of sensors throughout the vehicle, and the sensors provide feedback to the ECC," or engine control computer, said Brian Arnett, manager of product strategy for Mitsubishi Motors North America. "The whole car is constantly monitoring the conditions the driver is engaged in."

No matter whether they're seeking to lower fuel consumption or to increase performance, manufactures thus will continue to incorporate more computer technology in order to give their cars an edge.

[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