Strom

Washington State's Autobody Craftsman Association (ACA-WA) recently hosted a two-hour Technical Seminar on Collision Avoidance Systems of the near future, presented by Richard Bishop of Bishop Consulting (www.IVsource.net). In his seminar, Bishop gave us a flavor of what is happening in new car technology to minimize accidents, possibly even eventually eliminating them altogether.

A great effort is presently being made to create "cars that don't crash." In essence, computerized intelligence built into vehicles of the present and near future t could virtually eliminate collisions as we know them today. The ambitious goal is to reduce formerly fatal accidents into, at most, serious accidents, serious accidents to fender-benders, and fender-benders to minor bumps. The technology needed to accomplish this end is being rapidly developed, much of it taking place in Asia.

The obvious question from the standpoint of collision repairers: What effect will high-tech crash avoidance systems have on the future of collision repair? Assisted by power-point visuals, Bishop proceeded to give us a fascinating glimpse of what lies ahead for the repair world, pointing out that some early collision avoidance systems are presently being factory-installed on certain vehicles.

"Lets start by pointing out that there are basically two levels of driving. The first concerns things like, where am I going, when will I change lanes - decisions that may take minutes or even hours. Then there's the tactical side, the moment-to-moment aspect of operating your vehicle, involving steering, brakes, and throttle. This is where intelligent vehicles systems come into play - providing essential information to the driver to warn him of possible problems on the road behind, around, or ahead of him, even controlling the vehicle, assisting the driver in operating brakes, steering, and so forth. The whole idea is optimal vehicle operation, primarily for better safety, but also for better efficiency," began Bishop.

"The applications of vehicle intelligence are split up into convenience, safety, and traffic assistance. Convenience systems, which don't claim any safety benefits, are designed to assist the driver in the 'soft' areas such as speed, stress, and hassles - the sort of things that tire us while driving, and can lead to accidents.

Adaptive cruise control

The main convenience system, available today on a limited number of vehicles, is called adaptive cruise control. This feature is presently on around 10,000 U.S. cars, and costs the owner an additional $800-$2000 per vehicle. This radar (laser) operated device, upon detecting a slower moving vehicle ahead, decreases your speed, unless you move to an open lane.

Adaptive cruise control will also maintain a pre-set distance between you and the vehicle ahead, until that vehicle moves out of your lane or you change lanes, before automatically accelerating your vehicle back to the pre-set speed. Basically, it provides foot-free driving in the over-40 mph range, but isn't made for stop-and-go driving. Truckers who use it save about 5% of fuel costs - acceleration and deceleration being much smoother.

"Over the past 20 years the emphasis has been on producing crash-worthy automobiles with optimum occupant protection. The next 20 years will be about collision mitigation (developing safety systems that detect driving problems and warn the driver early enough to prevent a collision, or greatly reducing the energy in a crash), and crash-avoidance (the goal of reducing crashes altogether).

"Last year alone there were 42,116 U.S. auto-related fatalities, and so the U.S. DOT has set the incredibly ambitious goal of reducing the overall auto and large truck crash-related fatality rate by one-third, plus reducing the road-departure crash rate drastically, all by 2008. Japan's goal is to reduce fatalities 50% by 2013. Europe and England are aiming toward having 20% of new cars equipped with driver safety systems by 2010."

Interestingly, whereas the U.S. is concerned more about crash rates in general, the rest of the world seems to be looking at reducing fatalities, simply because it's easier to work on reducing fatalities than on overall numbers of crashes. Due to air bags and other safety systems now standard equipment on vehicles, fatality numbers are leveling off, while the number of crashes continues to rise.

More applications of vehicle intelligence

Lane-keeping helps maintain lane position. Automated-parking, basically hands-free parallel parking, enables your vehicle to steer itself into a parallel parking spot. If the opening is too small, this feature will let you know. Curve-speed warning lets you know if you are going too fast around a curve, and systems that will pre-arm airbags and pre-tension shoulder-harnesses are being developed. But one development lacking support in the U.S. is external vehicle speed control, a forced method of limiting speed. Speed control systems are easier to market in Europe where speeding carries hefty fines.

Night vision, presently available in some vehicles, gives drivers a heads-up on night-shrouded obstacles. Typically displayed on a dash-mounted screen, rather than a windshield-reflected 'heads-up' type display, 'night vision' is close enough that drivers can keep their eyes on the road. Adaptive headlights, which follow the curves in a road, will eliminate much 'blind' driving at night.

Virtual rumble (simulation of the sound and/or feel your tires make when you cross the fog-line rumble-strip on many highways) will warn drivers that stray from their traffic lane. Virtual rumble is activated by video cameras that read the road lines. Drivers will be alerted by vibrations in the steering wheel and drivers seat, without other occupants knowing, which is much less embarrassing for the driver.