Technology

Autonomous braking systems could save 250 lives and around $5 billion a year, according to Australia’s vehicle crash-testing body.Australian New Car Assessment Program chief executive Nicholas Clarke said automated emergency braking systems are the “next big thing” for vehicle safety.“AEB can probably be considered the next seat belt or electronic stability control equivalent in terms of saving lives,” Clarke said. “Advanced safety assist technology can help remove the weakest link when it comes to car crashes; the driver. “If every car on the road was equipped with AEB, the toll would fall by around 25 per cent.”Many carmakers already offer models with automated braking systems. The cheapest is the Volvo V50 wagon, which is priced from $42,990. Ford’s $33,840 Focus Titanium and the $38,950 Mercedes-Benz B-Class can both be optioned with the technology, costing $2300 and $2500 respectively.AEB systems use video cameras, radars or lasers to scan the road and determine the distance to the vehicle ahead and its relative speed. When the AEB-equipped vehicle gets too close, the software sounds a warning and then actively engages the brakes if the driver fails to respond.Australia was the first country to legislate compulsory seat belt use in 1970-’72. Global motoring body, the FIA, says wearing seat belts has reduced fatalities by 20 per cent in Australia since that date. Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport figures state the economic impact of the 1288 deaths last year was around $27 billion.ANCAP’s “road map” of technologies required in future cars lists AEB as an optional system for five-star certification by 2017. Clarke expects to have that date revised down _ and predicts it will be mandatory, rather than optional. “We’re already talking to carmakers and lobbying the federal government to introduce these systems as soon as possible,” he said.Pedestrian Council of Australia head Harold Scruby is an enthusiastic supporter of the safety technology but doesn’t expect to see any quick action from the government. “I’ve actually been to see Catherine King pleading with her to mandate rear-vision cameras, which would cost about $100 a vehicle,” he said.“Unfortunately, this seemed to fall on deaf ears. If we can’t get reversing cameras mandated, what hope have we got getting this technology into the Australian Design Rules?” Drivers who buy cars with the technology should also benefit from lower insurance premiums, with some companies offering up to 20 per cent off the regular premium for AEB-equipped models.AEB EXPLAINEDAutonomous emergency braking systems use video cameras, radar or lasers to scan the road ahead and assess the vehicle’s speed as well as the speed of the car in front. Most warn the driver in the approach speed is too high and then automatically apply the brakes if an impending nose-to-tail crash is detected.Depending on the situation, the systems can either prevent an accident outright or dramatically cut the severity of the impact - and therefore the damage to the vehicles and occupants. There is no industry standard for the software. As a result, three differing versions are now sold. The first works at typical city speeds of below 30km/h; others operate at highway speeds. Finally, some systems also detect and react to pedestrians walking out into the vehicle’s path. 

My 2006 Mitsubishi 380 GT has been a gem with over 100,000 km of largely trouble free motoring, until a few weeks ago on the Westgate Freeway it ran out of control, locking itself on 90 km/h with me braking heavily until more lanes were available so I could use neutral to slow down, albeit with the engine revving wildly, to park in an emergency lane. I am astounded it would behave like this following what was later diagnosed as computer meltdown. I shudder to think what could have happened in heavier traffic, or worse if my wife or son had been driving! Have you heard of other such instances?

The voice of actor Morgan Freeman as "God" has topped a national poll of spoken satnav directions while Prime Minister Julia Gillard was the second-least favored behind Batman.The AAMI survey of their 45,000 Facebook followers also offered little support for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott who polled third-last, behind the PM. Other favourite voices were actors and former Broncos captain, gruff-voiced Darren Lockyer who tied with Hollywood star Christopher Walken.Wives, husbands and partners were among the least favoured for voice directions. AAMI also yesterday released a national Newspoll survey of more than 3000 drivers which found men most likely to listen to satnav directions.Spokesman Reuben Aitchison said 64 per cent of males used a GPS device to find their way as opposed to only 50 per cent of females. “In the past, the man was confident he could find his own way," he said."It was a point of honour, sometimes known as stubbornness. Their long-suffering wives and girlfriends, meanwhile, insisted on asking for directions, knowing full well it would have to happen eventually. “Now the wonders of modern technology have turned this time-honoured tussle on its head and brought peace to the front seat. At least as far as directions are concerned."The favourite voicesLeast favourite voices 

We've been drip-fed tidbits of the new Mazda 6, but a leaked image early today gave a clearer view, which was followed by Mazda releasing three official images.

Hot Wheels stunt drivers have set a new world record after completing a 360-degree huge double-loop.The stunt track was modelled as a giant version of the toy Hot Wheels Double Dare Snare track, and mounted as part of the X Games in Los Angeles on the weekend.The drivers of each car, rally racer Tanner Foust and Hollywood stuntman Greg Tracy completed the double-loop in tandem, reaching 85km/h and 7Gs: seven times the force of gravity, and around the same that jet fighter pilots experience.The pair -- racing as Team Green and Team Yellow -- trained for a year to complete the loop, which always held the risk of the drivers passing out from the gravity forces.The massive 18.2-metre high spiral track broke the previous record set last year by Chinese racer Li Yatao, who circled a Youngman Lotus L5 Sportback around a 12.8m loop in Shanghai, which was performed partly as a promo for for the Chinese-owned Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. 

At the time we tipped it as some sort of steering wheel remote control, and we may have been close to the mark. Apple overnight announced the new Eyes Free system at its World Wide Developers Conference, saying in the keynote speech it would be rolling out into car brands over the coming 12 months.Apple’s Eyes Free will integrate the tech giant’s Siri voice controls for iPhones and iPads into the ‘hands free’ button on steering wheels. Apple also announced it has added its own maps – with turn-by-turn navigation and crowd-sourced traffic information.The carmakers already signed up to introduce Eyes Free into their cabins include Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, BMW and Chrysler.GM has been announced as joining the band, despite there seeming to be a clear overlap with the functions of their own Onstar system.Ford is not on the list, and may not join as it’s been in constant development and expansion of its own Ford Sync system based on Microsoft – as is the Uvo system used overseas by Hyundai and Kia.We’re still hoping the patent sketch doesn’t represent the true size of the Siri button. With Apple’s winning formula of making every object easy to use, it’s hard to see how they would accept a design for something that could so easily hinder steering. 

Google’s street-mapping cars have been crawling all over the globe, but they come to a halt at some of the narrow streets in Europe. These centuries-old cobblestoned slots between the picture postcard buildings were originally designed to take foot and horse traffic – or the occasional slim carriage. Yes, they take car traffic – but it’s generally, small, careful and involves a bit of negotiating over who gets right of way. So the Google vehicles loaded with camera equipment had to give those streets a miss when doing their rounds. Toyota has come to the rescue to literally put them back on the Street View map – with the help of the public. Armed with the miniature Toyota iQ and a 360 degree camera, Toyota aims to fill in the cyber-gaps of Street View. This little car is small enough to fit down most of the world’s narrow streets that Google’s wide boy vehicles were not able to. With the project well underway – aptly named iQ Street View – a Google Street View-like website has been created. Users can see the areas mapped so far and help out by tagging streets and alleyways that have not yet been captured. While the aim is to provide the world with a more complete virtual map, snapping public areas (and the general public) can have unexpected results. Google’s cars have already collected a sizeable library of hilarious, puzzling and bizarre moments on the open roads. Just imagine what Toyota may unearth within the more secretive sections of our cities and suburbs. It’s great that Toyota has such concern for making sure Google’s map options are fully populated. Of course, cynics might say it’s just a not-so-subtle marketing promotion for their tiny city car.  But while they’re at it, could we get them to map the Bondi Junction Westfield maze and Melbourne’s behemoth Chadstone shopping centre. My sister’s been phoning from the latter for the past three years and would really like to find her way home.  

The lift comes as manufacturers offer sweeteners such as hefty discounts or free on-road costs in the end-of-financial-year sales war.

While in the U.S. firms such as Google are attempting to revolutionize mobility by doing away with the driver completely, over in Europe researchers are taking smaller steps towards making autonomous driving a reality. For the past couple of years we’ve been bringing you details about the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) initiative being conducted by Volvo and several other partners. As its name suggests, the initiative aims to provide vehicles with the ability to drive themselves in long road trains on highways. The technology has the potential to improve traffic flow and journey times, offer greater comfort to drivers, reduce accidents, and improve fuel consumption and hence lower CO2 emissions. After conducting its first real world test on a closed-off road back in January of 2011, the SARTRE system has now successfully completed its first test on a public road among other road users. The test fleet consisted of a lead truck being driven by a professional driver and three following vehicles consisting of a Volvo XC60 crossover, V60 wagon and S60 sedan. The fleet was driven successfully over a distance of 200 kilometres and at speeds in excess of 80km/h on a highway near Barcelona, Spain. Researchers found that while participants were initially uneasy about driving at highway speeds just several feet behind another vehicle and relying solely on technology, the participants acclimatized very quickly. While this test was used to determine how people would react to the cars being driven autonomously, both those in the SARTRE vehicles and other road users, the next phase will focus on analysis of fuel consumption. There’s still no word as to when the technology will be ready for the mainstream though the SARTRE project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Motor Authority  

Subaru and Volvo - the only two car makers offering a radar-based collision avoidance system - claim some insurance companies will chop about $150 off the annual premiums of owners of their cars. The cars include premium versions of Subaru Liberty and Outback models, and six Volvo models.The systems - called Eyesight by Subaru and City Safety by Volvo - fitted to both cars prevents forward contact with another object by autonomously applying the brakes and bring the car to a complete. It works at speeds below 30km/h though future Volvo models will increase this to 50km/h.The savings to insurance companies are huge. Big insurer NRMA says that low-speed rear-end accidents are the most common vehicle accident repair jobs and that 75 per cent of these occur at speeds less than 25km/h.NRMA's research director Robert McDonald says there are 50,000 rear-end accidents in NSW each year with an estimated damage bill and insurance cost of $200 million.That equates to about 200,000 accidents a year around Australia, costing about $800 million. "We are very confident that the technology will reduce the likelihood of the XC60 being involved in a collision,'' Mr McDonald says. "This is set to be reflected in our pricing, and we would estimate that the cost of an insurance premium for this vehicle will up to 20 per cent cheaper than it would be if it didn't have the technology.''HOW THEY WORKSubaru's Eyesight system uses a pair of cameras mounted at the top of the windscreen. It judges the distance to an object ahead and will stop the car if contact is imminent. It does this without any driver intervention.Eyesight's forward vision also warns when the car is straying from the lanes or to the road shoulder and monitors driver fatigue. Subaru Australia spokesman David Rowley says the Eyesight technology will soon flow down to less-expensive Subaru models.Volvo's City Safety has been available since 2009. While the Subaru uses cameras, the Volvo uses laser scanners. It will be upgraded to a 50km/h minimum in the near future. City Safety is standard in Volvo S60, V60, V70 , S80, XC60 and XC70 models and in the new V40 hatchback here early in 2013.The new Mercedes-Benz B-Class model is fitted with a system that judges an imminent collision by preparing the brakes but, unlike the Subaru and Volvo system, will not bring the car to a standstill unless optioned with the Distronic function.