Will having cars that think for us be a help
or a hindrance?
Image: iStockphoto
In the not-too-distant future, your car will be able to monitor your speed and factors such as weather and road conditions. After taking into account prevailing traffic conditions, it may suggest the ‘greenest’ route … which won’t always be the shortest one.
When low on fuel it will identify where the nearest petrol stations are, which one has the lowest price that day and which ones are offering loyalty program bonuses.
According to Jun Han, professor of software engineering at Swinburne, these scenarios are examples of how future motor vehicles may incorporate so-called ‘context aware’ systems, through which the range of applications will be limited only by imagination.
Han leads a team of automotive IT researchers under the auspices of Australia’s Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology. In the ongoing push to improve road safety and vehicle efficiency, and ease the stress of driving, they are exploring new ways in which intelligent cars can communicate with each other.
Through ‘talking’ to road infrastructure and other vehicles and via wireless connections to the internet, cars can be fed real-time information about road and traffic conditions. The cars automatically take this information into account to minimise emissions, increase safety and enhance the driving experience.
Han envisages intelligent systems within vehicles that would see automated interaction not only between drivers and the road infrastructure, but between cars, trains, trams, buses, trucks and even systems managing pedestrians.
“This would lead to greater transport efficiency and safety, while at the same time reduce vehicle emissions on a city-wide basis,” he said. “You could optimise traffic carbon dioxide emissions by investigating what-if scenarios for traffic management.”
However, Han said one of the critical challenges for the technology is to also make it as ‘distraction free’ as possible, given concerns about the safety of using devices such as mobile phones, GPS guidance units and DVD players while driving.
“Any such system must significantly reduce driver distraction while delivering automated driver assistance,” Han said. “This means the system needs to run independently of the driver and only communicate information when necessary.”
Vehicle systems involving limited infrastructure information are already being trialled in some new, high-end cars, but Han said they are far from reaching the level of sophistication that the researchers are proposing.
“However, we have prototype systems running that we can show to manufacturers or vehicle system providers,” he said.
Editor's Note: A story provided by Swinburne University of Technology.
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