Souped Up Mods for a Souped Up Vehicle?

carambola5 asks: "Because we all know the world needs more inattentive drivers... I am a member of the champion UW-Madison FutureTruck team, which was the subject of this Slashdot report from June. Well, we're gearing up for next year and I'm on the sub-group that puts in all the cool interior stuff. Besides the Clarion joyride unit already in there, we're looking for other ideas (for example: a CF card that could act as both a key and remote access device for use in a handheld). What kind of little toys would you want in a car?"

Comments

I want...

[hitzroth]

a full-featured car I can fold up and carry away in my pocket -- or briefcase a la Jetsons -- so I won't have to worry about finding a place to park.

Smart-Card or CF Card

[man_ls]

I like that idea very much. A CF-card that contains a file, encrypted of course, that is read by the engine computer and enables a "start" button on the dash.

More high-tech than a key, and probably more secure too.

Re:Smart-Card or CF Card

[hitzroth]

Mercedes does something very like this. A little key-fob like thing that opens door locks, lets you start the car etc. Since you can stuff a lot of data on a CF card of reasonable size, why not have it carry all kinds of electronic data. Say, chair and mirror position, radio presets, destinations for the GPS... Or just use a smart-card to do the simple function of unlocking the car and activating settings. Or even integrate it into the key like GM did with that resistor security thing a few years back.

The other big thing I want (besides the parking solution in my other post -- which I solve by taking the bus) is an auto-pilot function. I know it's already being worked on but being able to plug a destination into my GPS dohickey and sit back and relax until I get where I want to go, and to be able to do it whenever I want would be great.

I've heard civil engineer friends say that traffic jams and slowdowns happen even when a road is at a quarter of its capacity. It seems to me this is because people generally aren't very good drivers (me, too; that's another reason I take the bus) and panic at things that wouldn't be a threat to a better trained driver. If we can't get better trainded drivers, how 'bout better behaved cars?

Re:Smart-Card or CF Card

[man_ls]

It's already being developed--intelligent cruise control that can adjust your cruise speed to match that of a car in front of you, colission detection systems for backing up and getting in/out of tight spots, etc. These things + GPS would give an engine computer total control over your car's engine. A couple servos for the steering wheel, and you've got a computer that can drive the car.

What you don't have is a car that can respond to traffic control devices (stop lights/signs, emergency personel, toll booths) because it wouldn't have any idea they existed. Until such devices transmit GPS coordinates of themselves, and instructions, in some standardized form, autodrive simply won't work.

The technology for a self-piloting car exists, but a self-driving car is a little ways off. Doable, yes. Feasible, no.

Re:Smart-Card or CF Card

[mosch]

the intelligent cruise control isn't just being developed, it's already available in the high-end Mercedes models.

How about an integrated spell checker?

[zero_offset]

http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~vehicle/futuretruck.htm

Subarban?!

These are college students?

Re:How about an integrated spell checker?

[carambola5]

These are college students?

Yeah, we're college students. But we're also engineers who spend a lot more time working on a truck than a website. (emphasis on the "engineers" part) No English majors in the garage, I'll tell you that.

Direction Finder

[grent246]

I want a device to track my car down when I cant remember where I parked it in a large parking complex. Possibly a gps location sent to mobile phone though that relies on owner carrying an accurate GPS and phone. In my ideal world it would be a small device which triggers an ultrasonic or other beacon. The device can then act like a compass and points towards the car.

Re:Direction Finder

[Cyberdyne]

I want a device to track my car down when I cant remember where I parked it in a large parking complex. Possibly a gps location sent to mobile phone though that relies on owner carrying an accurate GPS and phone. In my ideal world it would be a small device which triggers an ultrasonic or other beacon. The device can then act like a compass and points towards the car.

OnStar does something similar; if you forget where your car is parked, you can call OnStar and they'll make the lights flash or sound the horn, as well as unlocking the car remotely (great if you lock yourself out!)

It's not quite on the same level as Bond's car (anyone remember his remote-control BMW?!) but still pretty neat, IMHO...

A Gravel Cannon for Tailgaters

[SN74S181]

I remember reading a few years back in a tech journal column about a guy who had installed a 'gravel cannon' in the trunk of his car. All it would do is spill out a little bit of gravel under driver control when someone was tailgating him. I've often thought such a feature would be a good thing, if done in such a way that it could seem like regular gravel off the road spraying upward. Just a rock or two. Voila. We'd all know who the obnoxious tailgaters were by their chipped windshield.

An alternative would be a brake fluid squirter. It would just spray out little droplets of brake fluid once in awhile. Hey, brake fluid is an ordinary hazard of the road (also, it dissolves paint on cars) and if tailgaiters end up having the shittiest paint job on the road, that's their problem. Various other ordinary automotive fluids could be dispersed as well. Key is for it to be something that's ordinarily in the car. Acetone wouldn't seem innocent enough.

Re:A Gravel Cannon for Tailgaters

[wiretrip]

I always thought that one of those LED message boards (as seen in shops etc.) and a proximity sensor whould make a fine tailgater-scarer. You could get it to flash up 'Police - Stop' or something if they got too close (better switch it off if being followed by real police though). Actually you could get it to display any choice message you felt like.
The same idea could be used to fire up the brake/hazard lights instead. (We aren't allowed cannons/guns in the UK). :-)

Re:A Gravel Cannon for Tailgaters

[shumacher]

While the gravel would work, I'd like to encourage you to spray brake fluid out the back of your moving car. I think it would only do good for you...

On another note, ever notice how much oil residue is stuck to the back of smoking beaters? You'd think that an exhaust pipe firing oily air out the back of the car wouldn't stick to the car itself. Moving vehicles have a low pressure area behind them, so air tends to sit behind the car and swirl around. Wagons and hatchbacks are worst, but many sedans do this as well. Same goes for vans and suvs. Next time you're on the highway in the rain, look at cars going the other way and you'll be able to see the mist of rain water swirling about behind the car.

HAN

[Perdo]

Create a Highway Area Network. Not only should individual vehicles be smart enough to drive themselves, they should communicate and cooperate with each other to get everyone where they need to go as safely as possible. Just as a train is linked by physical means, vehicles should link wirelessly to achieve the same end - bumper to bumper at 100 mph, but safely.

Exactly what human nature cannot do for itself.

Driving is a repetitive, monotonous task. That is exactly what computers are good at.
.

ideas in the making

[carambola5]

Seeing as I didn't have much room to put all our current ideas in the submission, here's what's been thought up so far:

• Automated Distance Closure Braking System: Basically, if something's coming close at either sudden acceleration or high velocity, the braking system will automatically engage.
• CF Ignition: Not only could the car start up via CF card, but other features could be included. ie: Driving style data logged to the card for future use (mashing the gas pedal/seat position/etc); Remote access via PDA that would allow GPS locating or remote starting. Privacy concerns with this would require that only the last person who used the car could do this.
• Heads up display: Cool stuff. Nuff said.

That last one was suggested to me after I posted and hasn't really been brought up with the other guys yet. Anything else you'd like to see in this prototype? I mean, if we build it, there's an outside chance it'll be implemented in most cars in the future.

Re:ideas in the making

[Wolfier]

>Automated Distance Closure Braking System:
>Basically, if something's coming close at
>either sudden acceleration or high velocity,
>the braking system will automatically engage.

and possibly kills you...if YOU are in control, are you going to brake? I'm not sure I'll do it all the time.

important decisions like this should be handled by the driver instead of the car.

Re:ideas in the making

[carambola5]

This technology is made purely as an aid. We aren't suggesting people stop paying attention. Also, just because the brakes are being automatically engaged, doesn't mean the driver can't further engage them. In fact, that's what would probably happen every time the system kicks in.

Re:ideas in the making

[Wolfier]

>just because the brakes are being automatically
>engaged, doesn't mean the driver can't further
>engage them

This is not the issue.

The real question is: when the system decides to automatically engage the brake, can the driver _override_ the decision and say "NO"? Applying the brakes at the wrong moment can kill too.

Re:But it's still an SUV

[carambola5]

True, but that's what the competition is: FutureTruck. In the mid- to late-90's, we were in the FutureCar competition, but the organizers of that event decided to go with SUVs one of the years. I wouldn't complain, though. Half the new automobiles purchased in the US are SUVs, and we can't force people to stop buying them. The best we can do is make the cars they buy better.

A moving map monitor for passengers

[faster]

No more "are we there yet?"

Driving is not monotonus!

[Anonymous Coward]

Driving is a repetitive, monotonous task.

BBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Wrong.

Only if you drive on a boring freeway.
Try driving on the back roads

Better still take the windshild out of your car

You want a better driving experiance.... become a biker, dont fill your car with distracting toys.

Any computerised crap in a car such as automatic speed limiters etc just take responsability away from the driver and encourage them to fall asleep more. Driving properly is demanding. Not monotonous

Re:Driving is not monotonus!

[Perdo]

A robotic car was driven from california to new york. 99% of the trip, the computer was in control, including navigation.

The human driver had to deal with gas stations only.

Startup sequence

[cpuffer_hammer]

Much of the ware on the power train comes during and because of startup. I would like the car to start pumping oil and coolant before the engine is started. I would also like a forced warmup.

You would press start and the oil pump would start as well as other subsystems. When the oil and coolant are moving and in place (as well as worm if you live in a cold climate and have oil and coolant heaters) then the engine would start. Once the engine was wormed up you would then be cleared to drive.

THIS COULD BE OVERRIDDEN for an emergency start button in the glove box.

This would increase the lifespan of the car's engine and could be extended to things like setting up the radio, mirrors, seat and other comfort and safety items as well.

Re:Startup sequence

[adolf]

If you're so worried about such things, why not have a block heater installed on your engine?

Just plug it in when you park for the night. When you start it in the morning, things are already nice and warm - just turn the key and start it up.

It also reduces/eliminates the time it takes to warm up the coolant enough to produce heat inside the cabin in the wintertime.

And it won't kill your car battery. The last thing I need on a -30F morning, as I'm trying to start the car before I get out and begin laboriously clearing ice and snow from the roof, windows, and hood, is for the car to do me the favor of automatically removing some of the battery's preciously-limited current reserve to push some oil/sludge around, before I even get a chance to start it.

Yep, I turn the radio off and avoid the rear defroster, too, on such days until I'm sure that the car is going to live unaided.

(and before you say anything: the car currently has 123,000 hard miles on it, and continues to run strong with minimal maintenance, free any problems with any portion of the drivetrain. If it causes some small amount of harm for the few seconds before the important parts warm up enough to function, I guess I don't care much.)

Forced warmup...

[Andy Dodd]

While this is somewhat different than what you describe...

Most cars have a "heater door" in the intake airbox that is temperature-controlled. If the intake air temperature is below a certain point, the door opens up, recycling warmer air that has been heated by the engine rather than using cold intake air.

This allows the car to warm up MUCH more quickly. (At the expense of performanc - Cold air is denser than warm air, which means more air mass can be fit into the cylinders.)

As to oil flow - The engine is filled with oil, what more can you ask for as long as it's circulating while the engine is running? Oil filters and other parts of the oil system have check valves to prevent the engine parts from draining out their oil when the car is turned off. The system you propose is just a crutch for people who can't properly maintain their car. (i.e. change the oil filter, which contains the primary check valve, often enough)

Of course, the fact that this is an HEV system makes most of your comments relatively irrelevant.

Keg taps

[(trb001)]

...but I'd settle for it dispensing soda.

--trb

Dream option

[stinkydog]

I have always wanted a automated roof turrent with a flame thrower and a couple of 50cal machine guns. Add buttons to the steering wheel and a Blue Thunder style eyetracking system and we are all set. This would actually give the oppurtunity to eliminate distrations.

SD

Wish list

[mosch]

In addition to wanting more legroom (I'm 6'5"), I'd like to see tivo-esque functionality in my radio, and a way to snag mp3s off my home network wirelessly from my garage... Better GPS systems, that integrate with local traffic forecasts would be very sweet.

Other than that, most of the things I'd like (driver adjustable suspension and engine tuning, clutch superchargers and distance-based cruise control come to mind) already exist, just not in anything I drive.

Re:Wish list

[adolf]

You don't need GPS to get local traffic forecasts. You only need radio stations (particularly all of Clear Channel) to start broadcasting RDS streams which take advantage of the system's features, and a radio that knows how to listen to them - modern, mid-range-and-up Blaupunkt units work fine.

Just tell the radio that you want to hear the weather, or the news, or traffic, or whatever. When such a program as you desire is being broadcast, the radio will automagically switch frequencies for the duration, and then resume doing whatever it was doing before.

This exists now - and the end-user hardware is increasingly in place by default. All it needs to work is a network of radio stations that actually fucking use it.

Other nice things about RDS: In the mountains, the radio will flip-flop between self-discovered simucast frequencies as dictated by receiving conditions, keeping the signal strong. It'll seek out a "Rock" station, or a "Classical" statioon, or "Country" or "Top 40" or whatever you ask, upon command - useful when travelling in unfamiliar areas. It will also identify the format of any RDS-compatible station it is tuned to, so you can have an idea of what 103.5FM plays even if you've never heard it before and they're on a commercial break.

It all goes back to letting you keep your eyes on the road, and can serve well to automate most of the things people do with their radio.

Including setting the clock by itself. :)

heads up dsiplay

[cpex]

I know I saw something back in the early 90's on a show called 2000 or something like that a car that used radar to track cars and on a heads up display it would draw a box around the car and outline the lanes on the road for foggy or other hazardous driving conditions. Combine that with your speed, rpm, temperature (engine, outside, iinside) maybe a translucent rearview image, translucent map with driving directions(GPS) let you choose a few engine sensor to display with all controls on the sterring wheel (imagine saying hey I think I want to tweak my air fuel ratio beep-beep. Of course you hsould be able to turn all these off and on at will so you can choose exactly what you want displayed on your HUD at any time

i was really bored at work so i did a quick workup in ps what is could be like here

Re:heads up dsiplay

[carambola5]

Thanks, if i hadn't added to this thread, i would have modded you up. I'll be taking this picture to our meeting today. Damn, that's cool.

Re:an OFF button

[Kredal]

Ascetic fools? I always thought he said "Pathetic fools"...

Re:Multi-Function Displays

[carambola5]

actually, it does run on biodiesel. Last year it used B50. We'll be dyno testing it with B50 and B37 at Ford's testing center in a few weeks.