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Radar For Safer Driving
KarmaOverDogma writes "The New York Times reports that in the next few years, auto manufacturers may look to use low powered phased-array radar in the back of cars, in combination with enhanced mirror displays, to help reduce accidents related to so-called 'blind-spots.' The system currently under devlopment is a result of a partnership between Valeo, an auto parts supplier, and Raytheon, a military contractor. They note that according to data from the NHTSA, In the last 10 years such (blind-spot) accidents led to 1.5 million injuries and caused more than $360 billion in damage in the United States alone. With an expected cost of around $500.00 (depending on the configuration), will this low-power radar system from the 1970's really help make driving safer?"
A slightly longer version of the article can be found here: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story /0,4386,233212,00.html
And here is the NYT Text for those of us who value privacy online:
Radar Brings Vision to Cars' Blind Spots By TIM MORAN
Published: February 2, 2004
Valeo Raytheon Systems A radar system that scans adjacent lanes and flashes a warning icon in the rearview mirror could reduce lane-change collisions. PHASED-ARRAY radar, a technology used by the military to guide missiles to their targets, is about to take on a civilian mission: alerting drivers to the presence of vehicles in the cars' "blind spots."
Miniaturized and drawing a small fraction of the power required to track targets like supersonic fighter jets, the automotive radar systems are designed to detect vehicles lurking in areas blocked from the driver's view. These so-called blind spots can be a result of improperly positioned rearview mirrors, structural necessities like the pillars that support the car's roof, or a cargo load that blocks the driver's line of sight.
Drivers often compensate for blind spots by turning their heads to glance out the side window. But there is a drawback to doing this when changing lanes or merging into the flow of freeway traffic - the driver's eyes and attention are diverted from the road ahead. And older drivers may have difficulty twisting to catch that quick glimpse.
Systems that electronically patrol the space around a vehicle are already available on some new models. Employing sonar, laser or radar technology, the devices detect unseen objects very close to the car or operate an advanced cruise control that maintains a set distance from the cars ahead, rather than simply enforcing a predetermined limit on vehicle speed.
The newly developed blind spot monitoring system, which required scaling down the military-type phased-array radar units to fit automobiles, could be in showrooms within a few years. Like the latest Doppler radar that tracks approaching storms, phased-array systems can determine the distance and closing rate of an approaching vehicle, and also add the capability to track its path continuously. The system was developed jointly by Valeo, an auto parts supplier, and Raytheon, a military contractor.
W. Scott Pyles, a business development manager at Valeo Raytheon Systems, the companies' joint venture, said his company's analysis of National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data indicated that some 300 people a year died in accidents caused by side-to-side collisions. In the last 10 years, such accidents led to 1.5 million injuries and caused more than $360 billion in damage, according to the data.
While that may be a small fraction of the 42,815 deaths reported in 2002, it is a fraction that has been mostly ignored - and one that could be reduced, Mr. Pyles said.
"All of the efforts have gone into solving the damage that occurs when a side impact happens, such as air bags, but nobody has done much to stop them from happening in the first place," he said.
Phased-array radar is an ideal foundation on which to build an early-warning system, as it is able to collect data rapidly and to track moving objects. With styling trends shifting toward higher beltlines - the lower edge of door windows seems to rise with every new design study unveiled on the auto show circuit, encroaching on the driver's view - the need for blind-spot detection devices would seem to be increasing.
Traditional radar systems broadcast high-frequency electromagnetic waves, determining the distance to an object's location by analyzing the echo reflected from the target. Rotating antennas, a common sight around airports, sweep the radar beam around the horizon to develop a 360-degree view, but the picture is updated only when an antenna completes another full revolution. Doppl
How many roads must a man walk down? 42.
Or you could just check your mirrors and then look over your shoulder before changing lanes like they teach you to do in freakin driver's ed!
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Don't we already have proximity sensors for that purpose?
I watch to much Star Trek. When I first read the blurb I thought it said "low power phaser array" and I thought "Man I gotta get me one of those."
It would really come in handy during rush hour though.
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
Only if it jams cell phones in the process...
I doubt this will fix the issue of drivers with a 360 degree blind spot...
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
I was driving a while back, I have a little area above the mirror to set stuff in, I put my sunglasses up there and noticed that with the convex shape of the glasses, I was able to see all around the back of the car, now granted that distances were obscured b/c of the odd shape, but what about a convex rear-view mirror, which would allow for greater visibility? Simple solution, no fancy electronics.
Yes, it will make it safer. Having a full power circular radar that locks and tracks all moving objects within 200 yd would make it safer still.
We have multiple technologies such as this that will make driving a car much safer... the most important thing is making them cheap enough to be affordable and practical on vehicles.
Davak
... so the US-only percentage is probably disproportionately bigger than it should be; in the rest of the world cars have small and narrow blind spots and you can usually see behind the vehicle just fine.
...Seeing as using headlights and turn signals are apparently optional in the State of Washington. Sorry to troll, but as an East-coast transplant here in rain city, I've been meaning to get that off my chest for a while.
In Soviet Russia, all our base are belong to you!
For this to help in any big way, it needs to come preinstalled in new cars. Even then, since, most people that have already bought/own cars may not be willing to get this extra feature, no matter how helpful it may be (see Navigation Systems), I wonder how many lives it will really save.
This reminds me of a previous story where they said something along the lines of, "Now drivers no longer have to worry about blind spots, and can concentrate on driving"... It was in regards to some detection system built into the light poles along side highways.
At what point does the driver get away with, well the beeper didn't sound, so I assumed there was no one beside me... I'm upset at how little people bother to actually pay attention when driving, and relying on some device to warn you if your manuever could potentially kill someone or be safe is just insane!
Maybe I'm old fashioned, and maybe it's the fact I ride a bike in traffic, but I'm sick and tired of people not paying attention while driving, and this is not going to help, it'll make them even lazier...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Yes of course an elimination of blind spots will reduce accidents. As long as the "data" is presented in an intelligent and non-distracting way to the driver.
This won't eliminate this type of accident as a lot of people don't even look before changing lanes. Not much you can do about that...
Though if the radar senses a vehicle to the side of you and is displaying to you that there is a vehicle to the side of you, it may include that data in the black box which may be used against you and label you as inattentive or wreckless.
the system alerts the driver by lighting a warning icon on the outside rearview mirror for that side of the vehicle.
I dunno. I actually think a lot of accidents are caused by lack of focus resulting in twisting and turning around too. Folks focused on the guy behind them not seeing that the car before them has its breaks on.
I've always been of the mind that a HUD is the way to go: not only for this collision information, but for things usually hidden behind the steering wheel (tac, speed, fuel). I think the integration of radio controls into the steering wheel is a great step in keeping people focused where all the kinetic energy of the car is going.
And, really, do you need to look at a rearview mirror if you have an icon before you saying "clear to left"?
What is music when you despise all sound?
I just wish people would use their goddamned side and rearview mirrors PROPERLY. If you set 'em up right, there ARE NO blindspots.
American drivers, as a rule, suck. One more reason I want to live in germany.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
if one of the things they taught in driving school was how to adjust your side mirrors properly.
Most people have their side mirrors adjusted so as to point back down the side of the vehicle, which is not very useful. If you adjust them to point into the next lane over, you can completely eliminate the blind spot. A good way to set this up is to put your head against the side window and adjust the left mirror so that the side of the car is just barely visible, then align your head with the centerline of the car and do the same with the right mirror. With a little tweaking, you should be able to track passing cars on either side from the inside mirror to the side mirror to the side window without ever losing sight of them.
How does the radar get your attention when it detects something?
A noise? How will I hear that over my radio? Think how the clicking of a turn signal can go unnoticed for miles.
A visual cue on the dash? But my head is turned looking for traffic, I won't see it. Again remember the blinking light of a turn signal.
Will this cause people to not look before changing lanes, etc? Will they become completly reliant on the technology? Is that neccesarily a bad thing?
One thing though, at $500 it's much cheaper than that rear looking camera that some new luxury cars have. And for those cameras to work you have to be looking at the little screen not behind you, or in front of you, or out the side window. Doesn't seem to help the situation there.
Devil Ducky
MY peers would get out of jury duty.
Perhaps the effort would be better spend on:
1) Proper driver education - skills and attitude
2) Proper enforcement of driving laws
3) Banning repeat offenders from driving - with jail for recalictrant people.
Bottom line - quite a few people lack the necessary motor skills, intelligence, and attitude to be allowed on the road.
What would make driving safer would be to require better qualifications and a different license class for 5'1" women to drive 12,000 pound, 20-foot trucks in parking lots designed for sedans and hatchbacks.
What would make driving safer would be to require better qualifications and a different license class for 5'1" women to drive trucks with 400 horsepower engines which are utilized primarily to travel the two blocks from the bank to the grocery store at 75MPH, tailgating everyone else on the road all the way.
That would be a start. Yeah, the radar might help too, but then again, perhaps there wouldn't be a ten-yard wide blind spot if a) the windows weren't five feet off the ground and b) if a more sensible vehicle size could be offered, like say, five tons instead of six.
Just a thought.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
Now, if they could set it up to be active only under certain situations, that would be good. I'd say, for starters, that it should be active whenever:
- You're in reverse
- You have your turn signal on
- You start to turn more than lane-centering at 30mph or more
- You're slower than 30mph
But I'd be pretty annoyed at seeing lights flick on and off during normal highway driving. Maybe make it switchable - always/sometimes/never - as well.You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
In Japan, the side mirrors on not mounted by the doors, but by the headlights. This change of angle gets rid of the blindspot. Is it ugly? A little, but it works well.
I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress -J Adams
...and tied into the speedometer. I'd love something that made an alert tone when the car got too close to the vehicle in front (distance determined by speed, of course). Folks over here drive too close to each other at 80mph, it's no wonder that we have so many fender-benders in the fast lane of I-95.
Back in the 70's (IIRC) there was a big stink about whether or not the US could deploy phased-array radar (PAR) to track incoming ICBMs from the USSR. There were all kinds of radar then, but the phased-array kind was considered destabilizing at a time when MAD was still the dominant military paradym. That is because PAR could accurately track thousands of targets, giving the targeted country an advantage that might cause them to actually strike first in the assumption that they could track and take out the retaliatory counter-strike.
My oh my, but things were spooky back then. A good defense was considered a military advantage and harbinger of doom.
I guess the Cold War really is over. Now you can have PAR in the back on your Beemer to track incoming Hondas. OK, so maybe this is still about first-strike initiatives and counter-attack defense. I won't be worried until the Beemers and H2s start to carry surface-to-surface missles.
On a side note, "radar" used to be "RADAR" and was an acronym for something like "Radio Detection and Ranging". Funny how we co-opt technical terms and acronyms into the vernacular.
=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
Yeah, but they won't.
As a motorcycle rider, I'd welcome anything that clues lazy drivers in to my whereabouts (if the raging engine and the bright light isn't enough of a hint).
Some stupid fucks refuse to acknowledge my existence when I'm right beside the driver's window.. they need all the help they can get.
Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
I always thought this technology would be great. But forget about displaying a warning on the rear-view mirror. It would be cool if it was hooked up to a HUD on the front windshield. So if someone is next to you, that side of your front windshield (only an inch or two) would be tinted/glowing red (transparent of course).
Sure, it helps when changing lanes, but also when a ladder falls off of the truck in front of you and you have to make a spit second decision (no time to look up at your review) you can just turn away from the 'red'.
And if both sides are read, just hit the brakes and hope for the best...
any auto parts store, hell even walmart or target, will sell little convex mirrors with adhesive on the back to stick on your mirrors. I have one and it works great, no blind spot... Once you get used to it you don't even have to turn your head to change lanes. Radar my ass....
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
The other 50% of the time, it's the driver in another car who should be looking over his shoulder, and you have no way of compelling him to drive responsibly.
And in fact, if this is designed correctly (which I'm skeptical about: for one thing the little light should be on when it's safe to merge rather than off, so you aren't lured into a false sense of security if it burns out) it could be helpful for responsible drivers, too. I know I certainly hate turning my head to look backwards while I'm driving forwards at 65mph. A system that tracked relative speeds could be better than my eyes in other ways, too; more than once I've had to swerve to avoid an accident because someone two lanes over decided they wanted to change lanes in my direction at the same time I tried to change lanes in theirs, and a quick glance to the side wasn't enough to tell that they had started moving towards me.
With their radar emissions I'll finally be able to take out obnoxious drivers using my handy-dandy roof rack mounted HARM missiles.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
will this low-power radar system from the 1970's really help make driving safer?
Phased arrays are still state of the art for military radar targeting systems. They are unbelievably complicated systems when designed for highspeed target tracking and I'm sure whatever was used in the 70's doesn't even compare to what is used today. While modern naval warfare systems are not going to be employed in a car, I really doubt the tech implemented will totally lack the advances made since in the last >3 decades. This will be a damn cool gadget from a pure geek perspective.
Like most tools, the effectiveness will depend on the user. Side view mirrors are highly effective, but in my experience most drivers have no idea how to use them correctly (using them to view the side of their vehicle rather than expanding the rear view provided by the center mirror).
If you watch motorcyclists, they perform a shoulder check, a quick glance over their shoulder to check their blind spot before they make a maneuver. It's called a lifesaver because that's exactly what it does. It's saved my life several times.
Most car drivers on the other hand are lazy, blind, incompetent morons who are safe in the knowledge that they have 2 tonnes of steel safety cage surrounding them, being completely safe they don't need to check their blind spots, too much like hard work. Radar will only increase the *impression* of safety and will otherwise be utterly irrelevant.
What's needed are 5 year re-testable licenses like those the HGV drivers have to pass every few years.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
How about... Putting the radar in the FRONT of the car, have a really annoying siren that goes off when the car is going over 50 MPH, and within 3 feet of someone else's rear bumper. The siren would be accompanied by a cell phone jamming signal, and the TV and radio would automatically go off as well. Additionally for the larger cars, a bulkhead would go up between the driver and the rear seats.
This contraption would be mandatory for all trucks, SUVs, souped-up Japanese compacts, and Volvos.
That would cause accidents to drop by about 90% in my estimation.
Generally, it has been shown that even while a person is visiually occupied (looking and focusing at the road ahead), their sense of direction a sound came from is left unobstructed.
If this radar system could be projected as 3d sound (think Aureal's 3D sound system), then it may be a workable solution so that drivers can sense where obstructions are around them.
Safer?
What you and different "safety proponent" are saying is essentially "We can compensate better for the population's lack of skill and attention".
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
So, what if some bonehead parks a stealth bomber in the middle of the road?
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
I know they teach this in the BMW driving schools. At my first event, I remember seeing one guy adjusting his by having a buddy stand behind his car, and move from right to left. The guy in the driver's seat would adjust his mirrors so that when the guy behind appeared on the left edge of the rearview mirror, he also appeared on the right edge of the left side mirror. (and the opposite for the right side mirror)
When you are on the track, you don't have time to look over your shoulder. Some guys also have long, stair-step like mirrors as a rearview mirror, so they can see to the entire rear and side of the car at a glance.
BTW, performance driving schools are a friggin blast! And don't believe all the ancient "yuppie" talk you hear about BMW drivers, the guys who take them to driving schools, SCCA, and races are hardcore serious about it. And it isn't just crazy fun, they teach you how to properly handle the car, be safe about it. I took my 88 M3 to a driving school with a Porsche club, and there was little instruction and seemed much more dangerous. But there is nothing like passing a $90,000 911. :-)
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Well, what is wrong with being from the 70's? A lot of good technologies are from the 70's!
Heck, I'm from the 70's :))
- no sig.
In that light, I expect that in many cases, a system like this will simply cause drivers to pay less attention to the road around them, supposedly safe in the knowledge that the new-fangled system will keep them out of trouble. Which it might do in many cases; but all? And meanwhile, people are learning the lesson that safety is the car's responsibility, and not theirs...
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
As "safer driving."
Only faster, more insane driving.
That's the way it always works. Make the lanes wider, and drivers speed up. Smooth out the hairpin curves, and drivers speed up. Install anti-lock brakes on most of the fleet, and drivers don't slow down for the rain any more. Put in better headlights, and drivers drive full-speed at night. People in general don't perceive driving as a dangerous activity (even though it's easily the most dangerous activity the average USian does on a regular basis) so they always go as fast as their comfort level - as opposed to their true safety level - allows.
And a traffic-following radar will just mean that the cell-phone using right-lane passer doing 85 in his Escalade won't feel obliged to lift his right foot ever again.
Don't mix speed with the problem.
h tml
There would not be a need to "change lanes like crazy" if it wouldn't be for the selfish idiots who block faster lanes.
The reason for safety and ORDUNG on German Autobahns is the lane discipline and cortesy that is drilled into their drivers. The road for them is the way of transportation and not the way of demonstrating their ego.
Further reading: http://www.motorists.org/ericpeters/skillvsspeed.
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
In cities like Dallas, where average traffic speed on the freeway can be 75mph, looking over your shoulder can cost you dearly.
It's almost a given that when you turn your head to look over your shoulder, the car in front of you will brake. By the time you look back, you probably don't have time to stop. Turning your head, refocusing, etc., takes way too much time at speed on a busy freeway.
You're safer speeding up a bit and moving into an open spot (or creating one) in the next lane.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
If you leave a reasonable gap between you and the car in front of you, someone will slip in and fill that space.
If you fall back to leave a gap between you and the new lead car, someone else will come fill that space.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
"The system assumes that if you've come up from behind a vehicle, the driver has seen it and is aware," Mr. Schwyn said.
I disagree completely. The car which you've just come up from behind and are now passing is exactly the same car you are about to side-swipe as you aggressively cut them off.
Plus, the real issue here is attention span. If everyone paid great attention while driving, we wouldn't need fancy radar systems to protect us. But everyone is not paying attention, therefore it is unsafe to assume that a driver remembers the car behind which they drove up mere moments before.
I wish they would teach stopping distances this side of the Atlantic. Doing 140km/h with only a car legnth between you and the one in front is just asking for trouble. In fact, not just stopping distance, but thinking distance too - if there's something in the road and you're tailgating, you don't even have time to react from the point it appears behind the vehicle in front and you running in to it.
Examples being a friend who hit a 2x4 at 140kph and had it shred one of his performance tyres and crack an expensive three spoke rim - if he'd been half a second or further back from the vehicle in front he might have been able to avoid it. The same guy also had his expensive custom bottom-grill and imported fog lights smashed by a road works bollard laying in the middle of the highway - he didn't have time to react from the point when the car in front swerved around it to the point where he hit it. Stupid. He'd be better off both financially and stressfully if he just backed off a bit. I've been known to speed myself, but I do not follow closely. On a certain 220 km journey in medium to heavy traffic (speeds from 40 to 150 kph), he would typically only get there 5 mins (10 if he's lucky) before me - was really worth it?
- and it's called "Il Tempo Gigante"
Some photosof its making and introduction.
there is no spoon
I like gadgets, i think they help. But they are no replacement for common sense. Use a mirror, pay attention, don't eat, hang up that cell phone, put down your book, Close your DVD player, turn down your radio, tell your girlfriend to wait till you get home. I bought some $1 fish eye mirrors to put on my mirror...works pretty good... and will continue to work until I get my spider sense.
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
NHTSA data also say that drunk driving accidents kill 17,000 people per year, cause 513,000 injuries per year, and cost $114 billion per year. NHTSA
A $500 gadget that prevents a drunk driver from starting the car would have far better bang for the buck.
With the ban on radar-detectors around here, the market is open to a new gadget that protects drivers from traps, and saves a few cyclists and pedestrians in the process :)
Tips from an old rider :
:
:
Don't ride next to cars.
Don't ride in a car's blind spot.
Don't tailgate.
For damn sure don't ride next or or in the blind spot of a bus or big rig.
If somebody wants past you, let them.
83 quadrillion miles of roads on the planet, most of which don't have a car in either direction for half a mile. In a pack of cars? Speed up or slow down until you are pretty much by yourself. Most of the time cars travel in herds, with lots of space between them. Get in that open space, and enjoy the ride.
Other tips
Helmets suck. Wear it anyways.
Leather jacket and leather boots.
Denim pants.
No shorts or short sleeves or tank tops.
There is nothing out there that you can safely hit on a motorcycle and win. In Darwin's terms, you lose 100% of the accidents you participate in on a motorcycle.
If you tailgate someone, you deserve whatever you get. If you tailgate me (when I am in my car) you will soon participate in the challenge of your reflexes and ability to keep your bike upright in a panic stop vs. my ABS and back bumper. And you will probably lose.
More tips
Girls care less what kind of car a guy drives, but somehow can't resist a guy on a bike. Keep riding, it gets you laid.
You can probably outrun most city cops on your bike, but I don't suggest it. I double don't suggest it unless you have a full tank of gas. If they catch you after you run, they will beat you.
Don't drink and drive until you have at least 2 years and 25,000 miles of motorcycle riding. If you have ridden 25,000 miles on the same bike over the course of 2-3 years, feel free (riding the bike has become instinctual and muscle memory makes the bike an extension of your body and is about as safe as walking. If you can't walk, don't ride.)
If you know a dog is going to chase you in traffic, try and time it so he gets hit by a nearby car.
If you are an hour from home and it got surprisingly cold, buy a newspaper and stuff crumpled sheets into your jacket and pants. If it is really, really cold, luckily you are wearing the leather jacket and jeans I recommended.
Final tip : Going on an hour long ride? Get a steak, season it, put it in two layers of that really really good aluminum foil. Crimp the edges all the way around to insure nothing leaks out. Put it on your engine, secure so it doesnt flop around. Most bike engines run about 180-200 degrees on the outside of the block, test it with a meat thermometer. Plug in the temperature into a cookbook to see how long you should go before stopping to eat it. If you time it just right you will find a rest stop and while everybody else is eating vending machine food you are wolfing down a killer steak.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Wanna get rid of the blind spot? Make driving whilst using a cell phone illegal. I swear to god, the number of times I've been almost run-down by some bozo driver spacing out and not looking at the blind spot right in front of their car whilst talking on a cell phone. Well. I can't tell you, but it's a lot. And hands-free phones don't cut it either. It's not the hands that need to pay attention. It's the driver.
"will this low-power radar system from the 1970's really help make driving safer?"
The reason this is being investigated now is that 24GHz and 77GHz systems are now feasible at a reasonable costs. Therefore, a phased-array antenna is small enough to put in a car bumper.
Vote for Pedro