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Ford Demonstrates Networked Cars
An anonymous reader writes "Ford is touring U.S. cities demonstrating a technology that appears to closely resemble a private dynamic network among multiple cars. The cars connect to each other via short-range Wi-Fi (which actually has a reach of half a mile) and enables vehicles to exchange location and movement data. Being aware of each other's location and movement direction enables them to help drivers avoid collisions, especially in situations where obstacles cannot be identified fast enough. The technology could be available for consumers as soon as 2013."
Not only that, but you'll be aware of the people spoofing police in order to get everyone else out of their way.
Will we be able to use this to be aware of police within a half mile radius?
No, but they will probably be aware of you and your data (including speed and how far you've travel over the last X minutes).
Avoid collisions becomes "create collisions"??
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
That management center would then help you avoid a traffic jam by sending traffic information to your car via a cellular signal. However, such a system is even further out in the future and it is unclear who would even pay for the technology. Consider the fact that Ford says that the combined technology could reduce gasoline consumption by 4 billion gallons a year, which could cost the government upwards of $1 billion in tax revenue. Would or could the government pay for such a system? I doubt it.
Odd reasoning. For one thing, GPS systems already can do this. For another, "Could the government pay" for the tax cut? Since we're talking about politics, that doesn't make sense. Taxes get cut if the politicians can sell it, not because of silly things like numbers, or because tax revenue is higher than spending.
Silly journalists...
Avoiding traffic jams and saving money is is great! But how about creating convoys for long drives? IT would be nice to hook up to a network of cars going from City A to City B and go driverless and maybe be able to drag - yeah, I know the lead car will take a huge hit in miles/km per gallon/liter but still, you see where I'm going.
Good grief, along I-20 from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach could use that during the Summer - or even Birmingham to Myrtle Beach!
range may be to long
and overload
on the wifi
on the cpu
on the software.
may happen in a area with a lot of cars
also how will older non wifi cars work with the new wifi ones.
Faking a policy identity will probably be highly illegal if policy do have a unique identifier they could broadcast. Just like even having possession of a box that can change a red stoplight to be green is illegal. Or maybe it would be considered impersonating an officer, which is probably worse if you get caught.
Its not what it is, its something else.
I'd be very interested to see this used for some kind of mesh networking. I suspect it'd be way cheaper to equip every car on the road with some kind of repeater, than it would be to build out a nationwide set of cell towers. Assuming they could address the security (some kind of encrypted tunnelling, maybe), it could be a way for a smaller operator to get into the ISP business.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
Yes, please, lets immediately start worrying about boogeymen. The only thing keeping you safe from becoming the victim of a mob hit is the fact that they can't find you on their wifi card.
[/s] You're approximately a million billion bajillion times more likely to die in a random traffic accident than at the hands of hitmen unless you are a mob boss. Maybe avoid naming your car's wifi network things like "witnessprotectionprogram."
Personally I'm not in favor of dinosaur cars, BUT I did have a friend at work ask where he could get a car that had bench seats in the front like his old Crown Vic. I didn't understand why someone would go out of their way to have bad seats. He went and found a nice used one and was happy.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
exploit what? I guess a hacker could send out a false signal, giving bad information to the cars on the road.
As long as there is not a uniquely identifiable value for your car that is persistent from day to day, I do not see a problem with knowing if a car a half mile ahead is stopped and what direction that traffic ripple is going.
If the data is scrubbed and not executable and the security system of the car is not tied to this network, then there is not really any exploitability
Because there is now way 'they' can track your CC purchases every couple of hours.
I could imagine a hacker driving a car that would just make all the others he just swooped by to crash somewhere.
Worst Bruce Almighty ever.
Make sure you install a HOSTS file, then the police won't ever be able to install malware in your car!!!
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
So any laptop with an ir port is now illegal?
Or only if I install software that lets me send arbitrary ir signals?
Or only if I Install software that sends that signal?
Where is the line?
The heck with hacking, does this mean we're going to equip deer with WiFi, and fine children who ride near the street on tricycles that aren't equipped?
Cooperative communication can be used for things like platooning and adaptive cruise control, but it has to be augmented by enough situational awareness to understand what's happening without cooperation. So the "safety" thing doesn't make any sense to me: If you're depending on inter-vehicle communication for safety, all it takes is an unequipped roadway participant, or a failed transceiver, to create a dangerous situation.
Naturally aspirated, live axle, made of outdated materials, and only came in automatic transmission, do you hate driving? Or just really like driving only in straight lines?
In 2003 it at least got a 1970s state of the art suspension.
Why are we waiting for Ford to build these kinds of systems?
What do you need? A radio? A computer? A display?
Sounds like an android app. Then I can use it in any car.
For every good idea.( forcing disparate government agencies to actually talk to each other) you get really bad side effects(DHS, TSA, unlimited wiretaps, etc)
If you look not at what you want the law to do, but instead look at how can it be exploited for/profit, personal gain, etc then you can adjust the law to be reasonable.
It is why it is never done.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
The moment the Police have that the criminals will too. At least car jacking will now be convenient for the criminals I guess
The one thing I worry about is people becoming reliant on the technology to warn them of danger and becoming less observant. Sort of like when my brother couldn't figure out which way was West until the GPS told him despite many very obvious indicators (mountains, sun, etc.).
Just like even having possession of a box that can change a red stoplight to be green is illegal.
The article you linked to does not support your assertion.
It says selling and using are illegal but makes no mention of possession.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
If you look not at what you want the law to do, but instead look at how can it be exploited for/profit, personal gain, etc then you can adjust the law to be reasonable. It is why it is never done.
Also because it's nearly impossible to think up every downstream consequence of any law. And I mean impossible even for smart, informed people, let alone your average voters and politicians.
Anyway, what law are we talking about here? I think it's unlikely this will be legally mandated for every car in the US anytime soon. Every -new- car maybe in 10 years.
I think "hitmen OMG!!!" is not a real concern regardless of the time frame.
It's been a long time since I've owned a car with a front bench seat (not a Crown Vic but a lowly Galaxie) but IIRC they were more fun at the drive in movies. Though now I see people sitting in the back of their pickup or SUV at the drive in so maybe the same extracurricular activities are still taking place.
I am not thinking OMG hitman. I am thinking TSA OMG that person drove by a chemical factory let's scan them.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
On the other hand, if the cars know where they are, there's no reason for people to be driving, and thus no legitimate reason for any absolute speed limits to exist.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
There are several cars on my street that have wi-fi. Whenever they go buy, it impacts the signal. now it's just a couple of cars, but what about when its 30 cars, most of which will be on the same channel? Or hundreds of cars going buy n the free way?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"Honest officer! My car is infected with malware and it told it to speed down the road at 95 miles per hour!"
What's the matter, apk? Don't know what hyperbole is?
Taking the untenable position of your debate opponent to ridiculous extremes to show the lunacy of it is a perfectly valid debate method.
You don't even astroturf well, because all your sock puppet accounts get banned for posting the same illogical claptrap that your AC posts do.
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
http://www.its.dot.gov/connected_vehicle/connected_vehicle.htm I can't possibly add more info than the government is already putting out on this subject and we need to let the government know this is ridiculous. It was formerly known as Intellidive but the US DOT is moving forward on funding a road system and cars that will eventually take over when they believe a crash is imminent, or I assume any other reason the government believes you should (or shouldn't) stop. This should scare the shit out of you coming from the same government that decided they would just start listening to all our calls. Not to mention they are calling this a green initiative, so are you ready for the road to decide you're going too fast and slow you down without your help to save gas? Ready to have insurance hiked for not driving a car that can be overridden by the roadway itself?
will bring a whole new meaning to the word 'wardriving'.
Counselling? Therapy? For poking fun at a belligerent idiot?
Yeah....you're definitely apk.
Although it is unusual that you're able to make a short post without all sorts of bizarre formatting....
Why do you feel the need to astroturf your own posts, apk? Is that the only way you can get a post to agree with your insane viewpoint?
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
If you're depending on inter-vehicle communication for safety, all it takes is an unequipped roadway participant, or a failed transceiver, to create a dangerous situation.
Yes; except that computer vision is finally reaching the point of usefulness - because the computer chips are finally reaching a significant fraction of the brainpower of a typical animal - so you can simply divide the world to objects that are responding and those that aren't, and use some basic avoidance ruleset for the latter - while telling everyone else you are, and that there is a potential danger here, and so on.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Or they will be aware of the phony accident report that you injected into the network and they'll all divert to that location (and away from you).
Automated traffic congestion reports can also display a nonexistent tie-up on your preferred route to work and suggest that other traffic divert to alternative routes.
Have gnu, will travel.
What, nobody quoted this yet ? "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway" Mix in some Johnny Mnemonic data courier services, P2P Mesh Networking, Onion Routing, Geotagging and presto, the Diamond Age "MediaNet" is here ! IPV6 Ptooey, Who needs it in a world with Traffic Lights and Ford Transport Protocols ? ;)
Unless they use PKI to identify police cars.
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I'd expect the line would be exactly where you start to effectively impersonate some kind of official signalling or intentionally interrupting the operation of the same, just like anywhere else.
But then, all this stuff about the involvement of law enforcement and such is all speculation (best I can tell), so I guess it's not worth worrying about too much just yet.
Not only that, but you'll be aware of the people spoofing police in order to get everyone else out of their way.
Why? Are you going to drive around with the blast shields down?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
On a different but related note, say there's two gas stations on your way home. (Yes, only two.) Once the system is hacked, one station could feed false reports into the stream saying that traffic is gnarled around their competitor... people might be more likely go to the one that isn't as traffic-licious. Or, to extend this, what's to say that Shell wouldn't do this to all Exxon station, for example?
"... and you are exceeding the posted speed on this highway. Your vehicle ID has been logged, and your vehicle is now being rerouted to McDonalds indicated here, "where America is lovin' it", and you will be served with a notice of infraction as well as a discount on a cup of McCoffee (limit one per violator)."
The US DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program has been going on for a very long time. It's taken at least half a decade just to get to the point where there are some practical standards.
http://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/v2v_factsheet.htm
It's not your average basement-dwelling Slashdotter's Wi-Fi - this is 802.11p in the 5.9GHz band, the work for which was only completed last year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11p
Will be licensed restricted access, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure like talking signs and signposts, warning devices, all that happy stuff. Perhaps using multihop, traffic jams and accident scenes could get propagated out to allow motorists to recompute route before becoming mired. No one has figured out how to pay for it or what it will really do. At least in the past, there was talk about commercial organizations subsidizing the infrastructure in return for being able to advertise their service/location on the vehicle's nav system.
Based on the scathing reviews of My Touch and Synch, I'd suggest Ford stick to just making cars and leaving the tech to somebody else.
I had this idea many years ago, but only for car-to-car communications.. some kind of short range WiFi, text and voice communication between cars. I think it would be kind of cool, like having a CB radio, but geekier.
640k ought to be enough for anyone.
When I learned to drive, I was told that a fundamental principle was not to exceed a speed at which you could comfortable stop in the distance you can see is clear.
When did that go out the winddow?
Not to mention, you're broadcasting your speed and location to every officer within 1/2 mile. They no longer need a radar/laser gun. Only now the ticket can't be disputed because you incriminated/testified against yourself. The police officer only wrote the ticket based on your confession.
The amount of exploitation will vary based on how stupid the engineers are when they design it. if the mesh network is separate from direct control of the car then there is little that could be done to affect the driver of a car directly.
Your GPS can deceive you. Don't trust it.
This is actually a part of CVIS (cooperative vehicle infrastructure systems) project http://www.cvisproject.org/ for at least 6+ years. Currently CVIS is a part of ITS WC group The demo mentioned in the article was already demonstrated many-many times before in numerous European cities starting from late 2008/early 2009, but since it was mostly research organizations performing these demonstrations, it didn't generate sufficient publicity to attract /.