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Land Rover Demos "Transparent Hood"
cartechboy (2660665) writes "When we were kids, we were promised flying cars in the future, like The Jetsons. Well, now it's the future, and we don't have any flying cars. But Land Rover just unveiled some crazy new technology called the Transparent Hood system. It's brilliant in its simplicity, and yet quite complex in its implementation. Using a web of camera images and projectors, the Transparent Hood system projects the area just in front of and underneath the nose of the vehicle onto a head-up display along the lower portion of the windshield. Not only is this obviously breathtaking, but when it comes to off-roading—or parking in tight urban spaces—this could change the game. It will allow drivers to see precisely what's below them and immediately in front of them allowing precise placement of the vehicle's front wheels. The system also displays key vehicle data including speed, incline, roll angle, steering position, and drive mode. People, this is the future, and the future is now."
The "demo" is just a "virtual prototype in testing", also known as: CGI. What an innovative concept... not. Please get back to me once you really have something to show.
Sounds like Amish porn
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Recently both rear view cameras and sideview camera systems have been criticised as a bad idea by some here on Slashdot.
This Land Rover invisible hood system seems beyond criticism. But I'm sure slashdot naysayers will find an angle anyway. Go for it...
I think the biggest legitimate criticism that came out of the rear/side camera replacement of mirrors was that you had to refocus your eyes from infinity to dashboard to infinity each time you glanced at the video display. In this case you will already be tracking your bonnet so that the required change in eye focus will be minimal.
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If a passenger if looking through the driver's Heads Up Display, you're doing it wrong.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Just be prepared to have to constantly get out of your vehicle to clean all those different lenses, or else camera tech is useless.
Why do you think that has to be manually done? Air blast of sensors to keep them clean is common in industry, and various high end cars already have things like head light washer/wipers.
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Okay, okay. Don't get a bee in your hood...
( :-P )
The thing I don't get with these camera displays is the fact that they don't seem to have wipers on the camera, with cleaning solution.
Snow/Salt/Mud/Dirt really collect and make visibility bad. If you are offroading then one puddle and your feature is useless.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
as a frequent off road driver I think this would be a crappy device to have, very disorienting
You might be right as a frequent off-road driver - but as someone who occasionally drives off-road I would welcome it, as I get a really disconcerting feel when you come to the brow of a steep hill and all you can see in the windscreen is sky but you have to keep on driving until the car goes over the bump and you can see again.
" Not only is this obviously breathtaking, but when it comes to off-roading—or parking in tight urban spaces—this could change the game."
Not when the people using said vehicles aren't even familiar with the basics on how to handle and maneuver.
If you need assistance to parallel park in a tight urban space, you either need a smaller vehicle, or you need to call a cab or walk.
On top of that, you shouldn't have been given a license in the first place.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
phys.org rules
The only reason why this design is even seen as useful is because of the very poor ergonomic design of autobodies that has become popular the last few years. I have a 2002 Tacoma, I can see all four corners of the vehicle. With a glance I can tell within six inches of exactly where each corner of the vehicle is. We used to have a 1995 Corolla, and I could park it in any spot. My wife has a new Audi, and until recently I was driving a fairly new Corolla supplied by my employer. Hate parking those things, you can't see the corners of the vehicle so can only guess as to how far away I am from the next vehicle.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Depends on who she is and where you are parked.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Nissan already offers that.
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/avm.html
Ding ding! Places like that are always looking to upsell, so when you come in for an oil change, they look for something else to sell you, such as an air filter change, a transmission oil change, brake service, etc. Sometimes they even do things like show you a worn belt or filter which isn't even from your car, claiming it is, and saying it needs to be changed.
Unfortunately, many times the monkeys at these service places don't know how to put wheels back on correctly.
Why would you allow them to do an oil change at 50mph?!
Because doing one at 100mph is dangerous.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
ALL product improvements are to increase sales.
Have you actually looked at the marketing video. It has nothing to do with parking - for which it would have little benefit, and which is already addressed by other technology. This is for off-roading. Where exact placement of the wheels is a significant benefit.
Off-roading? The cameras would be caked with mud and dust within 15 minutes. How is this going to be helpful?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Finally, I can tailgate to within 6 inches of the guy in front of me. I'll get home that much faster!
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Bad for you perhaps, but the reason we have those high curved bonnets now is to protect pedestrians when you hit them. It isn't the initial contact with their legs that gives them fatal injuries, it's the blow as their head slams down against the bonnet. Previously the engine block tended to be right under the thin metal cover so their skull effectively went into that. Now there is more room for the bonnet to flex and cushion the blow.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Can we just go full VR with this, ala Oculus ? Just put a headset on before you get in the car.
The opportunities would be endless ! First of all, it could repaint the entire interior to look like whatever sports coupe, vintage classic or whatever your dream car is.
You could be launching virtual. very satisfactory rockets at the jackass who just blocked your turn, create imaginary, optionally naked supermodels on passenger seats and so on ?
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashdot.org Errors found while checking this document as HTML5!
Don't say they, and just find a good mechanic. Where I go for my oil change, they do chack all that, but many tims they ahve told me everything is fine and no upsell at all.
And when the do, its usually for a standard upcoming service.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
A person can most certainly do all the work they need to do on their own car. If they are willing to put in the effort.
"There's absolutely no way you are certified to perform all regulated maintenance and inspections"
You don't need to be actual certified. Only cert are needed if you want to maintain the warranty, or show people you went to some class.
" properly dispose of hazardous materials"
you just take it to a disposal place. Usually a gas station with a shop, or a part store.
" invest tens of thousands of dollars into equipment "
Do you have an example of any piece of equipment that you need to fix / maintain your own vehicle that cost "tens of thousands of dollars". or even 1000 hundred dollars.
Those tools are for company that do cars all day long. Lifts and such.
There is nothing on my car I can not replace if I were so inclined. That includes transmission and engine replacements.
I don't becasue I have a good mechanic, I value my time, and I don't enjoy it anymore.
You seem to be complete ignorant of how to take care of a vehicle; which is fine. Just stop calling other people liars based on you ignorance of the field.
"(like emissions checks or whatever the fuck else is regulated in your area)"
You can do them at home, but to gte official you go to the inspector. State may vary.
In Oregon they check it by just looking at the codes, and you can buy something to do that for under 50 bucks. OR more, depending on features, etc.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Do you actually drive off-road? This addresses a real issue, which is how to safely straddle obstacles in the road to protect your undercarraige. You may only see Land Rovers driven by "soccer moms", but they are one of the few companies producing vehicles that can genuinely be driven off-road.
I'm a curmudgeon driving an '80s Land Rover completely devoid of computers, but I have a large and increasing amount of respect for the capabilities of new Land Rovers.
www.clarke.ca
You are liable to keep you car in safe working order when on public roads in every state. Just an FYI
And there is still some back ass state that doesn't require smog? Jeez.
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Major engine problems will. On newer vehicles there are actually 3 states to the engine light. Off is good (no error), on is emissions (fix before next inspection), blinking is "take me to a mechanic NOW".
It's nice, but not something you couldn't have rigged yourself and I'm pretty sure kits exist for.
I'm sure you can get a dash camera kit. And you could probably rig it yourself.
But I'm thinking the windshield HUD is probably not something you're going to build yourself. You could, I know, I know. But you won't. ;)
And if you tried, it might turn out to be non-trivial.
That guy is a moron. Arizona has smog checks do, and so do lots of other places. My experience is with AZ; the checks are easy: you just drive up to a state-run emissions checking station, and have them do the test. If it's '96+, they just plug in an OBD-II reader and look for codes. If there are none, you're done, and you just pay the fee and drive a way with your certificate. If it's pre-96, they put it on a dyno and check the emissions directly. If you pass (not hard to do if the engine is running OK), again pay your fee and take your certificate.
If you fail, you have a certain amount of time to fix it. You do NOT need to have a "certified mechanic" or somesuch fix it, you can do it yourself. Then you come back later after it's fixed and get it re-tested. It's really not a big deal unless you've seriously modified your engine, taken out the catalytic converter, etc.