By Nikhil Parchure
As electric cars gain momentum another type of revolution is hitting automotive industry. That revolution is connected car revolution. It may not be talked about as much as electric cars but this revolution will come to all cars faster than electric technology.
Although the economics of electric car are becoming viable, it is still a long way to go before 100% of cars produced will be electric.
But I can see in next 10 years all cars will have intelligence for Car to Car communication. This will be a huge deal for automotive industry as cars will communicate to each other and share sensor data and avoid collisions, address traffic congestion and assist in emergency response by informing authorities automatically.
Although the economics of electric car are becoming viable, it is still a long way to go before 100% of cars produced will be electric.
But I can see in next 10 years all cars will have intelligence for Car to Car communication. This will be a huge deal for automotive industry as cars will communicate to each other and share sensor data and avoid collisions, address traffic congestion and assist in emergency response by informing authorities automatically.
Readers can go to MIT review of the technology to gain more understanding of the concept.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/534981/car-to-car-communication/
This technology has various applications that can save millions of lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve driving experience
Collision Avoidance
As cars start talking to each other and start transmitting speed, direction and navigation info over secure network of car to car communication, computer can intelligently detect potential collision and alert the driver or apply brakes to avoid accident. This will reduce number of collisions that happen due to driver error, vehicles in blind spot and accidents due to unauthorized turns. Currently lot of cars already have frontal crash detection and avoidance technology that uses radar to detect obstacle in front of the vehicle and applies brake to avoid accident.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety
Now a days smartphone has reached a large number of people and imagine the car to car communication integrates smart phone signals to avoid pedestrian and bicycle accidents. A lot of people get injured while crossing streets or due to collision with cars. In cities this is a major problem as population density is higher. Taking signals from non car devices will help map out pedestrians on the road and then the car can transmit this over car to car network to alert other cars.
Traffic Congestion Reduction
Imagine a situation where car navigation system is integrated with car to car communication. Cars ahead can warn about traffic congestion by looking at speed of car itself and cars around it. Intelligent system can reroute incoming cars with different route to reduce traffic and reduce amount of fuel wasted. Traffic police can control all the cars with a simple signaling system that allows cars to move safely and reduce congestion.
Hybrid and Electric Vehicle integration
The opportunity becomes even more attractive with introduction of hybrid vehicles. Traffic light can actually communicate to all the cars 5 seconds before turning green and hybrid car with start stop technology can start the engine without owner doing any decision making. This technology alone can dramatically reduce idling fuel wastage. This technology can be easily extended to trucks and buses to reduce idling diesel emissions. Electric vehicles can transmit availability of charging infrastructure and whether the charging station is available when owner gets to the location.
Public Service Announcements
Currently there is no way for police and ambulances to communicate with cars to give right of way. People get out of the way when they hear siren. But that is a challenge as lack of attention may cause accidents. Car to car communication can enable emergency response vehicles to provide signal of their movement way before people hear vehicle sirens.
Intelligent Cars
Cars of the future should be intelligent and should be integrated with consumer’s lifestyle. Gone are the days where car is just a tool of mobility. Car is more than just traveling from point A to point B. So features like automated parking, intelligent navigation that is integrated with your phone, mood based music, unlocking by biometrics, eco routing to improve efficiency,
The car to car communication technology will provide immediate benefit and reduce number of accidents and deaths on road. Specially for country like India where road deaths are a huge problem, this kind of technology needs to be deployed as soon as possible.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/534981/car-to-car-communication/
This technology has various applications that can save millions of lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve driving experience
Collision Avoidance
As cars start talking to each other and start transmitting speed, direction and navigation info over secure network of car to car communication, computer can intelligently detect potential collision and alert the driver or apply brakes to avoid accident. This will reduce number of collisions that happen due to driver error, vehicles in blind spot and accidents due to unauthorized turns. Currently lot of cars already have frontal crash detection and avoidance technology that uses radar to detect obstacle in front of the vehicle and applies brake to avoid accident.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety
Now a days smartphone has reached a large number of people and imagine the car to car communication integrates smart phone signals to avoid pedestrian and bicycle accidents. A lot of people get injured while crossing streets or due to collision with cars. In cities this is a major problem as population density is higher. Taking signals from non car devices will help map out pedestrians on the road and then the car can transmit this over car to car network to alert other cars.
Traffic Congestion Reduction
Imagine a situation where car navigation system is integrated with car to car communication. Cars ahead can warn about traffic congestion by looking at speed of car itself and cars around it. Intelligent system can reroute incoming cars with different route to reduce traffic and reduce amount of fuel wasted. Traffic police can control all the cars with a simple signaling system that allows cars to move safely and reduce congestion.
Hybrid and Electric Vehicle integration
The opportunity becomes even more attractive with introduction of hybrid vehicles. Traffic light can actually communicate to all the cars 5 seconds before turning green and hybrid car with start stop technology can start the engine without owner doing any decision making. This technology alone can dramatically reduce idling fuel wastage. This technology can be easily extended to trucks and buses to reduce idling diesel emissions. Electric vehicles can transmit availability of charging infrastructure and whether the charging station is available when owner gets to the location.
Public Service Announcements
Currently there is no way for police and ambulances to communicate with cars to give right of way. People get out of the way when they hear siren. But that is a challenge as lack of attention may cause accidents. Car to car communication can enable emergency response vehicles to provide signal of their movement way before people hear vehicle sirens.
Intelligent Cars
Cars of the future should be intelligent and should be integrated with consumer’s lifestyle. Gone are the days where car is just a tool of mobility. Car is more than just traveling from point A to point B. So features like automated parking, intelligent navigation that is integrated with your phone, mood based music, unlocking by biometrics, eco routing to improve efficiency,
The car to car communication technology will provide immediate benefit and reduce number of accidents and deaths on road. Specially for country like India where road deaths are a huge problem, this kind of technology needs to be deployed as soon as possible.