 |
Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive cruise control implemented in just one out of five cars could significantly improve highway safety and reduce traffic jams, according to a recent study by a University of Michigan physicist.
Scientists concluded more than a decade ago that cars behave like molecules in a gas. When cars ahead of you stop or slow down, it's like a compression pressure wave propagating back to you. It can last for hours, long after the original stimulus to slow down has been fixed (remember all those times you jammed on the brakes, and yet never got to the "problem" further down the road?). As many as three-quarters of traffic jams are like this.
Adaptive cruise control uses a radar sensor to gauge distance between vehicles, adjusting speed to maintain safe distance. With faster than human reaction times, they make tailgating safer. And ACC can reduce the problem of "compression wave" slowdowns, since ACC does not just slam on the brakes. Computer simulations show that if only one car in five had ACC, there would be far fewer traffic jams.
For the sf view on smart vehicles, see the entry for Camden Speedster from Robert Heinlein's 1958 novel Methuselah's Children. For more on the story, see A few computer-controlled cars can help traffic; thanks to
Techdirt for the story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/2/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'- Gene Roddenberry, 1986.
Universal Translator: Google Translate Has 51 Offline Language Packs
He immediately turned the small shining disc of the Language Rectifier on his instrument till the pointer rested on 'French.'- Hugo Gernsback, 1911.
AI 'Doctor' System Better Than Human
'But they got him into the autodoc anyway.'- Larry Niven, 1970.
Read My Lips - Computer Interprets Human Emotion
Soon, the emotion chip.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
'Marauder's Map' Created By Carnegie Melllon
'Is that Dumbledore in his study?'
Cheetah Cub Robot From PKD's Android Dreams
'What about an exact electric duplicate of your cat?'
Dead Cellphone? Try Solar-Powered Public Charging Stations
'Then he saw the geek ... leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
Hungry? Grow Nutritious Insects At Home
'...I balked when my wife served me termites.'
Snowboarding On Mars? Heinlein Was Ready
How long ago did Robert Heinlein write about skiing on dry alien worlds?
Orwell's '1984' Hits Bestseller Lists Thanks To PRISM
'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'
Roboroach Control? There's An App For That
'A cable, here, from the controller to the interface plug... wires from that to the brain.'
Court OK's DNA Collection Like 'Gattaca'
DNA sampling is not the same as fingerprinting.
Squid Vs. Whale Diorama Liked By Humans, Aliens
'Everything was ready, awaiting the Overlords' pleasure...'
Iceberg Harvesting Off Newfoundland's Coast
'Five hundred billion gallons worth of Antarctic iceberg had been towed into Santa Monica Bay.'
Sony's A4-Sized Flexible Digital Paper Notepad
'...he would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information circuit and scan the latest reports...'
Contact Lens Video Display Electronics Now Transparent
'He realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it...'
Tesla's Supercharge Station Plan
'To recharge the batteries, which can be done in almost every town and village...'
Millimeter-Scale Computing For 'Internet of Things'
'In their megalomania they thought to make the very sand beneath their feet intelligent...'
Your Own Handheld Biosensor
'I'm gonna do a hand-held Boink, real quick,' Littleberry said'
DARPA's Warrior Web
'Earth's scientists solved the problem to some extent by devising rigid metallic clothing not unlike armor...'
