ROAD accidents could be slashed if cars had better data on weather and road conditions, according to Sony and VTT, Finland鈥檚 top transport-research lab.
Erecting electronic road signs is expensive and warnings are frequently missed, says Nikolaos Georgis of the Sony Technology Center in San Diego, California.
Along with colleagues, he鈥檚 filed for a for an in-car computer system which contains a database of the speed limits on every road in the nation. It could be built into the satellite navigation or entertainment system, he says.
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If the in-car computer can then acquire a stream of local weather data, perhaps from a nearby digital TV transmitter, it could calculate new stopping distances and display or announce a new recommended speed limit. It could even assume a measure of control to prevent the car exceeding certain speeds in wet or icy conditions.
That latter option doesn鈥檛 appeal to Pertti Peussa, an R&D engineer with VTT in Tampere, Finland. 鈥淲hat happens if you are passing a truck with an oncoming car on the horizon and suddenly your vehicle speed is lowered?鈥�
Peussa has been working with Volvo and Fiat to find out which car sensors are best for the direct detection of adverse road conditions 鈥� and developing software that advises the driver of the appropriate speed.
With funding from the , they have been pointing infrared lasers, microwave radars and cameras at the road ahead of cars to detect the surface conditions. Radar proved to be the best option as it is able to detect dry, wet, icy or snowy road surfaces 30 metres ahead. Lasers often missed ice, while low light foiled cameras.
The ultimate aim, says Peussa, is to design friction sensors that can be mounted within tyres, but they are years away, he says: the heat and shock tyres experience is 鈥渕urder for sensors鈥�.
