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Permalink | Email this | CommentsOne of the obstacles to a fully autonomous future are the roads upon which theoretical autonomous vehicles would drive. Cameras and sensors use the painted lane lines to help them trace a path and help cars stay in their respective lanes. If you’ve ever driven a car with some level of lane-keeping or lane-following assistance, you might’ve noticed that without any lane markings, the system becomes relatively useless.
So, how does one improve matters so you can use driver assistance features in more situations? The answer is relatively simple in concept. Road operators need to maintain our roads better and with driving assistance features in mind. Honda knows this too, and it’s just devised a system to aid road workers in doing exactly that.
The Honda Research Institute is officially beginning a road condition monitoring pilot program. What does that mean? It means that Honda has devised a program that runs on its cars to constantly monitor and evaluate lane marking conditions. Using GPS, sensors and cameras, Honda’s pilot program cars will drive around and collect data on the state of our lane markings. Specifically, the program will be evaluating Ohio’s state of affairs. Honda hasn’t said if it will extend the program beyond Ohio yet, but if successful, we don’t see why it couldn’t expand.
Honda will use four grades for lane markings: green, yellow, grey and red. Green and yellow means “ideal to good.” Grey means there are no markings, and red means “need repair.” The rankings are paired with latitude and longitude data, video clips and images. It’s all then sent over to the Ohio Department of Transportation, and we can then hope the government decides to fix the areas needing repair. Of course, our faith in road operators to maintain roads properly in this country is not absolute, but at least Ohio will have a better grasp of what needs doing.
“Real-time, high-accuracy roadway data captured from connected vehicles has the potential to improve the process of identifying, reporting, and more quickly repairing hazardous road conditions,” says Paritosh Kelkar, scientist at Honda Research Institute.
In addition to reporting lane conditions to Ohio, this system has the capability of reporting a warning to other Honda vehicles. Your Honda could theoretically access the lane marking data in real time using an internet connection and your GPS coordinates and warn you when a section of poor markings is coming up, prompting you to take back full control from the lane-following system.
Lastly, Honda teases out that it could expand this program to “monitor other types of road conditions.” What those other conditions are, we don’t know yet.
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Anytime there’s a new automotive show, our ears perk up. This time, it’s a sitcom called “American Auto.” It’ll be airing on NBC, and the network just released the show’s first promo clip that you can watch above.
NBC’s description of the show can be found directly below.
“Set in Detroit, the corporate executives of Payne Motors are at a crossroads: adapt to the changing times or be sent to the junkyard. Shaking things up is the new CEO, whose leadership, experience, and savvy are only slightly offset by her complete lack of knowledge about cars. Luckily, her team has some of the best minds in the business — when they aren’t fighting or trying to outwit each other. From the corporate office to the factory floor, the crew of Payne Motors is driving home the laughs.”
Sound interesting? At the very least, we’re intrigued to see where they take this show. The short clip depicts a scene in a boardroom where execs are working out what vehicles they’ll sell in the future. Longtime "SNL" star Ana Gasteyer is the CEO of Payne and lead of the show. We get to see the Ponderosa, which is supposedly Payne’s big idea for a future autonomous vehicle. It’s a sedan rocking a combustion engine up front with some big, gaudy wheels at all four corners. Will that make production? Who knows!
If you want to check out “American Auto,” NBC says it’s airing a special preview episode on Monday, December 13, at 10 p.m. ET. It’ll be available the following day on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.
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Listen up, America. Adaptive driving beams are finally going to become legal, thanks to a provision in the infrastructure bill. This is great news for nighttime driving safety — your author is particularly excited that this technology will finally be legal in cars sold in the U.S.
In case you aren't familiar, adaptive driving beams are fully explained in this story here. But in short, they’re the trick headlights we see in many European cars that can adapt their high beam illumination based on the surrounding environment. The system uses cameras and sensors to pick out other cars on the road, and is able to trace a perfect, darkened opening for the other cars, while still throwing out high beam-like light everywhere else. In a way, your brights never fully turn off. They only dim their beam in the select spots necessary so as not to blind other drivers. The headlights also dim their beam when directed at road signs as you approach them so as not to dazzle the driver with a bright reflection. There’s potential for much more, too, as some manufacturers have designed headlights that can project warning signs onto pavement, swivel up to highlight pedestrians entering the road, highlight lane changes and more. You can watch a video example of everything we described below in an Audi demonstration of the tech.
We’ve been missing out, but that’s about to change.
So, how has this tech finally found a path to legality? For years it’s been barred due to outdated regulations in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108. The exact language that held manufacturers back specifically states that headlights must have a dedicated low beam and dedicated high beam to be compliant and road legal. The new infrastructure bill changes that by laying out the following in a headlamps section: “to allow for the use on vehicles of adaptive driving beam headlamp systems.”
This request comes in the form of a direction to amend FMVSS No. 108 to include the adaptive driving beams provision, and the bill allows for two years to get it done. So yes, we could theoretically be waiting another two years, but no longer than that.
In addition to making adaptive driving beams legal, the infrastructure bill also says that testing of headlight performance will now be required. It doesn’t go much further than that, but we suspect it’ll resemble the headlight testing currently done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Watch Mercedes demonstrate Digital Light:
Apple just released an update for its Apple Maps application that brings Waze-like functionality to the iPhone’s native navigation. It allows users to report a number of different road situations, with speed traps being one of them. It’s only available to those with the iOS 14.5 beta for the time being, but we’ll give you a rundown of what to expect when the masses are brought in.
One big positive for this new reporting function is that it’s fully operational in Apple CarPlay. You can even use Siri to report things, so you can tell the voice assistant that “there’s a speed check here.” Reporting speed traps is certainly one of the most valuable (and money-saving) features of Waze, but similar to the old standby, Apple allows you to report other items, including hazards and accidents. Of course, you can break those down further by saying that there’s something on the road, or anything else along those lines that Apple has programmed in.
Building up a loyal and attentive user base similar to Waze’s could take some time, as Waze has had years of providing similar services to its users. There’s also the limitation of this feature only being usable by iPhone owners. Apple may have the majority of the active smartphone market in the U.S., but there’s still a massive chunk of the population that use Android phones, and therefore won’t be able to contribute their reporting data. Meanwhile, both Waze and Google Maps are available across ecosystems, effectively reaching a wider user base.
Apple is now the last of the big navigation/maps interfaces to adopt these features — Google Maps introduced similar functionality in 2019, and Waze has had it for years before both of them. Google Maps and Waze both offer more robust reporting systems, too, as you can get more granular with the types of hazards that are reportable.
It’s not entirely clear when this Apple Maps feature will come out of beta, but regardless of limitations, it will be a welcome improvement to a navigation app that so many people use.
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A new IIHS study found that a scary amount of people are confused about the driver assistance systems found in cars today. Furthermore, the study found that folks were especially confused about Tesla's Autopilot.
One portion of the study involved the IIHS surveying participants about certain unsafe behaviors behind the wheel, given only the name of the driver assistance system. People weren't given the name of the brand for this section, and were instead told to answer the questions about Autopilot (Tesla), Traffic Jam Assist (Audi and Acura), Super Cruise (Cadillac), Driving Assistant Plus (BMW) and ProPilot Assist (Nissan). The results show that folks misunderstand Tesla's Autopilot far worse than any other driver assistance system on the market. A chart of the results is pasted below.
A huge 48 percent of respondents thought it OK to take your hands off the wheel while using Autopilot. Additionally, 6 percent thought it safe to take a nap with Autopilot active. This level of distracted driving is something we've seen time and time again on public roads. Interestingly, only 27 percent of people surveyed think it's alright to take your hands off the wheel using Cadillac's Super Cruise, and that's a hands-free system.
We should be concerned about the numbers for the other driver assistance systems, too. Drivers are confused about the capabilities of current systems, and what a manufacturer calls it appears to be contributing to the confusion.
The IIHS study went further to learn about how people are interpreting instrument cluster data as it pertains to these systems. This portion of the study used a 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. It found a couple different bits of information eluded most of the study's participants. Most people "struggled to understand what was happening when the system didn't detect a vehicle ahead because it was initially beyond the range of detection." Also, many were unable to identify when lane centering was inactive. The IIHS suggested that audible alerts and more obvious visual signals could help improve the understanding of these systems.
Results from another IIHS study were also released today, and this one has to do with where people are using these systems. This study monitored people driving a Range Rover Evoque and Volvo S90 to see where and how often they use adaptive cruise control or the Level 2 Pilot Assist system in the Volvo. These systems are meant to be used on the highway, and are often detailed as such in a vehicle's owner's manual. The study found only a small percentage of driving off the highway was done using these systems, just 7 percent for the Evoque and 11 percent for the S90. Those numbers both rose considerably in highway use, with the Evoque's systems being used 40 percent of the time and the S90's for 28 percent of the time. You can check out the study here for more details if you're interested.
Crash testing for bicycle helmets
Volvo
Volvo always seems to be up to something new in the world of safety, and now it's working with another Swedish company called POC to learn about and ultimately improve bicycle safety. Specifically, Volvo and POC (which makes cycling safety gear and apparel) are figuring out crash testing for bike helmets as related to cars. Any time a car crashes into a cyclist is scary, and this testing is a step toward developing safer helmets and maybe even safer cars.
This new crash testing is done with crash dummies wearing POC bike helmets on their heads. Volvo says "they are launched towards different areas of the hood of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements." It's interesting to watch in the video Volvo and POC made — the "dummies" are basically hard, round objects inside the helmet, and they get thrown into the car with some serious speed. There will also be testing of dummies without helmets, to have a point of comparison.
Apparently, current bike helmet testing procedures aren't very high-tech in nature. Volvo and POC say most regulatory testing involves dropping helmets from different heights onto flat or angled surfaces, without taking various forms of vehicle impacts into account. This new testing should help POC design its helmets to better withstand an impact from the stupid-heavy missiles we all ride around in called cars. Volvo claims this testing will also provide insights it can take apply to vehicle design in the future.
There are tons of bikers on the roads in cities, so this testing seems like a good idea. Mobility scooter riders seem to be at just as much risk these days, as Birds and Limes zip through traffic and on sidewalks in cities all over. However, we've all noticed that helmets don't appear to be top of mind with scooter riders. Perhaps in the future we'll have helmets that can save more of our heads when smacked by a car, just as Volvo and POC are testing here.
Volvo just released a new mobile service designed to guide you through what to do after a car crash. It's a simple bit of tech, but might prove helpful if you weren't up to speed on what to do after a light brush up with another vehicle.
The service is called Car Accident Advisor. After confirming to Volvo Customer Care that you are uninjured and not in need of emergency services, you'll get a text to your phone that links you to this service. Assuming you have an internet connection, the application will proceed to guide you through the necessary steps one should take after getting into an accident.
Volvo says the app will prompt the driver to capture photos and write down facts about the accident. It asks if other vehicles are involved, determines your exact location and allows you to pinpoint the areas of the car that were damaged. After doing that "paperwork," Volvo then allows you to submit it in a nicely organized report directly to your insurer. This allows you to get your insurance claim in the process right away, hopefully speeding up the entire process. The last guided step Volvo offers is a body shop/service finder. It lists approved Volvo shops and can arrange a tow to those shops, so you can theoretically get a quick start on repairs.
The benefits for someone unprepared are obvious, but this could be handy for experienced drivers, too, since an accident can be pretty disorienting. Volvo says the service will work on all model year 2015.5 or newer Volvos. If you have a Volvo older than that, you can trigger the service manually with a phone call to Volvo Car Customer Care. There is no cost to using the Accident Advisor either way.
Check out Google's new driving mode.
Google I/O 2019 is in full swing, and there's actually a bit of car news coming out of the big tech event. Allow us to introduce you to Google Assistant's driving mode. If you're familiar with Google's dedicated phone app, Android Auto, then this will look quite familiar to you. That app is different than but ultimately very similar to Android Auto on your car's infotainment display, but it's meant to be controlled via your phone for people who don't have cars with Android Auto capability.
The new Assistant driving mode takes the current Android Auto phone app and essentially renders it obsolete, while performing many of the same functions. Its main use is as a navigation device — you can make it use either Google Maps or Waze by default. Assistant driving mode can be set to launch on your Android phone automatically when it's connected to your car's Bluetooth or you say, "Hey Google, let's drive."
Upon launching, there's a dashboard that's personalized to you. The entire experience is heavily voice driven, so you can either tell it what you want next, or tap the suggested options on screen. Navigation suggestions are based on your calendar, normal routine or recently searched locations. Audio suggestions consist of recently played things or recommendations based on your preferences. And of course, you can call someone or text someone using voice control with the app, too. The actual feature set of Google Assistant driving mode is extremely similar to Android Auto, (which just had a big update announced yesterday) it just comes with a different user interface for the typically smaller screen that phones have versus infotainment systems.
Also announced at Google I/O is easier communication between Google Assistant and your car if so equipped. Instead of going through multiple commands to control your car via Assistant, now you just need one or two. Google says that Hyundais equipped with the Blue Link app, and Mercedes equipped with the Mercedes Me Connect feature will be able to take advantage of these simplified commands initially. For example, Google says one command of, "Hey Google, turn on the car A/C to 70 degrees" will now do the trick. Previously, Hyundai said it would involve a back and forth between you and your phone to finally get the command executed.
All of these new features are said to be arriving to your phone via an update this summer.
Google unveils its Android Auto update.
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Android Auto users are in for a treat as Google just unveiled a complete overhaul of the interface. We can safely say it looks a whole lot better than the current system, and we're excited to try it out.
To begin, there's a new launcher. Instead of the five buttons along the bottom, now there's an array of apps to choose from in a vertically scrolling interface. This looks a whole lot more like the app drawer on your actual phone, and should make choosing your desired navigation or audio app much more intuitive. The launcher looks more like Apple CarPlay, but scrolls vertically instead of sliding from page to page horizontally.
Even more is the new "navigation bar" you see on the bottom. This bar stays on your screen and changes its function based on what app you're using at the time. For example, if you're using navigation with Google Maps and listening to a podcast at the same time, you can fast forward or rewind the podcast without having to leave the Google Maps app because the navigation bar has audio playback controls on it. Also, if you have the music app of your choice loaded up while navigation is running, your next move/direction stays plastered on the bottom navigation bar. What this does is reduce the amount of inputs and taps because you don't have to switch apps to reach your desired controls. This is a big step forward if we're thinking about driver distractions, because now you can pay less attention to navigating through the screens and more on the road.
Then there are several less significant but still noteworthy additions. Google is introducing a newly-designed notification center that allows you to see recent calls, listen to messages and view alerts. There's also a new dark theme that was sorely needed. Apple CarPlay has always looked more polished with its dark theme that blends in nicely with most car's interiors. Now Android has them matched, and it looks just as elegant. Finally, Android is adding in wide-screen optimization for some of the abnormally wide displays we're seeing in cars today. This will make sure the OS is using all the possible screen real estate provided. Google says the update will be rolling out to all Android Auto equipped cars this summer.
