auto tech

With all the sensors, computerized gadgetry and even Internet connectivity being built into cars these days, it's a wonder our automobiles aren't more like Optimus Prime. Our cars will now email us when they need to have their oil changed, and recognize our facial expressions to determine whether we're enjoying ourselves, but for all the information available to us when we're driving, it's often not possible to organize it all in real-time and package it in a way that we can digest while behind the wheel. Researchers at MIT and Audi created the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent to address exactly that problem.

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Here’s an innovative application for augmented reality: telling you how to do stuff you should already know how to do. BMW have developed a concept for AR glasses that can assist their own mechanics in performing maintenance on the company’s high-performance cars. The glasses read the field of view, point out the part that needs replacing, the screw that needs turning, or the cap that needs tightening (and even tells users which way to turn it).

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Car accidents kill 115 people a day in the U.S. and cost an annual $230 billion. Cautious drivers can avoid only so much danger, especially when it's a car running a red light, or a truck that pops out of a blind spot. But commuting could get safer with new in-car technology that warns you of that vehicle just around the corner — and even hits the brakes for you.

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Look through the 2009 Carrera S's familiar skin, and you'll find the biggest redesign in years. The change starts with a dual-clutch transmission, taken straight from Porsche's racecars, that shifts gears in milliseconds. It's bolted to a redesigned six-cylinder engine that uses direct fuel injection (a first for Porsche) to churn out higher horsepower while actually getting more miles per gallon.

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“Boss,” the brainchild of Tartan Racing (a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and General Motors), was the winner of the 2007 Darpa Urban Challenge, a competition of autonomous vehicles. The mission: execute tricky merging, passing and parking maneuvers as quickly as possible, while obeying California-state traffic laws. [ Read Full Story ]

Small streets and pricey fuel have shaped the European car market to favor smaller cars. In fact, what we call a compact car is a midsize on the continent. But now that Ameri- cans are feeling the burn of expensive gas, automakers have responded by bringing a fleet of smaller-than-subcompact vehicles to our shores. Unlike previous stripped-down econoboxes, these will be equipped to appeal to both the budget-minded and the car-savvy consumer.

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Despite all the auto-tech brain-power in this world, fully electronic brakes-
which would replace brake fluid with lighter, quicker wires and motors-have yet to arrive. The long-standing obstacle: Industry-standard 12-volt electrical systems can´t drive a motor powerful enough to stop a two-ton sedan. The prototype Electronic Wedge Brake, by German company Siemens, solves this problem by tapping the vehicle´s own energy to slow itself down. Electric motors [1] drive screwjacks [2] that move a corrugated outer plate [3] fore and aft in plane with the rotor [4].

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“Ever wish you had a tool that could prove your suspicions were valid?” Bluewater Security Professionals asks on its Web site (bluewatersecurityprofessionals.com). "Next time you sense suspicious activity with your vehicle, make sure (the $435 PTS Tracking System) goes along for the ride. The site includes “hints” on where to put the GPS antenna—mostly in places where it wouldn't be seen. But forewarned is forearmed: Here are some of the spots where a GPS unit is likely to be stashed.

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