A new crash warning system that allows vehicles to "talk" to each other more than 900 feet away was determines for federal officials, marking a significant step in ability by the government to put advanced transmission technology in cars.
Using WiFi signals that are transmit 10 times every second, the technology senses when a collision is imminent and alerts a driver through flashing red lights and beeps.
In the demonstration in the parking lot near RFK Stadium, the driver notified by a system when it detected another car speeding through a red light in an upcoming intersection, of several cars blocking the highway ahead, and of a car zooming up from behind.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is send a report in October that such "vehicle-to-vehicle" warning systems could address nearly 80 percent of reported accidents that do not include drunk drivers.
This technology is called as Peter Appel.It has the potential to save a lot of lives,administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration at the Department of Transportation, after riding along for the demo.The technology, if successfully developed, could become mandatory in 2013 when federal officials are scheduled to decide whether to require such systems.
In the absence of such a specification, the first challenge may be overcoming a basic chicken-and-egg problem. If other person don't buy the systems, they will be nearly useless. In that case, persuading the first consumers to purchase the technology may be difficult.
Implementation of the system would require the nation's automakers, to agree on how such systems should work and what kind of information they should share.
Ford, which conducted Tuesday's demonstration for federal officials and the media, is expected to announce during this week's Washington Auto Show that it will invest more in the technology. The Department of Transportation has already spent more than $40 million on this technology, with an additional $36 million slated for more research.The government research and automakers is supposed to be finished within two years.
The warning systems, however, face technical challenges.The WiFi signals between two cars are sent via a channel shared by the Federal Communications Commission. Engineers are trying to cope with "channel loading" when there are more than 100 cars within the 300-meter radius.
There is some fear that hackers could fool the systems into thinking that others car are in the area - setting off alarms and snarling traffic. The automakers must ensure that the signals vehicles are receiving are actually from other cars. Setting up electronic certifications also has to be done in a way that addresses the concerns of privacy advocates and does not identify individual drivers.
"We don't want people to feel there is some tracking device on the car," said Michael Shulman, a technical leader for the project at Ford. "But we have to make sure the other car you're sensing is not some guy on an overpass with a laptop. So there are obstacles, but we think we have ways of overcoming them."
Some cars already have limited radar devices that can detect obstacles in the front, as well as those in the blind spots missed by mirrors. Such systems can cost $1,000.
The advantage of the WiFi technology is not only that it is far cheaper - possibly adding as little as $100 to the cost of the car,but also that it can identify other vehicles much farther away and in all directions.The system's low price tag would allow manufacturers to put it in both luxury and economy models.
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