The integration of digital technology with the modern vehicle is leading to a new generation
of automotive safety engineering. In a pan-European collaboration, BMW has been developing a radically
new concept vehicle. The clever concept is an enclosed two-seater that combines the
safety of a microcar with the manoeuvrability of a motorcycle. Researchers from Bath University
in Western England have been testing a prototype of the car, which is the product of a jointly
run project by engineers from Britain, France, Germany and Austria. To overcome the usual
instability of a three-wheeled machine, the clever is designed to tilt while cornering.
The hydraulic tilting mechanism is controlled by a microprocessor that takes into account
the vehicle's speed and the angle of steer. It can tilt up to 45 degrees in either direction.
Designed as a compact, fuel-efficient vehicle for city driving, the name "Clever" derives
from a slightly mangled acronym, Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport. The
clever is powered by a modified C1 engine. The French part of the development team has
changed it from a normal gasoline engine to one that runs on compressed natural gas.
Designers had a target fuel consumption of 1.7 kilograms of gas per 100 kilometres. At
current prices, that works out at around 1 euro per 100 kilometres. In Lyon, at the
Institute Francais de Petrol, a different prototype is undergoing bench tests. A car
that uses natural gas produces far less CO2 than an equivalent-sized petrol powered vehicle.
In combination with its very light weight, this means that the clever has a very low
emissions impact. Although the designers have focused on economy and emissions, they didn't
neglect safety factors. Clever has a rigid passenger cage and will come equipped with
airbags. On the road, the vehicle will have a top speed
of around 100 kilometres per hour and with width of less than 1 metre, the clever will
be ideal for urban use. For years, BMW has manufactured both cars
and motorcycles. Though there have been previous attempts at combining the two, the clever concept
is a completely new approach. Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has come up
with a device that warns tired drivers before they fall asleep at the steering wheel.
The driver alert system uses sensors in the windscreen that read lines in the road and
other road markings to gauge whether or not the driver is about to lose control of the
vehicle. The system analyses the positioning of the car
on the road. It determines whether the driver is capable of driving.
Caterina is a young mother and one of 20 drivers making up Volvo's test crew. On a specially
enclosed track in Belgium, test drivers stay behind the wheel until they fall asleep.
The research leader sits in the back seat and he immediately stops the car before the
driver can veer off the road. Caterina has been awake for almost 20 hours
when she gets into the test car. After only a little more than 30 minutes, it's easy
to see that she should not be driving a car. The sensors have also noticed this and worn
her by generating an alarm signal. It's important to note that the system will
not prevent a driver from driving. It will not stop the vehicle. It will assist the driver
in making a decision about whether it is safe to continue driving.
To close your eyes for just four seconds at a speed of 80 kilometres an hour means that
the car travels 100 metres with a sleeping driver. When shown these pictures, Caterina
was surprised at how long she had been dosing. In Germany, studies show that 25% of accidents
on the German auto barns are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel and studies in
the United States show more or less the same thing. This amounts to some 100,000 accidents
a year, with at least 1,500 of them resulting in a fatality.
The test drivers on the Belgium circuit are convinced that this new system can radically
reduce these traffic accidents. The system is only able to alert a driver when they are
in need of a break, but it's still the driver that must make the decision to stop and rest.
An ideal situation is if there is a fresh person in the car who can take over the driving.
And when there is no clear view of the road and road markings in bad weather conditions
like snow and ice for instance, the system can't operate. That's something the car
maker is working to improve. Volvo estimates the system could be available
in new cars in as little as two years time, becoming the first manufacturer to solve an
old problem. In Northern most Sweden, an increasing number
of the world's car manufacturers and sub-supplyers congregate to test their vehicles and products
under the harshest possible conditions. This is one of Sweden's fastest growing industries
and with thousands of technicians and designers on site, this is the biggest winter vehicle
testing area in the world. Hundreds of cars are tested here with the
very latest techniques. Everything from secret prototypes to individual components for engines,
brakes, chassis or gearboxes are tested in these bitingly cold conditions.
Volvo is a pioneer in this testing and for the first time it's opened the door to its
operations north of the Arctic Circle. Cold starts down to -30 degrees Celsius, both
in freeze containers and out in the winter night. Groups of engineers test to see how
engines, electronics and brakes function, whether or not they screech or rattle, how
the car runs. Intensive driving in snow storms takes place
off floodlit test tracks in order to get results quickly and evaluate how new models cope with
the problems of snow spray. Test drivers act like normal drivers and see
how the car responds. They then report their findings to the test engineers.
Computers register everything that happens with the engine.
The most experienced test engineers travel around the world and drive in all conceivable
environments. Here, Marcus Martland tests the car's ultimate capabilities on a frozen
leg within Volvo's secret test area. The aim is to make certain that the vehicle
is controllable in all situations. If a driver has to take quick evasive action, the car
should respond predictably. Throughout the winter months, daily expeditions
make their way out to accumulate mileage with the help of local test drivers.
They live in Lapland, the habitat of Scandinavia's original inhabitants, with their reindeer,
lapcots and their own flag. Here, modern motor producers from across
Europe have spawned a major industry in an area under threat of serious depopulation.
About 30,000 kilometres are driven during the winter expedition.
The moose and the reindeer are ever present, yet there have been very few accidents with
wildlife. Within the secret test base, apart from the
roving reindeer, nothing other than the test vehicles can be seen doing their endless circuits.
It's only after being put through intensive torture here in northern Scandinavia that
Volvo cars receive approval and move on to the next stage of development.
No laboratory test or computer simulation could possibly replace this.
A new Volkswagen concept vehicle was revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show recently. Developed
by VW's design team in California, the new vehicle, known as the GX-3, is a cross between
a sports car and a motorcycle. The two-seat has two wheels in the front and
wipe back. Though just a concept, VW is seriously considering taking the GX-3 into production.
It's light, fast and environmentally friendly. The GX-3 will deliver fuel consumption of
just 5.1 litres per 100 kilometres, yet it can accelerate to 100 kilometres per hour
in only 5.7 more seconds. Power comes from the six-speed transmission
and chain drive to the rear wheel. The four-cylinder engine delivers 92 kilowatts.
With the complete machine weighing just 570 kilograms, the GX-3 has a very favourable power
to weight ratio. The basic structure is a high density, more
resistant, steel construction space frame. The paneling of the interior and exterior parts
of the space frame is made of high density fibre glass. Front wheels are controlled by
a double lateral steering axle resembling the layout of a car, while the rear wheels
mono-swing arm resembles a motorcycle. The racing style cockpit is equipped with 5-point
harnesses, yet it can carry two people side by side. While small-scale European manufacturers
have reduced high performance three wheelers, and there are numerous motorbike-based kit
cars on a similar theme, the GX-3 will be the first three wheeler to be offered by one
of the world's major car makers. These days, all the most low-budget vehicles
have some form of power-assisted steering. Many vehicles are now equipped with variable
effort steering systems that change the force needed to turn the wheel, and electric units
are starting to replace the bulkier hydraulic systems.
Now BMW has pioneered a power-assisted steering system that varies the steering ratio according
to the speed of the car. Called Active Steering, the system combines
a conventional rack and pinion steering gear with a planetary gear and an electric motor.
It can modify the driver's steering input, although there is still a mechanical link
between the steering wheel and the front axle. Because of this direct linkage, the system
still delivers direct feedback to the driver. In the new steering system, a small planetary
gear set is located between the steering wheel and the conventional steering rack.
The planetary gear set means that input to the front wheels can come from both the driver
and the steering motor in a range of combinations. A computer working for a number of sensors
determines what the motor's input will be, thus changing the steering ratio.
In case of a system failure, the electric motor will lock, keeping the mechanical link
between the steering wheel and the front axle fully operational.
Thereafter, the Active Steering Equipped Vehicle can be driven as a conventional car.
The most important feature of Active Steering is the variable steering ratio. This means
that the electric motor increases the driver's steering wheel input at low speeds, which generates
a more direct steering ratio, less steering effort, and significantly improved handling
properties. When parking, Active Steering requires less than two turns of the steering
wheel from lock to lock. The supporting effect of the electric motor is reduced as the car's
speed increases, meaning the steering ratio becomes less direct, ensuring better straight
running stability. However, Active Steering provides a much more direct ratio than conventional
steering systems, at speeds below 120 km/h. A direct steering ratio improves both handling
and driving pleasure over a broad range of lower speeds.
The more direct steering ratio means less driver input is required in turning the wheel through
winding roads and sharp curves. At high speeds, the system operates in the opposite direction,
with the steering as system motor having a negative input. This means that the car will
not be twitchy at high speeds. Transitions between a more direct steering ratio through
curves and the less direct one at high speed are seamless and undetectable to the driver.
In any car, sudden changes in direction will cause heavy 'your' reactions and can provoke
extreme oversteer tendencies. In these situations, Active Steering will easily perform a swift
counter-steer reaction, thereby stabilising the vehicle much faster than any driver.
The system not only compensates for quick-deliberate manoeuvres, it will also adjust for wind gust
or irregularity in the road's surface, with no input from the driver at all.
Active Steering works in cooperation with BMW's dynamic stability control system that monitors
individual wheel speeds and lateral forces acting on the car. If the system senses over
or understeer, it regulates engine power and can apply brakes individually to help keep
the vehicle under control and going in the intended direction.
The designers are keen to emphasise the mechanical linkage between steering wheel and the front
axle because it enables the driver to obtain steering feedback through the wheel. Drivers
will not be able to feel active steering in operation unless the vehicle is being pushed
to extremes.
We've congested roads come collisions. The high cost of vehicle repair is of great concern
to the insurance industry and, since 1969, the insurance companies of Britain have operated
their own independent crash analysis centre.
The Thatcher Centre, near Newbury in the UK, crashed tests new cars to find out how safe
they are.
But the centre also has extensive workshops where skilled technicians learn the best way
to repair any form of damage to the cars being tested. The centre is now developing a worldwide
standard for vehicle repairs.
The Thatcher Centre is coming up with ways of reducing repair costs, but their suggestions
are not always good news for car makers.
Some new model vehicles have such flimsy bumpers that a collision at just 15 kilometres per
hour can cause more damage than the car is worth.
For a bumper design, it's just one of the faults in vehicle construction that are becoming
apparent.
All types of cars are tested here from the most expensive sports cars to the small hatchback
and off-roaders.
The crash centre is equipped with multiple high-speed cameras to capture every detail
of a crash as it happens.
The cars are accelerated along a track at a precisely controlled speed, while sensors
take all over the bodywork, measure stresses and impact forces.
After the crash, technicians measure every part of the cars in minute detail.
Test cars contain crash test dummies that have the same weight and flexibility as a
passenger.
They are also filled with electronic sensors that monitor the nature of any injury they
might suffer.
Five years ago, whiplash injuries were costing the British insurance industry a billion pounds
a year in claims, mainly due to inadequate head restraints.
A 60-kilometre per hour impact can produce a force of 73 Gs on the occupants.
After exhaustive testing, Thatcher published their results, they were not good.
The negative publicity forced manufacturers around the world to spend more on safety
features and whiplash injury claims are now declining.
The global reach of Thatcher is reflected in its repair training scheme.
While technicians in the crash test lab are busy smashing new cars to see how safe they
are, 400 apprentices a year are learning how to put them back together again in Thatcher's
state-of-the-art workshops.
The expertise developed here is passed on to the next generation of mechanics over a
three-year block release course and is also exported through the use of comprehensive
manuals and computer-based training programs.
The key to Thatcher's success in producing manuals and teaching aids quickly has been
its ability to get access to new models.
Putting pressure on the car manufacturers to upgrade safety is an important part of
the Thatcher Centre's business.
Research has shown that night driving presents particular difficulties.
Almost 60 per cent of fatal traffic accidents happen at night, even though only 25 per cent
of distance travelled is driven after sunset.
To help drivers in poorly illuminated driving conditions, BMW has introduced a night vision
system with a thermal imaging camera behind impact resistant glass.
The windscreen washer system includes a camera cleaning jet.
The system is activated by a button next to the headlight switch and using the iDrive
menu, the driver can select the type of display preferred on the iDrive screen.
The thermal imaging camera covers a distance of up to 300 metres in front of the vehicle
to create an image of objects out of range of the headlights.
The image appears as a contrasting black and white display on the central monitor.
BMW considered using a head-up display, but tests show that superimposing real and virtual
images caused irritation.
The image on the monitor is electronically brightened or darkened according to ambient
lighting conditions.
Wind or warmth registered by the camera yields a brighter image display on the central monitor.
This gives a useful emphasis to living things.
The system gives the night driver a greater awareness of potential hazards.
Another BMW innovation called high beam assist uses a camera mounted in the rear view mirror
casing.
By rotating the light switch to auto, the system lets the light sensor automatically control
the headlights high and low beam setting.
The system identifies the headlights and the rear lights of vehicles on the road ahead.
High beam assist will automatically dip the lights for oncoming traffic.
When the road is clear, high beam is automatically switched on again.
High beam assist was developed after research showed that high beam headlights should be
used far more often than they currently are.
In addition, drivers who do switch to high beam often fail to deactivate in time and
dazzle other road users.
The new driver assistance systems have been designed to support the driver in low light
driving conditions that require intense concentration.
While petrol electric hybrid engines have been hailed for their fuel saving, there's still
an expensive option on a limited number of vehicles.
But other affordable fuel efficient alternatives are coming to market.
Available this year, two new engines have dramatically improved fuel economy on some
trucks and SUVs.
The first technology for larger eight cylinder engines is called displacement on demand.
The system uses a 32-bit computer to switch between eight and four cylinders so smoothly
the transition is imperceptible to the driver.
Soon it will be standard on the V8 engines in share and GMC extended mid-size SUVs.
Mid-size truck engines have also been improved with new designs and lightweight materials.
One example of this is an inline five-cylinder engine for GM's new Corrado and Canyon-like
trucks.
With the power of a V6, the engine gives the economy of a four-cylinder unit.
Both engines deliver economy without sacrificing output.
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