OnStar getting upgrade for pinpoint accuracy in emergencies

May 14, 2009 at 5:27 pm

(Source: Autoblog)

In the event of a crash, vehicle sensors gather up information and connects an OnStar adviser to a vehicle. OnStar can then contact emergency services and provide information regarding the severity of the crash, with information about airbags deployed and type of impact. 

In the past, OnStar advisers would have to give emergency services a detailed description of the location of the accident.

Subscribers to the telematics system will benefit from new technology that will enable OnStar to electronically transmit precise longitude and longitude coordinates directly to the 911 center. Where available, the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) data display will show the authorities exactly where you’re located, with almost zero opportunity for error.

The presser had the following info: With this newest OnStar enhancement, 911 centers can automatically receive specific vehicle location information (longitude and latitude) in the 911 Automatic Location Identification (ALI) data display which may interface with a sophisticated mapping system used in many jurisdictions to expedite locating emergency victims. 

“In an emergency, accurate location is the most important piece of information to ensure that help arrives promptly at the scene,” said Cathy McCormick, Emergency and Security Service Line manager, OnStar.

In addition to providing location information, OnStar advisors continue to play an important role in providing critical crash and other emergency-related information directly to dispatchers to help them determine the most appropriate response. 

“The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials has worked with telematics providers since their inception to use the latest technology to assist public safety in saving lives,” said Chris Fischer, president, APCO International. “This technology interfaces with the systems many of our centers have in place already to expedite response.”

With OnStar’s Priority Access program, many PSAPs already receive OnStar emergency calls through an existing 911 trunk line. By routing verified emergency calls to 911 trunk lines, dispatchers will not only receive OnStar calls more quickly, they will also receive important call-related data, including OnStar’s PSAP-only callback number. 

California’s Electric bikemaker woos commuters in Europe

May 13, 2009 at 11:50 am

(Source: BBC)

The need for speed is not normally a selling point for commuters who buy electric vehicles. But it could be.

Zero Motorcycle unveiled its  “insanely fast” electric motorcycle in the UK and other European countries.  The BBC has a lengthy write-up that offers a lot of details on this two wheel marvel.

And you better believe it – this bike moves.

“You can accelerate faster than any car,” says Neal Saiki, who invented the electric motorcycle.

“You’ve got all kinds of power, and it is totally quiet. I think it is a lot like flying.”

Image Courtesy: The Motor Report

A gentle turn of the throttle and the force of the lithium-ion battery pack is transferred directly to the back wheel, sending the bike rocketing down London’s Kings Road.

The experience is vastly different from the ride of a conventional bike. There is no clutch and no need to change gears. Turning the throttle instantly delivers powerful torque, along with just enough chain rattle to remind you that this is still a motorcycle.

Change the software settings, explains Mr Saiki, founder and chief technology officer of Zero Motorcycles, and the bike will deliver zero to 50mph in just five seconds.  While still at college in California, he designed the world’s first helicopter powered by a human.

The invention eventually helped him become a designer of “high altitude research vehicles” for US space agency Nasa, a job he left to start building motorcycles.

“What we’ve done here is to combine the world’s smallest, lightest battery pack with a revolutionary 28 pound (12 kilogramme) frame,” says Mr Saiki, who invented the battery himself and designed the frame from aircraft grade aluminium.

Consequently, he insists, this is the “quickest production electric motorcycle in its class”.

Enough, perhaps, to convince thrill-seeking commuters, though at an expected price of some £8,000 in the UK and a maximum range of 60 miles per charge, the bike may struggle to attract people away from established motorcycle communities.

Zero Motorcycles is pitching the bike as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional motorcycles.

In terms of fuel economy, there is probably not that much in it, since motorcycles tend not to be all that thirsty in the first place.

But when it comes to emissions it is a clear winner, the company insists, even in countries with coal-fired power stations.

“Although there is some pollution associated with the production of electricity, a Zero motorcycle produces less than an eighth of the CO2 pollution per mile at the power plant than a petrol-powered motorcycle,” Zero declares.  In the video below, you can hear about the Zero S from Neal Saiki himself as he walks through various aspects of its innovative  design & cutting edge technology.  

 It is a claim the conventional bike makers will find hard to refute, not least since they tend not to publish any CO2 figures at all.

Many commuters will be more interested in data on battery charging times, though.

Zero says a four-hour charge using an ordinary household socket will cost six pence and deliver 60 miles of motoring, and Mr Saiki insists the battery pack should be able to deliver such performance for about five years.

“You charge it in the morning and it’ll be ready for lunch,” he says.

“It would cost you $30 (£20) to go from California to New York,” observes Zero’s PR man.

Though allow for the frequent recharging, and the journey would take a long, long time.

Click here to read the entire article.

Transport for London moves ahead with testing of Intelligent Speed Adaptation Technology

May 12, 2009 at 6:39 pm

(Source: Green Car Congress)

Transport for London (TfL) will begin a six-month trial ofIntelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) technology which aims to reduce road casualties and help drivers avoid speeding penalties.  As part of the trial, which will start this summer, a London bus will be fitted with ISA.   The trial will monitor driver behavior, journey times and the effect that driving within the speed limit has on vehicle emissions. ISA uses the digital speed limit map of London which TfL launched on 29 January 2009. This is the first time all of London’s speed limits have been mapped accurately with regular updates.

It is estimated that if two thirds of London drivers use the ISA system, the number of road casualties in the Capital could be reduced by 10%

This innovative technology could help any driver in London avoid the unnecessary penalties of creeping over the speed limit, and at the same time will save lives. We know the technology works, and now we want to know how drivers in all types of vehicles respond to it. ISA is intended as a road safety device, but if Londoners embrace this technology we may well see additional benefits including reduced congestion as a result of collisions and reduced vehicle emissions as drivers adopt a smoother driving style.

—Chris Lines, Head of TfL’s London Road Safety Unit

Isamap

The UK government’s Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) and the Motorists’ Forum (MF) recently issued a joint report evaluating the impact of implementing an Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) system across the entire road network on reducing deaths and injuries on the UK roads and on reducing fuel consumption and emissions of CO2 and criteria pollutants.  Of the two proposed benefits of ISA—GHG emissions reduction and increased road safety—the report concluded that the calculated social benefits of the accident savings far outweigh the values of fuel or CO2 saved.

The intelligent technology, which works in conjunction with a GPS, enables drivers to select an option where acceleration is stopped automatically at the speed limit specific to any road in London within the M25 area. The unit can be disabled at the touch of a button, at which point it reverts to an advisory status where the current, legal speed limit is simply displayed as a driver aid. There is also a complete over-ride switch with disables the system entirely.

The practical uses of the technology will be tested in the six month trial after which a report will be submitted to the Mayor of London, and the technology will be made available to external organizations.

The Grid, Our Cars and the Net: One Idea to Link Them All – Wired interviews Zip Car founder, Robin Chase

May 8, 2009 at 4:13 pm

(Source: Wired)

robin_chase_main

Top photo: Flickr / Phil Hawksworth.

Editor’s note: Robin Chase thinks a lot about transportation and the internet, and how to link them. She connected them when she founded Zipcar, and she wants to do it again by making our electric grid and our cars smarter. Time magazine recently named her one of the 100 most influential people of the year. David Weinberger sat down with Chase to discuss her idea.

Robin Chase considers the future of electricity, the future of cars and the internet three terms in a single equation, even if most of us don’t yet realize they’re on the same chalkboard. Solve the equation correctly, she says, and we create a greener future where innovation thrives. Get it wrong, and our grandchildren will curse our names.

Chase thinks big, and she’s got the cred to back it up. She created an improbable network of automobiles called Zipcar. Getting it off the ground required not only buying a fleet of cars, but convincing cities to dedicate precious parking spaces to them. It was a crazy idea, and it worked. Zipcar now has 6,000 cars and 250,000 users in 50 towns.

Now she’s moving on to the bigger challenge of integrating a smart grid with our cars – and then everything else. The kicker is how they come together. You can sum it up as a Tweet: The intelligent network we need for electricity can also turn cars into nodes. Interoperability is a multiplier. Get it right!

Chase starts by explaining the smart grid. There’s broad consensus that our electrical system should do more than carry electricity. It should carry information. That would allow a more intelligent, and efficient, use of power.

“Our electric infrastructure is designed for the rare peak of usage,” Chase says. “That’s expensive and wasteful.”

Changing that requires a smart grid. What we have is a dumb one. We ask for electricity and the grid provides it, no questions asked. A smart grid asks questions and answers them. It makes the meter on your wall a sensor that links you to a network that knows how much power you’re using, when you’re using it and how to reduce your energy needs – and costs.

Such a system will grow more important as we become energy producers, not just consumers. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will return power to the grid. Rooftop solar panels and backyard wind turbines will, at times, produce more energy than we can store. A smart grid generates what we need and lets us use what we generate. That’s why the Obama Administration allocated $4.5 billion in the stimulus bill for smart grid R&D.

This pleases Chase, but it also makes her nervous. The smart grid must be an information network, but we have a tradition of getting such things wrong. Chase is among those trying to convince the government that the safest and most robust network will use open internet protocols and standards. For once the government seems inclined to listen.

Chase switches gears to talk about how cars fit into the equation. She sees automobiles as just another network device, one that, like the smart grid, should be open and net-based.

“Cars are network nodes,” she says. “They have GPS and Bluetooth and toll-both transponders, and we’re all on our cell phones and lots of cars have OnStar support services.”

That’s five networks. Automakers and academics will bring us more. They’re working on smart cars that will communicate with us, with one another and with the road. How will those cars connect to the network? That’s the third part of Chase’s equation: Mesh networking.

In a typical Wi-Fi network, there’s one router and a relatively small number of devices using it as a gateway to the internet. In a mesh network, every device is also a router. Bring in a new mesh device and it automatically links to any other mesh devices within radio range. It is an example of what internet architect David Reed calls “cooperative gain” – the more devices, the more bandwidth across the network. Chase offers an analogy to explain it.

“Wi-Fi is like a bridge that connects the highways on either side of the stream,” she says. “You build it wide enough to handle the maximum traffic you expect. If too much comes, it gets congested. When not enough arrives, you’ve got excess capacity. Mesh takes a different approach: Each person who wants to cross throws in a flat rock that’s above the water line. The more people who do that, the more ways there are to get across the river.”

 

“Today in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and tanks and airplanes are running around using mesh networks,” said Chase. “It works, it’s secure, it’s robust. If a node or device disappears, the network just reroutes the data.”

And, perhaps most important, it’s in motion. That’s what allows Chase’s plural visions to go singular. Build a smart electrical grid that uses Internet protocols and puts a mesh network device in every structure that has an electric meter. Sweep out the half dozen networks in our cars and replace them with an open, Internet-based platform. Add a mesh router. A nationwide mesh cloud will form, linking vehicles that can connect with one another and with the rest of the network. It’s cooperative gain gone national, gone mobile, gone open.

Chase’s mesh vision draws some skepticism. Some say it won’t scale up. The fact it’s is being used in places like Afghanistan and Vienna indicates it could. Others say moving vehicles may not be able to hook into and out of mesh networks quickly enough. Chase argues it’s already possible to do so in less than a second, and that time will only come down. But even if every car and every electric meter were meshed, there’s still a lot of highway out there that wouldn’t be served, right? Chase has an answer for that, too.

Click here to read the entire article.

NASA’s deep space missions may get new jolt of fuel

May 8, 2009 at 12:53 pm

The Energy Department has requested $30 million to relaunch a program to make radioactive plutonium-238, the supply of which is running low.

The Energy Department plans to restart its program of making radioactive fuel for NASA’s deep space missions, the agency announced Thursday, a decision that came only hours after the National Research Council warned that the nation was fast running out of the fuel.

Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the department, said the agency had requested $30 million in its fiscal 2010 budget proposal to restart the fuel-making process. In its budget statement, the agency said it had “a long and successful history” of supporting NASA’s needs. It said it welcomed the National Research Council findings.

In a 74-page report titled “Radioisotope Power Systems: An Imperative for Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Space Exploration,” the council pointed out that American leadership in space has depended in part on the ability to power spacecraft on deep space missions, in which the sun’s rays are too weak for generating solar power.

For such research, which includes the New Horizons mission now heading for Pluto and the Cassini mission now orbiting Saturn, the electricity that powers onboard instruments comes from devices called radioisotope power generators. The RPGs make electricity with the heat from the radioactive decay of small amounts of plutonium-238 carried on board. 

According to Ralph McNutt, a space scientist at Johns Hopkins University and co-chairman of the committee that produced the report, the United States stopped making Pu-238 about 20 years ago, with the end of the Cold War. Although Pu-238 is not weapons-grade material, it is a byproduct of making the more dangerous Pu-239, he said.

NASA uses about 11 pounds of Pu-238 each year. In recent years, it has purchased some of the material from Russia, but unless it makes new Pu-238, McNutt said, NASA will run out by the end of the next decade. That will leave enough fuel to power only the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory and outer planet missions, he said. 

The Mars Science Lab is a rover about the size of a minivan that will be able to roll over large rocks, which have deterred the smaller rovers previously sent to Mars. An outer planet mission, set for 2020, which will visit Jupiter and its moons Europa and Ganymede, is still being designed.

(Source: LA Times)

After conquering the land, Google sets sight on the oceans; Envisions future of floating, blue-green data centers

May 4, 2009 at 12:56 pm

(Source: Ars Technica) & TeamSilverback)

Google has been granted its patent for a data center that floats on the ocean. Though the patent mostly describes how such a thing would work, it also addresses the use of wave and tidal power, as well as water cooling to even land-based data centers that are nearby.

The future of data centers appears to be a move from the land to the sea, with power coming from the movement of the water and cooling coming directly from the ocean. Google was granted a patent for a floating data center this week, allowing it to license out the technology to third parties if it should so choose.
Google’s application for a “Water-based data center” patent was filed in February of 2007 and published late last year. It describes “a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units.” 

The majority of the patent deals with the logistics of ship-based data centers, though it also examines the use of wave power, tidal power, and seawater for providing electricity and cooling to land-based data centers that are close enough to water.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop Google from deploying a floating data center powered by conventional fuel sources, but such a vessel would be more limited by range or fuel capacity. Not only would it have to carry enough fuel to power itself, it would also have to make sure to power the systems it carries. Using a water-based generator would not only be more practical and efficient, it’s also a significantly greener solution.

Despite the patent, however, Google may not be the first company to send its data centers out to sea. A Silicon Valley startup called International Data Security (IDS) announced in January of 2008 its intent to set up a fleet of data-serving cargo ships. These ships would not only come with standard storage services, but also with amenities such as private offices, overnight accommodations, and galley services. The first ship was scheduled to set sail (or rather, hang out in San Francisco’s Pier 50) in April of 2008, but according to a blog post by IDS partner Silverback Migration Solutions, that plan got pushed to third quarter 2008 and we were unable to find any further information on the project.

The Silverback blog alos outlines a few interetsing points.  The value proposition for ship based datacenters is very similar to that of land based datacenters, with a few noteable exceptions:

–Current market demand for data center space continues to outpace
supply, and using ships as data centers can reduce time to market by as
much as 65%.

–Cap-Ex costs to bring a ship into data center operation is
approximately 2/3 that of a land-based facility.

Charge on Run! General Dynamics RST-V Series-Hybrid With Cool In-Wheel Motors

April 20, 2009 at 4:53 pm

(Source: Jalopnik)

The General Dynamics Reconnaissance Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle is one cool piece of kit. It’s powered by four electric in-wheel motors and can export thirty kilowatts directly to the grid. It’s also got neat-o gauges.

This piece of military could-be is part of a larger push from the US Army to reduce their fuel consumption and use smarter technologies to make future land vehicles better in the field and more useful tools for soldiers. The RST-V is a technology demonstrator built entirely by General Dynamics to show what’s possible on a smaller-sized vehicle built around a series hybrid drive system.  (For those interested in reading about the Pentagon’s forays into alternative fuels take a look at this article : Pentagon Prioritizes Pursuit Of Alternative Fuel Sources).

It uses a small diesel-engine powering a generator to charge on-board batteries or power the in-wheel electric motors. Instead of mounting the wheels to studs on the motor as is normally done on hub-motor concepts, this concept works a bit differently. First the wheel is assembled on a bearing riding on an stub axle, then on goes the 90 kW peak, 50 kW continuous pancake motor mount installed on the splined hub shaft, then on top of that a pancake gear reduction unit which interfaces with an eccentrically mounted geared track one the rim of the wheel. Very, very clever. Each wheel gets an independent motor controller so even if three motors get shot out, forward motion is still possible.  Aside from being able to operate in all-silent mode, it can also export over 20 kW of power to the grid.

Click here to read the entire article.

Dummy, yes! Human, almost! – An awesome picture show!

April 15, 2009 at 7:40 pm

(Source: Good Magazine)

Crash test dummies, or anthropomorphic test devices, are replications of human forms and weight distributions, used to study potential human damage in car crashes. We’re all familiar with images of them flying through windshields or being restrained by seat belts and airbags in slow motion. But when looked at through a different lens, the models take on a surreal, human quality. “Crash Tests,” by the French photographer Charles Negre, offers a look at a number of unsung—if inanimate—heroes, without whom we drivers and passengers would be a great deal worse off.  Here is a sample (st one below is the dummy named, David) and click here for the complete picture show.

The one below is Roberto

Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge workshop, May 14th, The Netherlands

April 15, 2009 at 12:21 pm

 

header: Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge
  EJ SolThe paradigm shift goes from a car receiving information only to a car communicating bi-directionally with its environment. The car will become an open system and the car industry will see a change in much the same way that mainframe computer vendors and incumbent telecom operators saw their world change within a decade. We invite all the bright minds to create the best solution and to test them in an open challenge. Who will become the Microsoft of the car operating system? It will take decades, five system generations of evolution, but the automobile will become a real auto (auto) mobile.
Egbert-Jan Sol
CTO, TNO Science and Industry
    

In 2008 we announced the Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge and beginning of 2009 we gave you some first information about this event. In the last months we went more in detail and made some changes in the project plan.

This has resulted in a new planning.The challenge begins in 2009, with the finals scheduled for 2011. In brief, the timetable is:

  • 2009: Workshop (May) during the ‘Cooperative Systems on the Road’ event to swap ideas on rules, protocols and technology (more preparation workshops will be scheduled).
  • 2010: Demonstration with Cooperative technology based on Shockwave Traffic Jam Experiment during the showcase event in March involving the CVIS, SAFESPOT and COOPERS R&D projects.
  • 2011: Actual highway challenge. Teams from all around the world will participate.

After 2011, the organisers intend to make the challenge an annual international event in which new and gradually more challenging traffic situations will be addressed to stimulate the development of cooperative technology in the longer term.

The forthcoming workshop date and venue
The first, important event for the GCDC will be a workshop, being organised by HTAS (High Tech Automotive Systems) and TNO on Thursday 14 May 2009. This coincides with the ‘Cooperative Systems on the Road’ event being held on the public roads in the southern Dutch city of Helmond from 12-14 May.

This high-profile event will be attended by international media as well as representatives from government, industry and academic institutions. Topics on the agenda include a GCDC roadmap with redefined activities as well as input for GCDC technology, rules and financing.

Keynote speakers are scheduled from the US DARPA Grand Challenge and ITS Japan.
This workshop is open for interested potential challenge participants and stakeholders.  The outcome of this workshop will enable to start the preparations for the challenge.

Workshop registration
The workshop is free of charge. It will start at 8.30hrs till approximately 18.00hrs. You can register via www.gcdc.nl/workshopmay09 by 24 April. Places are limited so please sign up as soon as possible. This is an initiative you will certainly want to be part of. More details will follow after registration.

Location
Helmond, in the Southeast Netherlands, lies within easy reach of several airports. Eindhoven is just a half hour drive away, with Amsterdam Schiphol very well connected by train. Rotterdam, Düsseldorf, Weeze and Brussels are about an hour away by road.  Hotel accommodation can be found in Helmond itself or in nearby Eindhoven. See links below for more information.

For more information, contact project manager Anton Gerrits (anton.gerrits@tno.nl or +31-623115397).

Useful links

 
 

About HTAS

High Tech Automotive Systems is a Dutch automotive innovation program empowered by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs together with industry, knowledge institutes and university partners.

The focus areas of HTAS are driving Guidance and Efficient Vehicles. In addition HTAS has an ‘Enablers’ program for automotive education, knowledge transfer and business development.
More info: www.htas.nl
 

About TNO 

Developing, integrating and applying knowledge: it is this combination that differentiates TNO from other knowledge institutions. 

By encouraging the effective interplay of knowledge areas, TNO generates creative and practicable innovations: new products, services and processes, fully customized for business and government.
More info: www.tno.nl

 
 
 

Project P.U.M.A – GM’s tango with Segway births an awesome personal mobility platform for urban environments

April 7, 2009 at 3:12 pm

(Source: Jalopnik)

P.U.M.A delivers 35 mile range, 35 MPH top speed, all on 35 cents of electricity 

GM and Segway have teamed up before the New York Auto Show on what they’re calling the PUMA project. The prototype vehicle was exclusively unveiled today on the Today Show. It’s no April Fool’s joke.  PUMA stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility and the prototype running around outside NBC’s Today Show this morning is an experimental prototype of a vehicle Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, and strategic planning, claims we’ll see a roadable version by January.

The interesting thing here isn’t necessarily the size – barely wide enough to fit two skinny urban dwellers — the electric powertrain — 35 mile range, 35 MPH top speed, all on 35 cents of electricity — or the added mobility it provides – not much more than a bicycle and significantly less than a gas-powered scooter — but it’s vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Not only does the P.U.M.A. talk to other units, but it can detect the presence of other types of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists; using that info to avoid collisions. It can also join together with other P.U.M.A.s to form high-speed (if you can call 35 MPH high speed) cross-city trains capable of using special lanes for uninterrupted travel.

 

Jalopnik’s review of the PUMA after taking it for a spin goes like this:  

The first impression is of how small and simple the PUMA is. There’s barely room for two full-sized adults to sit side-by-side within its roll cage and inside, under the rough plexi windshield there’s only one control: the aircraft-like yoke.

Mounted on that yoke are two buttons; one to start things up and one to shut it down. Hit the one on the right and the cabin lifts up off the ground, balancing completely level. Move the yoke forward and the cabin rotates in front of the center of gravity, initiating forward motion. Push forward for more acceleration, pull backward to shift the cabin rearwards to decelerate or come to a stop. Twist the yoke left or right to steer. Do so at a standstill and one wheel will roll forward, the other backwards, spinning you in place. That’s it, it couldn’t be simpler. In fact, it works just like a Segway, albeit a giant one that goes 10 MPH faster and lets two people sit down out of the weather.

Riding along in complete silence, sliding fore and aft is a bit eerie. The seats aren’t connected to the floor plan, meaning your feet slide out from under the seat when the cabin shifts foreword and vice versa in reverse. That feeling of connection to the movement helps orient passengers to what’s going on beneath them.

The simplicity of the control system – immediately intuitive – hints at the intended use of the PUMA. You wouldn’t need to be competent behind the wheel of a car to use one, it’s more like operating a video game. Perfect for today’s youth gone wild.

Segway just released the following video of Project P.U.M.A. in action (via The College Driver!).  Check it out::