THE FUTURE OF THE CAR AUTOMATION

WHATS NEXT

Many drivers might be willing to give up their autonomy if it meant never being stuck in traffic.

hours of travel delays and 2.81 billion gallons of wasted hiel in America every year. If the network proceeds as planned, in 2013 the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration may promote consumer ji inption by requiring cars to offer a wireless system to earn its coveted five-star safety rating. The ITS's magical network, fully realized, will hinge on the valuable 5.9-gigahertz bandwidth set iiside by the Federal Communications Commission for --hort-range communications. This special channel will let cars securely "talk" to each other to cooperate and avoid crashes; trigger airbags and other safety systems before a crash occurs; "platoon" in close quarters on highways to ease congestion, pollution and driver stress; and eventually take over more and more of the .11 lual driving. Connect it all with the GPS,by-wire systems and sensors already in cars, and the result will be machines that broadcast their position, speed, vehicle weight and other crilica! data at least lo times per second. In effect, cars will become traveling probes, delivering real-time traffic, weather and accident data even on sparsely traveled roads. "Every car sends out a heartbeat," says Mike Shulman, a technical leader of Ford s "active safety" research team. "Collect all that data, and if there's any conflict, you warn the driver or take control." Naturally, this networked landscape has companies licking their chops over the possibilities for locationspecific advertising or high-speed tolling. Security is another issue: If you think hackers are dangerous now, imagine them sending out false messages or otherwise compromising a system that controls swarms of twoton vehicles. Automakers are devising and testirag complex authentication and encryption schemes to make the system as impenetrable as possible. Privacy looms large as well. The system could potentially be used to track drivers' whereabouts and enforce traffic laws. Ultimately the government might well argue to ban speeding altogether, with Big Brother controlling cars like pawns on a chessboard. (General Motors's wireless OnStar system already lets police remotely track and shut down a stolen car.) Yet many drivers might be willing to give up their autonomy in certain situationsfor example, if it meant getting to work on time instead of being stuck in traffic. ERL's Huhnke points out that in a poll, 70 percent of drivers rated their abilities as "above average." Ten minutes behind the wheel in any city is enough to prove how wrong they are. Who wouldn't want some of those crazies, lazies and cellphone chatterers to be rendered obsolete, replaced by a hypervigilant robo-car programmed to follow the niles and safeguard the life of any human it encounters?

THE URBAN COMMUTE, 2020

Eight technologies that will make future automotive adventures free of traffic jams, fender benders and fruitless hunts for parking spaces TRAFFIC PROBES
Taking a cue from crowdsourced navigation on GPS-equipped smartphones. networked cars will act as probes, delivering realtime traffic, weather and accident data.

l=J CARS THAT NEVER TAILGATE

By rougtily 2Q15, General Motors says, its adaptive cruise control systems will not simply adjust to slower cars ahead but will check for a lane opening and steer around cars without having to slow down. The next wireless step: "platooned" autos, linked in manageable groups to travel highways like coupled freight cars, which would save fuel, reduce pileups, do wonders for Irafficj3ms-and free drivers from commuting drudgery. As early proof, this March GM's new EN-V concept cars-electric two-passenger urban transportation pods-will drive around a GM exhibit in Shanghai in a choreographed display of wireless automation.

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13 TAKE-CHARGE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES

Ambulances will digitally broadcast their out-of-my-way signal into cars ahead or even require them to automatically slow down and pull over. Motorcycles will get a digital assist, too. People often miss them in their rearview mirrors, but to automated cars they will be as visible as an 18-wheeler.

I BEACONS FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS

Nonmotorists can oin the network by carrying a simple transponder [hat alerts cars to Iheir presence, fixes their location, and ensures that cars don't hit them.

[*] CRASH MITIGATION

If a collision is unavoidable, networked cars could automatically reposition before a crash to protect occupants, such as pivoting a car to turn a deadly T-bone accident into a survivabte rear-ender instead. (Mercedes's latest safety concept car already inflates metallic structures inside the doors to create a beefier barrier.)

iM STICKY LANES
New satellites wilt allow cars to pinpoint their position within an inch. That "lanespecific" tevel of accuracy can help cars "snap to" a digitally mapped lane tike a slot car on a track when a driver daydreams or falls asleep, even on the snow-covered or poorly marked roads that confuse today's lane-departure cameras.

U\ PARKING LOTS THATTALK

Many cars can already parallel-park with tittle or no human input. Tomorrow's networked cars and parking lots will tell each other when and where a spot opens up, saving drivers from wasting precious time and gas while circling the block. Drivers can beeline to open slots, or head to work and let the car park itself-and then call the car to come fetch them at day's end.

SMART INTERSECTIONS
You'll never see the drunk driver that's about to run the red light. But a smart intersection could save your life. Twenty percent of all crash fatalities and 40 percent of accidents occur at intersections. Smart intersections will communicate with cars, beaming them visual and audio collision warnings, and even taking direct action to slow or stop vehicles and prevent offenders from running red lights entirety.

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