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In the grand tradition of C3PO, Hal, and Johnny 5,
Nissan releases some whimsical, roboticized news by presenting us with its 'bot, BR23C. A "robotic micro-car that recreates bee characteristics with the goal of producing a system that prevents collisions altogether," the project studied, yes, the flight of the bumblebee, an insect notorious for rapid and effective collision avoidance.
Brought to you by turbogeeks from
Nissan and the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at Japan's prestigious University of Tokyo, the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive ("BR23C" for short) gives engineers at
Nissan Co's Advanced Technology Center a "strategic hint at how to design the next generation of crash-avoidance systems." BR23C is part of Nissan's Safety Shield initiative, in which the company intends to halve fatalities or serious injuries involving its cars from the period 1995 to 2015.
According to the exhaustive research, every bumblebee creates its own ovular personal space in which it can fly without incident while also allowing quick exit strategies should danger suddenly loom. A bee's compound eyes that allow a field of vision some 300 degrees are a huge aid in accident avoidance, and
Nissan engineers have tried to re-create this remarkable field of vision using an LRF (Laser Range Finder), which "detects obstacles up to two meters away within a 180-degree radius in front of the BR23C, calculates the distance to them, and sends a signal to an on-board microprocessor, which is instantly translated into collision avoidance."
Unlike a bee, BR23C can only avoid collisions in a flat plane, turning right or left depending upon the more advantageous direction for accident avoidance.
We'd like to see some grasshopper jumping capability designed into BR23C version 2.0, at which point the option to launch completely over and in front of slow, confused bluehairs would become a very real possibility.--
Colin Mathews
Posted in : Concept Cars, Driving, Japan, Nissan, Safety, Technology
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Sport sedan drivers who like to shift it themselves will have to wait until model year 2010 for an
Acura TL with a manual transmission. Judging by the six-speed, short-throw, aluminum-topped stick in its current
TSX, we have no doubt the upcoming TL manual will be a pleasure to row through the gears.
It's a shame
Acura isn't releasing this transmission alongside the intro of its new TL, perhaps lending it more credence as a true driver's car. That said, the U.S. market buys manual transmissions in barely a trickle, so
Acura folk probably figured they could take an extra year to make the new transmission perfect without really impacting sales. What's less forgivable, however, is that the manual will only be available on the pricier SH-AWD model.
"The new manual transmission equipped TL SH-AWD® really allows the enthusiast driver to take full advantage of the performance of Acura's SH-AWD® system," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of sales. Yeah, but what about the drivers who just wants to enjoy the satisfying snick-snick of a
Honda manual transmission outside of the extreme performance driving where SH-AWD really comes alive?
The new transmission is more robust than earlier TL manuals, sports a new clutch, comes with stiffer engine mounts, and results in weight savings of 110 pounds compared to the six-speed auto currently available. It even has the cool hill-hold feature that quirky
Subaru has been doing since the '70s. We say, reduce the alphabet soup of the only model this transmission will come in (TL SH-AWD 6MT) and put it in the base TL, too.--
Colin Mathews
Posted in : 2010, Acura, Driving, Enthusiasts, Technology
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From the slopes of Big Bear to the shores of Santa Monica, text messaging is soon to be illegal in the Golden State of California, dude. This makes the sixth state to join the list of no-texting-while-driving, most recently fortified by
Alaska's addition at the beginning of this month. Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington also ban texting and driving. So does the District of Columbia, bringing the list to more like 6 1/2 states, or six states plus a sidecar, or six states and their Senator-less, humidity-loving cousin.
Interestingly, as the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety notes, "novice drivers are banned from texting in 9 states (Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia)." Given
recent studies that prove texting leads to worse driving than intoxication in some cases, we're surprised those states don't bag on texting altogether. In a move that every state should follow, school bus drivers are banned from texting in Arkansas, Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. We'd like to appeal, as well, to the TSA and Starbucks to ban any texting by their employees while working.
Also interestingly, California will be enforcing a rolling ban of texting, with drivers younger than 18 having been banned from texting since July 2008, and all other drivers banned from texting beginning January 1.--
Colin Mathews
Posted in : 2008, 2009, Driving, Politics, Safety
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You know it's bad, but you do it anyway--now, a
report from Breitbart says researchers have evidence of just how bad texting while driving can be.
How awful is typing away on your iPhone while at the wheel? According to Britain's Transport Research Laboratory, undertaking the study for the also-British
RAC Foundation--texting in drivers between 17 and 24 years old led to 35 percent slower reactions, compared to 21 percent slower under the influence of marijuana and 12 percent slower reflexes at the legal alcohol intoxication limit.
Steering control alone was 91 percent worse, while potheads were only 35 percent slower to steer out of danger. Texters also couldn't keep in their lane as safely or keep a safe distance as consistently.
"When texting, drivers are distracted by taking their hand off the wheel to use their phone, by trying to read small text on the phone display, and by thinking about how to write their message," said researcher Nick Reed. "This combination of factors resulted in the impairments to reaction time and vehicle control that place the driver at a greater risk than having consumed alcohol to the legal limit for driving."
Posted in : Driving
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From the folks who brought you the first
Le Mans winner with a turbodiesel engine,
Audi is introducing its first U.S.-sold diesels since the 1980s with a splashy 23-car caravan of
Q7s, Q5s,
A4s, and
A3s. The vehicles will drive 4,800 miles from New York to Los Angeles in a show of endurance and efficiency.
Journalists from around the world will compete for the title of most fuel-efficient diesel driver, and TheCarConnection.com will be there next month to take part in the cross-country rally.
The brand with the four interlocking rings (symbolizing the merging of German firms Auto Union, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer) will be introducing Audi's as-yet-unseen (in the U.S.) 3.0 TDI V-6 in the Q7, Q5, and A4. Powering the A3 will be a version of the 2.0-liter TDI found in corporate parent VW's
Jetta TDI Clean Diesel.
Audi boasts extreme cleanliness where emissions are concerned, with emissions compliance in all 50 states (
Mercedes did it first) and with Euro 6 standards that won't go into effect until 2014 (impressive).
Following the endurance test,
Audi will launch its U.S. TDI models for the '09 model year.
Posted in : 2009, Audi, Diesels, Driving
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