What a difference 40 years makes. Back when Baby Boomers were nervously applying for their learner's permits, race car drivers
and aircraft pilots were the only ones wearing seatbelts. Cars had steel dashboards and AM radios with protruding knobs. In-cabin
high technology was an aftermarket FM converter bolted under the glove compartment, later joined by a whirring 8-track tape
player.
Fast-forward to today, and consumers are consistently clamoring for the latest sensors and computerized electronics engineered
with occupant protection and crash avoidance in mind. Manufacturers, in turn, are eager to oblige with the most innovative
and sophisticated technological advances aimed at meeting these peace-of-mind concerns.
"People are very conscious about the safety of their vehicles, and the OEs are adapting to it at an amazing rate," says Phil
Headley, chief engineer for advanced technologies at Continental North America. "It used to be they'd say, 'Safety doesn't
sell,' but now it does."
Currently much of this equipment is installed and programmed on the assembly line. "Electronic stability control has to be
tuned to the vehicle," Headley explains. "But there is a place in the aftermarket for things such as backup cameras and lane
departure systems that don't have to be integrated into the vehicle." The overall "car tech" market — covering the convergence of automotive safety, security, convenience and entertainment systems
— has doubled over the past five years and is expected to top $12 billion by the end of this year, according to the Consumer
Electronics Association.
Among the highlights of the organization's giant January exposition in Las Vegas was the running of a driverless robotic Chevrolet
Tahoe enhanced by Carnegie Mellon University's Tartan Racing Team and an array of industry sponsors.
"We and some of the other suppliers got involved to learn more about our technologies," says Headley. "Some of the radars
that we furnished for that vehicle are on production vehicles today," he points out. "It shows that you don't have to go out
and buy military radars to make it work, and some of the (other) technologies could be put into production relatively soon."
General Motors has announced that cars that drive themselves could be ready for sale within a decade based on technologies
at work on the experimental Tahoe.
Known as "The Boss," the vehicle claimed first place in the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge.
Entrant vehicles had to navigate, park and handle traffic on a 60-mile urban course within a six-hour time limit. Relying
only on sensors and computers, they had to obey traffic laws, merge into moving traffic, avoid obstacles and negotiate intersections
while dodging real-life traffic represented by 50 moving sedans with human drivers. Avoiding and outpacing the 10 other race
finalists in this vigorous robot-on-robot competition was yet another challenge.
The Boss employs 10 computers with 200,000 lines of software plus lasers, radars and cameras that sense roads, signs and assorted
hazards.
"We believe the Urban Challenge was not 'pie in the sky' thinking on display," says Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, Continental's
chief technology officer. "Instead, we view the competition as an incubator for the driving experience of the future."
"We are excited to be using our electronics expertise to help our automotive customers develop safety technologies that achieve
our vision of zero vehicle crashes and injuries in the future," concurs Bill Kozyra, the company's president and CEO.
Auto buyers are eagerly seeking vehicles designed to keep them "safe, green and connected," says Frank Ordoñez, president of Delphi Product & Service Solutions. "And the evolution of vehicle
technology is saving lives. These technologies help occupants be safer — and bring opportunity to independent aftermarket
shops."
