Archive for Cars

| December 10, 2010
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Wi-Fi Tweets from Outback coming in ’11

wi-fiThe Subaru Outback is now offering Wi-Fi connectivity with Autonet Mobile in-car Internet service for 2011. CNET’s CarTech blog says that the Outback is the latest vehicle to feature built-in Internet connectivity. A Subaru press release extols the benefits of the new service

Subaru logo“Subaru Mobile Internet easily allows users to check e-mail, surf the Web or listen to Internet radio and even stream video and post to social networking sites.” They further point out that users can do revolutionary things like  “… check weather and traffic, download hiking trails, and even reserve a campsite…” Finally, Subaru reminds the reader that the Wi-Fi service is designed for passengers while the car is in motion.

Subaru Outback

Autonet Mobile logoThe Autonet Mobile service in the 2011 Outback will be a $499 option, plus a $35 activation fee and $29 monthly subscription. CNET reports it’s a 3G connection and can handle up to 10 users in a range of about 150 feet.

Autonet Mobile is also available on General Motors (GM) products like some Cadillac and Chevy vehicles including:

  • Equinox
  • Traverse
  • Silverado
  • Tahoe
  • Suburban
  • Avalanche
  • Express

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In-car Wi-Fi doesn’t seem to have the same appeal it once held. Fast cellular data connections and 3G cards for laptops, have stolen in-car Wi-Fi’s thunder – making the Autonet product seems like a weaker competitor of Ford’s Sync service. Ford’s (F) Sync is a multimedia system in partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) which can hook up to a USB modem.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Cars | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
| August 21, 2010
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GM built Robot Works for NASA

GM built Robot Works for NASANASA recently had a coming-out party at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for one of its newest projects. The party was for a human-like robot called the Robonaut 2 (R2) developed with General Motors (GM). The R2 robot has a human shape, weighs about 300 pounds, runs on a battery. The NASA/GM-robot will join the team of the space shuttle Discovery on  STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. STS-133 is scheduled for takeoff on November 1, 2010. Although it will initially only take part in operational tests, upgrades could eventually allow the robot to realize its true purpose. R2 can help astronauts on spacewalks with tasks outside the space station.

The dexterous humanoid astronaut helper is now tweeting at www.twitter.com/AstroRobonaut.

R2 is now tweeting

With the help of its team, R2  sent its first tweet on July 26, 2010.

Robonaut 2

I liked the big blue GM logo on R2. This is another example of the value of the domestic auto industry for the good of the U.S.  Alan Taub, vice president of GM’s global research and development said in a press release, “Partnerships between organizations such as GM and NASA help ensure space exploration, road travel and manufacturing can become even safer in the future.”

GM LogoGM’s manufacturing engineering team is already working to find potential applications for R2’s array of vision, motion, and sensor technologies that will aid workers in manufacturing operations. According to GM’s Taub, “The work done by GM and NASA engineers also will help us validate manufacturing technologies that will improve the health and safety of our GM team members at our manufacturing plants throughout the world.”

“For GM, this is about safer cars and safer plants,” says the GM VP for global research and development. “When it comes to future vehicles, the advancements in controls, sensors, and vision technology can be used to develop advanced vehicle safety systems. The partnership’s vision is to explore advanced robots working together in harmony with people, building better, higher quality vehicles in a safer, more competitive manufacturing environment.”

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Maybe it will be a reminder to politicians like Dick Shelby of AL who opposed loans to GM to further the interests of the foreign car assemblers in Alabama.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| July 5, 2010
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Robot Parking Garage

Robot Parking GarageConstructionWeekOnline.com is reporting that construction has finished on a new robot car park at Ibn Battuta Gate, Dubai. They sent in a camera for a closer look at the heart of the new robot car park to find out exactly what happens when the robots take over. Construction Week reports that the multi-CNC-axis mechanical parking system is the new smart choice in parking garage construction tech. Stable even during a major earthquake, the steel-reinforced concrete structure is relatively easy to build and doesn’t need as much space as traditional parking garages.

 

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I would expect a monster from Doom to show up on some of these levels 🙂

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  • Manufacturers find that robots need plenty of elbow room (omaha.com)

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Cars | Tags: , , , , ,
| December 30, 2009
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Wi-Fi on Wheels

ChWi-Fi on Wheelsevrolet has announced that owners of several new models can turn their rides in a mobile hot spot with Chevrolet Wi-Fi by Autonet Mobile. This option enables full Internet access inside the vehicle and up to a 150 feet radius around the vehicle. Chevrolet Wi-Fi is designed for use by passengers, or by the driver when the vehicle is parked. The system requires no special software and achieves speeds up to 1.5 Mbps. The Chevrolet Wi-Fi internet connection can support up to 10  devices at once, enabling multiple passengers to use the connection for their separate devices.

“Chevrolet Wi-Fi by Autonet Mobile enhances commuting, family vacations and work,” says Chris Rauser, Chevrolet Accessories Manager. “It benefits active families on the go, as well as professionals who need immediate information at remote job sites. Its uses are almost endless.” San Francisco-based Autonet Mobile is the world’s first Internet service provider designed exclusively for vehicles. As a GM Officially Licensed Product, Chevrolet Wi-Fi by Autonet Mobile is certified to work with the following new Chevrolet models:

  • Equinox
  • Traverse
  • Silverado
  • Tahoe
  • Suburban
  • Avalanche
  • Express

According to Autonet, the system uses 3G EVDO/2.5g 1xRRT wireless from Novatel Wireless for connectivity and its own patent-pending TRU technology to support Internet connections over the 3G network while the vehicle is in motion. TRU technology maintains the persistent link, even when 3G coverage is sparse. IEEE 802.11b-a-g provides data link protocols along with one built-in Ethernet LAN port that provides wired connectivity.

Its transport protocols include  PPTP, L2TP, IPSec, and PPPoE along with SNMP for remote management.  Security and access control are provided via  WEP/WPA/WPA2 encryption. Additional docking stations are available, enabling customers to easily move the Chevrolet Wi-Fi by Autonet Mobile router from vehicle to vehicle.

Through Dec. 31, Chevrolet Wi-Fi is available for $199 ($399 retail price, less $200 mail-in rebate with a two-year service agreement). Go to GMextras.com for more information.

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Now a soccer mom in her mini-van picking up Happy Meals will have more connectivity options than some of my clients.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Cars | Tags: , , , , , , ,
| May 4, 2009
Comments Off on Cars Collaborate to Reduce Risks

Cars Collaborate to Reduce Risks

Cars Collaborate to Reduce RisksAccording to InScience scientists and engineers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) tested an innovative technological system in the Detroit area in April 2009. The study will ultimately help protect cars and drivers from being surprised by black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions.

The prototype system is designed to gather detailed information about weather and road conditions from moving cars. NCAR’s road weather system is part of IntelliDrive. IntelliDrive is a national initiative overseen by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use new technologies to make driving safer and improve mobility.

The project included collecting information from 11 specially equipped cars in the Detroit area. Test drivers in Jeep Cherokee’s, Ford (F) Edge’s, and a Nissan Altima were on the prowl for adverse conditions. They sought out heavy rain and snow to collect, store and transmit data. The test vehicles used sensors to collect data about weather conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity.

on-board digital memory device recorded that informationAn on-board digital memory device recorded that information, along with indirect signs of road conditions. They recorded events like the cars windshield wipers being switched on or activation of the anti-lock braking system. The information was transmitted to a central database. There the information was integrated with other local weather data and traffic observations, as well as details about road material and alignment. The processed data will then be used to update motorists in the area when hazards are present and, when appropriate, suggest alternate routes. Engineers analyzed the reliability of the system by comparing data from the cars with other observations from radars and weather satellites.

Sheldon Drobot, the NCAR program manager in charge of the project told Inscience, “The system will tell drivers what they can expect to run into in the next few seconds and minutes, giving them a critical chance to slow down or take other action.”

Not only will the system provide motorist warnings/ It will alert emergency managers to hazardous driving conditions. The alerts would help state highway departments efficiently keep roads clear of snow. It can also help meteorologists refine their forecasts by providing them with continual updates about local weather conditions.

The tests helped the NCAR team refine its software to accurately process data from motor vehicles. “The results look very encouraging,” Drobot says. “The tests show that cars can indeed communicate critical information about weather conditions and road hazards.”

One of the biggest challenges for NCAR is how to process the enormous amounts of data that could be generated by about 300 million motor vehicles. “It’s not enough to process the information almost instantaneously,” says William Mahoney, who oversees the system’s development for NCAR. “It needs to be cleaned up, sent through a quality control process, blended with traditional weather data, and eventually delivered back to drivers who are counting on the system to accurately guide them through potentially dangerous conditions.”

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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