Automakers Working on Car-to-Car Ad-Hoc Networks

LouCifer writes "The Register is reporting that BMW, Audi, Daimler Chrysler, Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat are working with a German government grant to help develop a standard method for car-to-car wireless networking dubbed 'NOW' (Network On Wheels). NOW is based on 802.11 and IPv6 to allow inter-vehicle communication based on ad-hoc networking to share traffic information. With routing capabilities, the hope is the vehicles will be able to warn each other - and the drivers - about bad weather, accidents and road problems. A prototype is expected by mid-2005 with field trials to start late Q1 2006."

This could be awesome...

[bennomatic]

Imagine if this technology were built into large parking lots, so you would know upon entering where the nearest parking place was that did not have a likely parker approaching ahead of you...

More distraction is all we need

[Salo2112]

Great. As if cell phones are not a big enough distraction, now we'll have to contend with drivers downloading mp3s, rolling game rooms and drive-by hackings.

Acura RL already has Traffic Navigation built in

[zomper514]

While I have only seen commercials for the Acura RL [acura.com] it has the technology already built in. However the RL is getting the traffic information from those funny solar pannels on the sides of the road. It is actually pretty slick because the RL uses XM radio as the delivery method for the traffic information provided by Traffic.com [traffic.com]. This is already a multi-million dollar project funded by the US Government.

Re:This could be awesome...

[leerpm]

Other good uses:

• Automatic warnings to all cars of accidents *the moment* it happens.. Think about how many lives could be saved if you could even warn oncoming cars a few seconds earlier.
• Ability for travellers to self-police. If some guy is driving 60mph+ over the speed limit, likely you could have people report this driver.. Enough complaints and an officer will know where to respond.
• Automatic 'fastest route' calculation based on traffic densities. No more guessing, you can just rely on computer algorithms using real-time information.

Future of law enforcement

[orb_fan]

I can see it now - speed signs that get telemetry directly from the car and issues a ticket when you are going over the limit.

HUD

[DeathFlame]

I think something cool would be a HUD for every window. Like the HUD you see in flight sim games where other 'ships' are shown as dots or squares or some sort. Then you could set it to show you the 'name' of every vehicle (which you set as you get in) and the speed and relative distance of each vehicle. This would be especially useful in snowy, foggy or rainy weather where visibility is limited.

You could have the option to toggle what you see as well.

Re:Get out of the left lane slowpoke

[LadyVirharper]

Sign me up for thse precanned ones too. And add "learn how to brake...just because your car can brake from 60 to 0 in 2 seconds doesn't mean everyone behind you has just got new brakes too!" for those morons who brake hard out of friggin' nowhere for no reason except to feel a few gees as they brake.

Oh, and add "you got a headlight out" and "dude, this is a 4 way stop sign corner, and it's YOUR TURN." and "Watch out...biker on probably the worst road for biking ahead!" (I'm a biker myself, and there's just some roads you don't bike on due to a lack of shoulder and heavy/fast traffic volume.)

I've wanted a "reverse honk" for a while to get rid of the tailgaters (and it's not like I'm a slowpoke myself...if they tailgate me there's something wrong with them because I'm going as fast as I can without getting an insta-ticket the next squad car I pass). Maybe this will serve the purpose? Without having to rig something weird hanging out of your car's rear end?

It CAN't be CAN

[WebCowboy]

[It's called CAN] and like I2C, its been around for ages.

You are mistaken about CAN. You either didn't read the article too closely or you have no friggin clue what CAN is. Probably the latter given your incoherent off-topic rant about Linux (WTF?).

CAN stands for Controller-Area-Network [algonet.se]. It is not limited to use in automotive applications--it is a widely used technology for industrial automation (intelligent devices that use the open communications standard called DeviceNet [odva.org]). In and of itself it provides no wireless functionality, ad-hoc configuration and doesn't use the IPv6 protocol (or IPvANYTHING--it uses CIP). In automobiles, it is used by electronics systems to communicate with and control various systems. The diagnostic port on mostly European cars is handled by CAN chips.

It cannot communicate at speeds over 1 megabit per second, and it cannot communicate outside of the automobile or local control system network without extra help. OTOH unlike ethernet it is fully deterministic and has reliability mechanisms at the hardware level (that is, it guarantees data packets arrive when you want them, in the correct order).

This new thing has NOTHING AT ALL to do with CAN...it looks more like "Rendezvous for Cars" and looks very interesting indeed. Of course, with all the exciting useful things comes potential abuses (mis-applied, could Big Brother monitor and collect data about your driving behaviour? Photo radar is bad enough already).

Re:This could be awesome...

[DrKayBee]

Another possible use, and something I've been thinking of for a while is a smarter 'cruise control', which automatically adjusts your speed / position / lane based on ambient traffic.

With GPS and proximity sensing, this should be possible to engineer.

Re: Thats it!

[tabrisnet]

Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow has this concept.

Eastern Standard Tribe [craphound.com] Aparrently instead of paying a toll for the New Jersey Turnpike, one downloads music, then pays for it at the gate. Don't ask me tho...

Solution to "Get out of the left lane slowpoke"

[Neurotoxic666]

Try this: http://www.roadragecards.com/samples.htm Rather convenient communications and the information travels at the speed of light. Booya.

Re:This could be awesome...

[cayenne8]

"So if you speed past me in excess, or have trouble maintaining your lane, I'm calling you in. If you're being dangerous then I'll follow you and keep the dispatcher updated as to where you're going until a patrol car catches up and deals with you."

Well, if you can't stay in your lane...then yes, that is dangerous, and indicates you are either driving beyond your means...or intoxicated.

However, going fast is not necessarily unsafe. If you are on the highway, there are often stretches where speeds of 100+ are perfectly safe. Also, depends on the car you have. I have a car that is not only perfectly able to handle high speeds, it is also superior to most others in stopping and handling turns. What is safe for me in my car is not so much for others with cheap basic cars. If this network made things more subjective...in this sense...I'd say I'd consider it.

Also, just because someone 'reports' me as speeding...unless the law sees me do it...they can't ticket me. And I've got plenty of good radar/laser detection to see them before they see me. I know nothing is infallible (sp?), but, I find with my driving techniques, detectors, and keeping a good eye out for all kinds of traffic. I've not had any problem with any type of traffic tickets. [knock wood]. And the only time I even look at my speedometer, is if the detector goes off or I visually see a cop....

"It's really not that hard to not be an asshat behind the week. Try it; you might even like it."

I'd say I consider myself to be a pretty darned courteous driver actually...I drive what is safe for the situation I am in (plenty of stopping distance, can avoid others about to wreck). I allow people to pass me, if they are needing to go faster than me (ie I move out of the left lane)...and I have no problem letting people merge in traffic in heavy flow..etc. So...yes, I do like to be a thoughful driver, but, that isn't necessarily driving the 'posted limit' if in fact the driving situation is safe for driving faster. The limits are the lowest common denominator for weak cars....and mostly, a source of REVENUE for the cops.

If they took away the funds from speeding tickets from the police....and indeed payed them per homicide solved or other violent crimes...I can assure you they'd severely curtail traffic speed traps, and start to pursue REAL crimes that hurt us all...

Re:look to the future

[Timbotronic]

BMW already has something similar in the 5 and 7 series - active cruise control [germancarfans.com]. Only controls the car speed, but basically ensures that you keep an even distance away from the car in front.

It's a shame this hasn't been more widely adopted because it has major benefits on conjested freeways. They did a study in the UK a few years ago that showed why conjestion occurred on the M25 - a notoriously busy ring road around London. When a road starts to get crowded, anyone who overreacts when breaking causes a chain reaction behind them. So one vehicle slowing down a bit too much causes the next to do the same and so on until traffic stops completely. Active cruise control should stop this because cars on a freeway will space themselves out evenly and not overcompensate when they slow down.