Computers in Automobiles 2

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Computers in

Automobiles:

Convenience Features


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By:11/25/2008


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Computers in Automobiles: Convenience Features

Introduction

We use computers everyday in one way or another. Whether it be sending an e-mail to a

relative across the globe or sending a text message from your Blackberry to your best friend. Now

more and more we see computers being integrated with something we use every day, automobiles.

With new computer technology being released by the hour, not many of us have taken the time to

think about how computers have changed the automobiles we drive every day. Thats why we will

be examining convenience features being released in new cars and discuss the safety of computer

controlled actions. Some exciting features are remote keyless entry, active cruise control and self

parking cars1.

Relevance

The topic of computer controlled convenience features interests me because my father is a

mechanic and I have been working at his shop since I was 9 years old. With a natural love for cars

and everything they can do my main interest has always been under the hood, but with the amazing

new technology being released Im developing more and more of an interest in the new

convenience features of automobiles. This is a current subject because these new features are

becoming standard options in new vehicles and it is important to know what you are paying for. It

is also a critical subject where computer technology is concerned because computers are now in

charge of controlling the lives of an automobiles occupants. This is why it is important to know

the new computer controlled convenience features and understand their safety risks.

1 Adams, John, Most Desireable New Car Features, http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/most-wanted-tech-features-story.html, Published April 14, 2008, Accessed November 10, 2008.

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Remote Keyless Entry

The first computer controlled convenience feature I want to delve into is the most common

feature seen today. Remote keyless entry is now a standard feature on many cars but how does it

work? From the consumers point of view, you carry a remote-like piece in your pocket which

might have features that turn on the cars panic alarm and open the cars trunk. The car seems to

know when you are near it because all you have to do is walk up to it and push a button on the

handle, which is of course if you have the remote in your pocket, backpack, purse, etc. Now that

the doors have unlocked you sit in your car, push a button to start it, and off you go. This feature is

very convenient for many purposes; if your hands are full with groceries, you are in a hurry to get

in your car, or if its too dark to pull out a key and insert it in the door.

Now that we have seen the remote keyless entry in action from the consumers point of

view, lets take a look at it from a technical point of view. The remote-like device mentioned

above is actually known as a transmitter. According to dictionary.com, a transmitter is a device for

sending electromagnetic waves; the part of a broadcasting apparatus that generates and modulates

the radiofrequency current and conveys it to the antenna.2 This means that the transmitter

communicates with a device, or antenna, that is installed in your car. When the button on your

transmitter is pushed it sends out two codes to a receiver in your vehicle. The first type of code is a

40-bit code known as a rolling code, because a new code is created between the transmitter and

receiver every time it is used. The technology uses a rolling code so people cant steal your codes

with radio receivers. The rolling code can create about one trillion different codes. The second

code thats sent out is a function code, which tells the receiver what to do. In the case of a remote

keyless entry with a car that would be: unlocking the doors, releasing the steering wheel lock, or

2 Transmitter, http://dictionary2.classic.reference.com/cite.html?qh=transmitter&ia=luna, Accessed November 11,2008.


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even opening the trunk. In order for the function code to be executed the 40-bit codes need to

match. We can see that in something that seems to be as simple as a remote for our car a computer

is capable of generating a trillion different codes.3

Active Cruise Control

The next computer controlled convenience feature we are discussing is active cruise

control. Active cruise control is sometimes called adaptive cruise control but the correct term is

active. BMW was the first company to create this feature and is including it as an option in almost

all of their models. Active Cruise Control, abbreviated ACC, allows the driver to set the cars

cruising speed and distance between your car and the car ahead of you. The Active Cruise Control

system can also adjust the cars speed depending on traffic conditions around your vehicle.

From the consumers point of view the ACC system is a convenient and useful feature. It is

designed for freeway and open road driving. The advantage of using ACC on the freeway is the

fact that the computer can detect the speeds of surrounding vehicles and adjust the vehicles speed

accordingly. If the driver wants to speed up without changing the preset speed that can also be

done just by pushing the gas pedal. The ACC system will also switch off if the driver pushes the

brake pedal. The ACC systems computer system is so advanced that it will detect if your vehicle

is driving up a hill and automatically drop into a lower gear. This feature works the same with

down hills; the ACC system will maintain a constant speed by controlling the gears, reducing the

strain and ware on the brakes. If needed, the ACC system will also apply pressure to the brakes.

When driving on an open road the active cruise control acts like a normal cruise control system.

Another amazing ability of the ACC is that it can be implemented in multiple weather conditions

3 Boysen, Peter, How Does a Remote Keyless Entry System Work in a Car?, http://www.ehow.com/how-

does_4588856_keyless-entry-system-work-car.html, Published November 6, 2008, Accessed November 13, 2008.

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like rain or light snow. The ACC functions properly in these weather conditions because BMW has

built-in heaters in the housing of the radar sensors.4 There are two situations in which the driver

would choose to turn off the ACC system. The first being in times of poor visibility, like when the

road is foggy or there is heavy rain/snow. The second situation is driving on winding roads. Due to

the way the system gathers information to make speed judgments, it cannot be implemented for use

while driving on winding roads.

From the technical point of view, the system works using a three beam radar sensor. The

radar waves are used for the computer to judge the distance of the car ahead of it. The computer

makes its calculations by sending out these radar beams and then recording the time it takes for

them to bounce back and recognizing the angles the beams bounce back at. The beams bounce

back after hitting the car ahead, and from this information the ACC computer can judge the

distance between your car and the one in front of you. ACC uses information from more than just

the three beam sensor. Other components of the vehicle, like ABS and the cars Dynamic Stability

Control (DSC), send information to the vehicles on-board computer. The data being received by

the computer ranges from the levels of vehicle pitch, centrifugal force, and wheel revolutions .5

Determining the vehicles pitch and centrifugal force is imperative to the ACC because it uses that

data to calculate approaching curves.

Self Parking Cars

From the consumers point of view, there isnt much mystery behind self parking cars. The

driver pulls up to a desired parking spot, communicates with the car that he/she wants to park

there, then lets the car do the job. Theres actually a lot more to it than listed in the previous two

4 Active Cruise Control (ACC), http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/technology/acc.htm, Published October 11, 2007,Accessed November 10, 2008.

5 Active Cruise Control (ACC), http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/technology/acc.htm, Published October 11, 2007,

Accessed November 10, 2008.


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sentences. Self parking cars of today still require the drivers help to work properly. They are a

huge convenience because parallel parking is by the far the most undesirable aspect of driving.

Implementing this technology in all cars can help traffic congestion in urban areas and help drivers

parallel park without having to make a claim to their insurance company. Self parking cars can

help drivers park in many different situations but the main focus has been on parallel parking due

to its difficulty.6Currently Lexus has the most advanced self parking system known as the

Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS).

From the technical point of view its easy to see how computers played a main role in

creating the Advances Parking Guidance System. In order for the APGS to parallel park your

vehicle for you, the driver must pull up next to a desired parking space. The driver needs to line up

next to the car thats in front of the empty space. Once your car is aligned with the front car, a

sonar sensor in the front fender determines the length of the space and your distance between the

cars.7The next step is to put the car into reverse. Once in reverse the rearview camera displays a

feed onto the in-dash GPS navigation screen. Next, the driver pushes the parallel parking icon.

After being pressed, the computer will use the rearview camera and the sonar to determine the

space in which the driver desires to park and will place a virtual green rectangle roughly over the

parking spot on the in-dash screen. Arrows on the screen let you adjust and fine tune the green

rectangles position. After fine tuning the rectangle, the driver pushes the OK button, takes their

hands off the steering wheel, and uses only the brake pedal to control the cars reverse speed. After

OK is pressed the steering wheel begins to maneuver itself and the driver holds down the brake

pedal once the car in the rear becomes close. Finally the driver puts the car into drive and the car

6 Grabianowski, Ed, How Self-parking Cars Work, http://www.auto.howstuffworks.com/self-parking-car.htm,

Published August 16, 2006, Accessed November 10, 2008.

7 Wiesenfelder, Joe, The Lexus LS460: It Really Does Part Itself,http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/09/ls_460_parking.htm, Published September 22, 2006,Accessed November 23, 2006.

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will straighten itself out.

The self parking feature allows the computer to control the steering wheel and only the

steering wheel. This means if the driver is not careful or isnt paying attention, the car will

continue backing up until you hit the car to your rear. Or it will continue moving forward until you

hit the car in front of you. I have no doubt in my mind that an auto manufacturer will make the

entire process computer controlled someday, but for now the APGS is the most advanced and close

to perfect system on the market.

Safety

As computer technology progresses it is clear that we as humans are putting more and more

faith into computers. Whether this is necessarily a good or bad thing is another topic up for

discussion, but safety is a concern no matter which side you are on. When computers are

controlling components such as ABS brakes, Dynamic Stability Control, Automated Parking

Guidance System, and Active Cruise Control it makes us wonder what would happen when these

systems fail. ACC cant be used in a traffic jam because the computer system wont detect the

vehicles which are sitting still. It also cant be used in winding roads because the radars bounce

back at angles which the computer cannot recognize that the road isnt straight. APGS wont tell

you if the spot you are attempting to park in is too small. If you pull up too close to the car next to

you the system wont work. Also, an incline of 4.5 degrees or more can prevent APGS from

working because the vehicle cannot reverse up a steep hill with the power of the idle alone. These

safety issues show us that computers cannot be completely relied upon to do everything, but we

also see that they can make our lives a lot easier.

Conclusion


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There are many more computer controlled convenience features in automobiles today and

new features coming out every day. The three we discussed were to show how advanced computer

technology has gotten and how much faith we put in electronics. Remote keyless entry shows us

that something as simple as a remote can generate up to one trillion codes. Active cruise control

proves that automobiles are moving towards driving themselves and the APGS might be the most

advanced production computer controlled convenience feature to date. Im my opinion, computer

technology can only get better and more reliable, and the only thing that I am weary about is

safety. Whether consumers opt to get these convenience features or not, they definitely have a long

term impact on computer technology and the automobile industry. The impact on computers is the

push for the safest and most reliable programming and equipment. The impact on the automobile

industry brings us new and innovative convenience features every day. Only time will tell us what

amazing new computer controlled convenience features we will be seeing next!

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Bibliography

Adams, John. http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/most-wanted-tech-features-story.html

Published April 14, 2008 Accessed November 10, 2008.

This is a credible source because it comes from Forbes magazine. Forbes is a well knownmagazine. This article helped me because I wasnt sure which particular features I wanted

to focus on. After reading the features listed in this article I decided to choose three of

them.

Boysen, Peter. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4588856_keyless-entry-system-work-car.html

Published November 6, 2008 Accessed November 13, 2008.

eHowtm is a credible source because they use industry professionals to write articles ranging

from How Tos to informational and research articles. This article helped me see thetechnical point of view when it comes to using a remote to unlock your car.

Grabianowski, Ed. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/self-parking-car.htm Published August 16,

2006 Accessed November 10, 2008.

How Stuff Works Inc. is definitely a credible source because it is a division of Discovery

Communications, LLC which owns the Discovery Channel and TLC. This article helped

me understand the basics of self-parking cars, their use, and the publics demand for certain

features.

http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/technology/acc.htm Published October 11, 2007 Accessed

November 10, 2008.

The US Auto Parts Network is Americas largest information database for mechanics. This

article broke down the active cruise control system by each component and provided mewith a diagram that I will be using in my presentation.


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Wiesenfelder, Joe. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/09/ls_460_parking.html

September 22, 2006 November 23, 2006.

Cars.com is one of the top three car buying and selling websites in America. They also sent

their correspondent, Joe Wiesenfelder, to a car show in Detroit just to personally try outLexuss APGS and learn more about it. While the article mentioned above from How Stuff

Works helped me understand the demand and consumer desires of self parking, this articlegave me detailed information on how the actually system works.

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Computers in Automobiles 2