Early technologies
Technology has undergone substantial changes over the years. Automobiles have undergone considerable developments over size, shape and engine
design over the past few years.
The endeavor has always been to cater more for less currency. From boxy to streamlined designs and from laborious steering to power steering, the technology has been constantly working hard to push its limits over time. Light is put on a few high end technologies and developments in the markets and some that are still under development.
Key concerns and major issues today
A few basic concerns have been always there at the core while developing the features. Safety is one of them. Every automobile technology developed has an extra edge over its previous counterpart. Safety of people is a major concern and rules most of the developments in the automotive industry as it is one of the basic demands of the customer.
Another trend is increased utility and economy in costs. This has resulted in much comfort in the recent vehicles ranging from comfortable seats to air conditioning systems. It comes loaded with features like CD player and radio for eliminating the monotony of long rides.
With health and environmental concerns rising over past few decades, the industry has not lagged behind and putting in constant efforts to cope up challenge of curbing emission of green house gases and implementing Kyoto Protocol. So, the trend in technology is emphasis on making vehicles eco-friendly and reducing dependance on fossil fuels leading to sustainability development.
Latest cutting edge technologies
The recent developments have much more interactive technology to offer than just conventional developments. These are smart electronic systems that have revolutionized and offer more than just utility and safety in the vehicles.
Era is now of the smart electronic systems that allow vehicles to “speak” with one another on the road amid heavy traffic and plan peace and safety measures. As part of V2V (Vehicle 2 Vehicle) communication, vehicles can now interact with each other on roads using communication modules to convey their positions and speeds to each other so that they do not bump into each other thereby reducing the chances of mishaps on the roads. They can also be synchronized with traffic management systems to get the best routes with less traffic and can be good for traffic management.
Automation has always been a major ingredient for developments over the world and research and development is being done to give birth to a race of automobiles which do not require a driver for maneuvering the vehicle. This reduces the chances of mishaps where human reflexes and alert levels jeopardize the safety of passenger. Considerable research has been done and prototypes have been developed and tested by many industry giants successfully.
“Augmented Reality” is now a reality and is not a thing to be witnessed only in Mission Impossible or Avenger movies. This has practically been achieved on latest automobiles. This technology enables information to be displayed on windscreens on different things. It can be gas running out to any object in the path of the automobile. Only basic features are rendered in the recent models and technology is being developed for equipping them with more complex feature like distance realization and collision notification.
Developments in solid state electronics has led to development of different types of sensors. Vehicles equipped with sensors for different purposes such as monitoring tire pressures. This gives the vehicle to communicate its issues with the user giving them a self diagnostic feature so that the owners of vehicles need not make guesses or check for the abnormality.
The technology is also adapting itself to the cause of the depletion of fossil fuels and safeguarding them. The vehicles are adapting eco-friendly approaches lessening dependance on fossil fuels and making optimum use of renewable resources to power the vehicles.
Extra edge over early counterparts
It goes without saying that the recent developments have imparted vehicles with better safety features than the earlier vehicles. The present vehicles comes along with I-phone charger and LCD displays to relieve the passenger from boredom. Along with that the technology is putting in constant efforts to check the emission levels of the vehicles in order to reduce the green house gases in the atmosphere.
Next generation automotives
Research is on to take the world of automobiles to new heights equipping vehicles with new features. In the years to come, vehicles that are completely autonomous and requiring minimal human interference will be the trend. The next generation of automobiles are going to have security features to protect passenger and pedestrians.