Volvo Looks to Locusts for Future Pedestrian Safety Technology

You've most likely heard of nature inspiring useful technologies we use in our daily lives (i.e., Velcro, various cleaners, computer chips), but how about in car safety? Leave it to none other than the car-safety gurus over at Volvo to try to implement a unique natural phenomenon into future pedestrian safety systems.

As the story goes, upon hearing of Dr. Claire Rind's locust studies at Britain's Newcastle University back in 2002, Volvo engineers quickly picked up their pens and pads and began taking diligent notes. Rind's research was primarily on the interesting behavioral patterns the insects portray when traveling in swarms. While other animals hit and bounce off one another when too close, locusts have an innate ability to stay clear of each other even while traveling in massive heaps. Visual images in the locusts' eyes are almost instantly transmitted to the wings, thus bypassing the brain and avoiding collision. The behavior is called the Locust Principle.

Immediately after learning all they could from Dr. Rind, the engineers translated the locust behavior into an algorithm to be used in pedestrian-safety technologies. Unfortunately for them, 2002 computer technology wasn't capable of processing the complex formula. But according to Volvo officials, technology that can possibly transmit images into an immediate preventative action is almost upon us.

Until then, Volvo continues to develop its very effective City Safety low-speed collision-avoidance system. The current system is said to be able to completely stop an XC 60 should the driver ahead brake suddenly.

"Beyond City Safety, our next step will be our first pedestrian-avoidance feature," stated Volvo Preventive Safety leader Jonas Ekmark. "Although City Safety is not related to our Locust research, we are confident that our first pedestrian auto brake feature will be very good at taking actions to help avoid hitting pedestrians."

"While some interesting ideas came from this study, we still have many more years of research ahead to bring that small locust brain into our cars. We have found a lowly locust has man beat, at least for now. Still, the big question remains: How do groups of locusts keep from bumping into each other? Maybe there is more to be learned? We will continue to follow interesting paths in our efforts to reach our safety vision: to design cars that do not crash."

If the gurus over in Sweden happen to find a way to integrate the Locust Principle into their cars, the potential for it saving lives is pretty amazing. Not to mention it's likely viable for extensive use in other industries as well.

NTSB Chairman Describes Future of Automotive Safety Technology

National Transportation Safety Board

Release date: January 22, 2008

Washington, DC - National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today said that the auto industry has recognized the limitations of improving the crashworthiness of vehicles as a way to reduce highway fatalities and are now developing innovative technologies to help prevent the accidents themselves.

Speaking at the 2008 Washington, D.C. Auto Show, Rosenker noted that there are nearly 250 million vehicles registered in the United States; their operation results in 6 million police-reported crashes and more than 42,000 fatalities annually. "For several decades, the number of fatalities has been dropping, and more importantly, the fatality rate has also been dropping. These improvements can be attributed to the use of seatbelts and child restraint systems; the development of airbags, antilock brakes, crash-absorbing vehicle frames; and campaigns to reduce drunk driving."

However, the decreases in fatalities and injury rates have leveled off in recent years. "So, while we have accomplished much in the past decade to improve the crashworthiness of automobiles, we have reached some practical limits in combating the physical forces involved in crashes. In recognition, the auto industry is moving beyond crash mitigation and into a new era where technology will help us prevent accidents."

Recently, the NTSB added the issue of preventing collisions using enhanced vehicle safety technology to its list of Most Wanted Safety Improvements.

Chairman Rosenker highlighted categories of crash avoidance technology.

-- Vehicle-based Crash Avoidance Systems: Rear-end crash warning systems, adaptive cruise control and automatic braking systems are designed to prevent or at least mitigate the most common type of crash - rear end collisions. Lane departure avoidance systems and curve-speed warning systems are being developed to target the most fatal type of events - run-off-the-road accidents.

-- Infrastructure Telematics: A DOT initiative that includes road-based systems to provide drivers with a sophisticated means for obtaining information about their vehicles and the road - information like location-specific weather conditions, route- specific road closures and work zone status. Adverse weather is associated with 800,000 injuries and more than 7,000 fatalities a year.

Rosenker noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is revising its New Car Assessment Program, which ranks automobiles on their crashworthiness using a 5-star rating system, because 95 percent of 2006 model year vehicles received 4 or 5 stars. The new system will reflect more modern crash avoidance technology.

Rosenker said the success of these technologies will depend on the public's readiness to accept them. "I am confident that highway automation will greatly improve safety, but I am not naive about what it will take to see these benefits. In the end, it is the public, and their ability and willingness to make use of these systems, that will determine how effective they will be - and how soon."

Wireless Technology Improving Safety in the Mining Industry

VIPAC Engineers & Scientists has developed the first wireless condition monitoring system for mobile mining equipment fitted with variable speed drives, with funding assistance from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP).

The system consists of four parts including a smart sensor, transceiver, PC and a communication module.

Before the advent of this wireless system, conditioning monitoring was a potentially dangerous and complicated task. Cable-based computer systems cannot be effectively installed on mobile equipment so the only alternative was to have employees monitor the machinery by foot.

However, this is often too dangerous for workers to effectively and accurately monitor the units, especially ones working at variable speeds.

According to the condition monitoring sensor system’s project manager and VIPAC representative Mingfei Luo, the system was trialled by an Xstrata mine in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

He says the trials demonstrated the system could work on any mobile machine, regardless of whether it operates at a constant or variable speed. It could determine when machine maintenance is needed, what parts need replacing and where the part is located in the system.

The smart sensor automatically detects a machine’s condition using comprehensive alarm ‘mask’ methodology. This data, such as alarms, spectra and sensor status, is regularly transferred to the transceiver without the need for cabling.

Machine fault severity software is used to save, analyze and review data on a PC and other devices, such as WAP enabled mobile phones, are then used to distribute the machine fault messages to technicians.

According to Luo, the multi-channel transceiver can support up to 50 sensors within a 50m radius and provides instruction and communication with each. The interval between each condition transmission is dependent on each particular drive’s activity.

He says, the software will classify and rank the severity of any faults and store them in a managed database which also incorporates details of the equipment being monitored as well as graphs and trends.

The fault messages sent out to the technicians include descriptions of the fault and its severity as well as the identity of the affected equipment.

According to the project manager, the system means workers need not be onsite to monitor the condition of their machines. This will go some way to reaching a nationwide goal for zero harm in mines.

Luo says his organization is currently looking for an investment partner to commercialize the technology. He says he and his team would like to see the product evolve into a widely-used machine, because they believe it will revolutionize the mining industry.

Nanoscale Technology: The Future of Food Safety

Nanotechnology has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of food production at a time when consumer concerns over safety are increasingly influencing key business decisions, writes Anthony Fletcher. Indeed the technology, which involves the study and use of materials at an extremely small scale - at sizes of millionths of a millimetre - could provide some innovative answers to current problems of sanitation.

"There is a lot of work on nanosensors at the moment, for example in the use of nano-particulates of silver in the purification of water," Ottilia Saxl, chief executive of the Institute of Nanotechnology told FoodProductionDaily.com. "The Romans after all used to put silver coins in their water bags - it seems strange that it has taken us all these years to get back there."

In addition, scientists are working on dirt-repellent coatings at the nanoscale, a concept that could have important applications for the safety of food production sites.

"If you drop water onto a lotus leaf, it skites off," said Saxl. "This is because the leaf is coated by tiny wax pyramids, limiting the amount of surface area that a drop can land on. There is no surface area for the drop to stick to."

Saxl says that many companies are looking into applying this lotus effect, with a great deal of research going on at the University of Bonn in Germany. Abattoirs and meat processing plants in particular could benefit from such technology.

Nanotechnology also has the potential to address some of the big-picture issues. The threat of bioterrorism has made food safety along the supply chain a government as well as an industry priority - tight new customs regulations are coming into force in the US this month, and strict new rules governing traceability within the EU were introduced this year.

Although radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is being pushed hard by retailers as a viable means of automating traceability, it is nanotechnology that could ensure that the agricultural sector uses new traceability rules to their advantage. For example, nanoscale monitors could be linked to recording and tracking devices to monitor temperature changes, while other devices could be used to detect for pesticides and genetically modified crops (GMOs) within foodstuffs.

In addition the global livestock industry is desperate to install measures that would guarantee the safety of the food supply. Outbreaks of disease have resulted in export bans and collapsed markets. Japan for example banned US beef and beef products after a single case of BSE in an 8-year-old cow imported into the United States from Canada was detected in December 2003, and is showing resistance to fully reopening its borders.

The fortunes of this sector could therefore be transformed if supplies could be guaranteed to be completely safe. Scientists at the Kopelman Laboratory at the University of Michigan are developing non-invasive bioanalytical nanosensors that could perhaps be placed in, say, a cow's saliva gland in order to detect single virus particles long before they have had a chance to multiply and long before disease symptoms are evident.

"The beauty of nanotechnology is that these applications are interchangeable," said Saxl. "If a nanotech application is applicable in one sector, then it is often applicable in ten. Little start-up nanotech companies often find themselves with an embarrassment of riches, not knowing which sector to target first."

The food industry, which is under intense pressure to guarantee safety and at the same time achieve better profit margins, is just beginning to see the possibilities that nanotechnology offers right along the supply chain, from the field right through to the factory and onto the supermarket shelf.

Will safety be compromised in the future to go Green?

Many future concept cars are being developed and sold in the wake of the going Green Era. Many manufacturers are looking at fuel mileage and dismissing the safety factor of small cars versus larger vehicles, even on low speed urban roads. The RiN concept from Toyota is a vehicle which focuses on making the lives of the driver and passengers, and actually everyone around it, more healthy and stress-free. The exterior design of the Toyota RiN is intended to blend into the natural environment. The green glass and organic forms of the headlights, taillights and rear side windows are influenced by a type of tall-growing Japanese tree, the Yakusugi.

The ANVIL from American ATV maker Tomberlin is an LSV (Low Speed Vehicle) legal for road use on low speed-limit urban roads.Powered by an all-electric drivetrain charged through a standard 110 volt outlet and regenerative braking, the ANVIL has a range of over 40 miles and a limited top speed of 25 mph.Tomberlin also claim that the economical and environmentally friendly ANVIL can go up to 50 miles for one dollars worth of power. Yet unlike many similar eco-friendly vehicles the ANVIL has a rather attractive and robust appearance which can only help potential sales.A multi-configuration seating layout allows for the rear bench seats to be folded flat giving the ANVIL a small truck-like cargo area behind the two front seats.
Check out other vehicles on this sight an judge for yourself if safety is being compromised.

http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/concept_cars/concept_cars.html

For all Gamers...

First gaming system with Intel Core i7Asus launches their first system desktop with processor Intel Core i7, for Gamers. Taiwanese manufacturers have changed the Ares CG6150 with new processors from Intel, Core i7, by taking out the Core 2 Extreme processor and the result was the model ROG CG6190. The carcass remained the same from the previous model, being preserved reader prints in the front. Configuration has a motherboard with the X58 chipset being created for the fastest processors from Intel. This has 6 slots for DDR3 memory type, which can support 12 GB of RAM. Part graphics are the most advanced video boards, consisting of 3 video boards at the top of ATI or Nvidia. Everything is done with power and the cooling liquid is made of 2 sources 1,000 W each. Carcass you can add 4 HDD with 1 TB. Prices and launch date have not been announced by Asus, but the gamers should prepare several thousand euros for an extraordinary performance.

http://www.finesttech.com/computers/first-gaming-system-with-intel-core-i7.html

The future satisfaction for both Drivers and Passengers" SPLITVIEW"

Imagine this: You’re driving down the highway, following the route guidance on the navigation screen, when the person sitting in the passenger seat decides he wants to watch Dark Knight on DVD. Mercedes-Benz and Bosch together devised a gizmo that can satisfy both viewing requests. It’s a dual-view LCD monitor system called Splitview.

Splitview is a LCD screen that is mounted on the dashboard that allows the driver and passenger to view two different images at the same time. How does it work you ask? The eight inch active matrix, backlit color monitor nests a second image feed on adjacent pixels and a masking filter divides the combined image so that only one set of the pixels can be seen depending on your seating position.