Cars of the Future

I'd really like your input: What kind of technology do you think cars will have in 7-10 years? What do you think the cars of today are missing but should have?

http://www.google.com/images?num=10&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=car+of+future

good question have to think about this

we have typically been VERY poor at guessing the future styling of automobiles. As for funtions, features, etc.. it mostly depends on what the publis is demanding today - remember how low long it took for CD players to be commonplace offerings ? You will likely see engines using alternative power sources, in this case not because people want them but because the tree huggers are pushing them.

I'm always amazed at how slowely the automotive world develops.
Things that are common place now, like air bags, ABS, multi speaker stereos, independent suspension, disc brakes and CVT are all very, very old technologies going back 20 years or more.

Cup holders that actually hold a cup without it flipping over when you go around a turn too quick... :lol:



No, seriously...

I'm sure in 7-10 years every car will come standard with gps.........But yes cup holders that actually hold cups would be nice too !

Deeper cup holders that is to hold those funky soda cups that are narrower at the bottom and wider at the top.
Also smarter integration between satellite/GPS and the vehicle itself . I've seen plenty of articles about cars that will drive themselves down the road with very little human interaction. Couple those two technologies together to have your vehicle drive around traffic tie-ups, accidents and bad weather, etc. automatically. The vehicle would receive the info and then calculate the safest, best route to travel.

Wouldn't that be nice, Be able to drink your coffee have a snack all on the way to work with no hassle! I think every car would have to be synced in though, otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell where all the accidents and traffic tie-ups where

! I think every car would have to be synced in though, otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell where all the accidents and traffic tie-ups where
From what I've read, something like this may be the next thing. We already have limited automatic controls, such as adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking.
The next step would be for cars to communicate and coordinate their accident avoidance maneuvers with each other for greater effectiveness.

But I do agree any kind of future predictions in dynamic environments, such as auto development is very difficult.

Good stuff.
You guys heard about the Watson IBM Supercomputer that kicked butt in Jeopardy?

NASCAR has always been a "guinea pig" for new technology. Better tires, better friction material for brakes, passenger restraints, and other safety devices. I'm not "in to" NASCAR but whatever the latest things are now, you can bet we'll see them on factory production vehicles in the next decade.

Yup, heard about Watson.... thought Toronto was a city in the USA. Artificial intelligence is great, but I certainly wouldn't trust it to drive MY vehicle.... with me in it!

NASCAR has always been a "guinea pig" for new technology. Better tires, better friction material for brakes, passenger restraints, and other safety devices. I'm not "in to" NASCAR but whatever the latest things are now, you can bet we'll see them on factory production vehicles in the next decade.

Yup, heard about Watson.... thought Toronto was a city in the USA. Artificial intelligence is great, but I certainly wouldn't trust it to drive MY vehicle.... with me in it!

Yea - like that new fuel injection thing they're doing starting in 2012. Computer controlled! :icon16:

The little joke (and exception) aside, I do agree that motorsports tends to adopt and improve on emerging technology / materials.

Place one AC servomotor at each wheel, one servodrive per motor, a controller to integrate all four (or six, eight, whatever) drives, and provide a power source to run it all. Power steering would be inherent - Simply apply more power to the wheel opposite the direction of the turn and/or dynamically brake and regen with the other wheel. Antilock braking, traction control, and stability control would also be inherent and controlled by modulating each drive/braking wheel. Power brake assist would be inherent by regen at each wheel. Regenerative braking would recharge the electrical system/storage unit. Tire inflation monitoring would be inherent by differential comparison of encoder feedback from each servo.
As Moppie pointed out, this is also very old technology. I've built up multiple servoes operating in almost that very manner for tasks like tool changing on the fly, handing off parts at full speed, timing a gear hob to a work table for hypoid milling, and machining parts in multiple operations simultaneously by simply differential speed and not by holding a tool or part stationary - All well over 20 years ago. It's nothing new at all, but would be new to automotive manufacture.

The two most significant obstacles are the petroleum energy infrastructure and our overall economic dependence upon it and the fact that automotive companies don't yet have the mindset nor ability to think outside of the mechanical power transmission realm. Put a slightly more technological entity like GE/Fanuc, Siemens, Kollmorgen, and Pacific Scientific in charge of automotive powertrains and gasoline would be left for only chainsaws and weed trimmers. American, German, and Japanese economies would thrive in a very short time, and the Koreans and Chinese would not be far behind. The middle east would collapse (as it seems to be doing today), and other oil-only economies would suffer just as they did before 1970.

2¢

I think there will be very little change to the cars themselves. Several more hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicles, but for the most part... same old same old. I expect that integrated GPS will be an option for all models, but not standard (think about all the cars that don't have CD players). Same thing goes with internet devices, optional on ALL cars, but not standard. I also expect cars to have RFID chips so that big brother can see everywhere you go.

Bowtie, you'll love this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pObxCXhf9-E

The Chinese are unhindered by the stuck in the ways mentality of other manufacturers.

The cars of the future could easily come from China, or Korea, or even India.

Something else that would be nice for ALL vehicles would be the addition of IPAS (Intelligent Parking Assist System) or APGS ( Advanced Parking Guidance System) to assist vehicles in parking themselves. Can you imagine how much extra parking spaces we could acquire on the streets and parking lots if every vehicle had this option as standard equipment?

My car of the future would be able to tell....
1. If the operator was to intoxicated to drive and not permit movement of the vehicle if so.
2. able to understand the operator fell asleep at the wheel and safely shutdown and pull off to the side of the road.
3. able to measure or take vitals of operators constantly to detect health issues that would prohibit an operator from driving safely. If vitals were inconsistant with good health then the car shuts down and pulls off to the side of the road.

We have learned to do a lot of things in a short time, and make unmanned vehicles operate intelligbly far away... One would hope we can make driving the roads safer by having preventable accident diagnostics available in cars/trucks/racecars/planes/trains ect. in the future.

Maybe a car could detect a heart attack, or seizure coming on who knows...

The new Tesla S has to be a car of the future, but it's interesting to see how conventional it is.

My car of the future would be able to tell....
1. If the operator was to intoxicated to drive and not permit movement of the vehicle if so.


They just passed a law in our area that requires those with a DWI conviction to install an aftermarket device where they have to blow into a tube to determine if they are sober and can operate the vehicle. It also requires them to recheck at "random' intervals while in the vehicle to make sure they are still sober or that no one else is attempting to pose as the person for whom the device is meant. I have a feeling that this will eventually catch on in other areas and within a few short years carmakers will find a way to incorporate a similar device into their vehicles.

Another thing I recently saw in a movie that I thought would be a neat addition to future cars would be the option for auto glass to self tint according to current light conditions. A sensor could operate in the same manner as the headlight sensor and trigger the windows to darken themselves or vice-versa depending upon how light/dark it is outside. There would also have to be a manual override for the driver.
You could go a step further and make it possible for certain windows to be darker or lighter than the others as well.
I've seen some windows for homes that have 2 panes of glass with a special liquid in between the panes. To darken the window, an electric charge is administered that causes the liquid chemical to darken. It operates on a rheostat and can be controlled on the degree of darkness desired. This technology could definitely make the leap from the home building industry to the automotive industry.