As personal navigation devices and GPS-enabled smartphones become increasingly common, you'd think in-car navigation systems are headed the way of car phones and CB radios. But new map-enhanced driver assistance systems will make those dashboard direction devices relevant again.
These new systems expand the traditional dashboard-mounted navigation systems to figure out where we are, where we're going and we'll you'll get there, then use that information to make us better, safer and more efficient drivers. The software will do everything from aim our headlights to shift our transmissions to look for vehicles that might hit us.
We're already seeing the technology, though it remains in its infancy.
Toyota led the way a dozen years ago with NAVI AI-Shift, a predictive transmissionshifting feature offered in Japan. It shifted the car into lower gear as the vehicle approached hills or tight corners, minimizing "transmission hunting" and maintaining smooth acceleration. Toyota followed up in 2006 with NAVI AI-AVS, which "memorized" the location of bumps along frequently traveled routes and identified upcoming turns, then tuned the suspension for optimal comfort and handling. Other features slowed the car as it approached toll booths and freeway off-ramps, warned drivers when they were about to run astop sign and increased the car's braking if the driver wasn't aggressive enough. The system cross-checks its digital maps with real-time camera data to avoid errors.
Toyota is hardly alone in this field.
Nissan, which has been studying how maps can help improve hybrid fuel economy, offers on its Japanese-market Fuga a cruise control system that slows the car as it approaches corners. Five years ago BMW began offering, in its 5- and 6-series models, an active cruise control (.pdf) system that used the map data to help improve target selection and change the acceleration profile based on the type of road. Audi just joined the game with its flagship 2011 A8. A new feature in its MMI Navigation Plus system uses Google Earth to share upcoming route data with the transmission, predictive headlamps and the adaptive cruise control to maximize safety and efficiency.
Luxury cars aren't alone in getting the gadgetry. Freightliner has introduced RunSmart predictive cruise control in its commercial trucks. Unlike adaptive cruise control systems, which uses radar to control vehicle speed, predictive systems use maps with road grade data to determine the route ahead and vary the cruise control to maximize fuel efficiency.
Recent stories about drivers blindly following their GPS's directions into harm's way might cause one to question whether using today's navigation technology to control vehicle systems is a good idea. Fortunately the first features that are being implemented have pretty benign consequences. Future features such as auto-braking for off-ramps will require more sensitive GPS chips and maps that automatically update themselves. Since these features don't care what the name of the road is or where the closest McDonald's is it possible for automakers to offer map-assisted features even if the car doesn't have a full navigation system.
And if you're still unsure, you can always turn the system off.
Photo: Audi
