MIT developing Smart Car for the elderly

MIT is developing a concept vehicle called the Aware Car, which could revolutionize how elderly take the road. I have a friend who is nearing 100 years old and still has a drivers license although they no longer drive at night. Ive often wondered how safe it is for them to be on the road at all.

With MIT and others developing technology that will monitor how the elderly take the road I am certain we can see changes in the types of technology that ensure safety for elderly and disabled drivers.

A $1.5 million prototype is being tested at the AgeLab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to perfect the Aware Car, which seeks to help specifically elder motorists to be safer while driving.

Using infrared cameras and mini cameras, the unit under construction measures the driver’s habits and would react if the one behind the wheel veers away from his usual response. The cameras monitors the driver’s eye and eyelid movements, while the driver’s heart rate, blood pressure and respiration are monitored and the data sent to a device on the trunk that could detect lane drifting. At the back seat is a computer monitor from where real-time data periodically show up.

Source: Gant Daily

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Mazda’s Furai Super Car Concept gets some early exposure

Mazda has worked hard on keeping their Furai super car concept under raps while honing its shape and its drive-train. The slipped a little rear-snippet out early as they announced that they would be making a super car debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but now we have more than just a snippet to enjoy. Photos of the completed car running what appear to be test laps have found their way across the internet (whether planned by Mazda or not) and interest in the odd-shaped Furai is growing. Ofcourse that may not be a buying publics interest that is growing, but curiosity fed interest is interest none-the-less.

The Mazda Furai is to be powered by a 450-hp 3-rotor rotary engine. Part of its shape comes from the 2005 Courage C65 racing chassis that it is built upon. (more…)

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Road and Track put super cars to the test

Take six super cars, a 15,500 ft long Naval Air Station runway and a mission to hit 200 mph from a standing start, all makes for a high octane, adrenalin fueled contest.

The Road and Track team got together a Lamborghini Murcielago, Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren, Ruf RT 12, Lingenfelter Corvette, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and last but not least the Hennessey Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper. Just a few cars off the street no doubt!! The cars were as they come, not race prepared cars and no special tires etc.

With one driver taking to the wheel, the test would be a straight forward blast from a standing start, and take it as quickly as he could to 200 mph, but there was a two mile marker which is the point where the driver would have to lift off and begin to slow right down.

Lamborghini Murcielago 0 to 200 mph, only managed to hit 190.1 mph by the two mile limit.
Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren 0 to 200 mph, did not reach 200 mph (199.5 mph) by the two mile limit.
Ruf RT 12 0 to 200 mph in 35.5 seconds.
Lingenfelter Corvette 0 to 200 mph in 26.5 seconds.
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 0 to 200 mph in 24.2 seconds.
Hennessey Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper 0 to 200 mph in 20.3 seconds.

So there you have it, the Hennessey tuned Viper is the winner, by quite a large margin. It is a bit of a surprise in the spread of speed and times set, considering that all the cars above, claimed to have a top speed in excess of 200 mph.

Source [Road and Track]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=34&article_id=5679

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So why do the critics of todays bio-fuels attempt to automatically condemn ...

For the first time in British racing history a bio-fueled race car runs away with the checkered flag. The Aston Martin DBRS9 driven by Lord Drayson and Johnny Cocker is the first bold statement to stab back at those critics of bio-fuels who claim a large loss in a cars performance with alternative fuels.

If memory serves me correct the first fuel-injected cars in the US were available in the 1950’s, and yet they did not see market wide useage until the 1980’s. Is that to say that automotive technologies take time to develope? ..Crazy talk!
So why do the critics of todays bio-fuels attempt to automatically condemn the use and research those bio-fuels are receiving today? The automotive market could absolutely stand a shake-up in the way cars are being produced today as bigger, faster and hungrier. And it is not as though the internal-combustion engine will be scrapped in the next 10 years when Hydrogen might be more prevelant beneath the hood of new cars.

Lord Drayson may have summed it up best: “This is not a one off, the car has been competitive all season, taking two pole positions and it now leads the championship. It goes to prove that running a car on bio-fuel doesn’t mean any compromise in performance. I hope we can get this message across to motorists everywhere.”

Source[newspress.co.uk]

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