Category: Tech News

Having an airbag or a functional locking system is great, but have you explored all of the technological innovations in automotive safety today?

Technology has revolutionized the vehicle safety industry in many ways. The innovative features that cars have these days are expected to provide a safer and more secure experience on roads. Although you can’t neglect your driving skills, an extra layer of protection will be important in any situation.

Today we can see the trend of automated cars becoming more feasible for public consumption. Maybe in the near future, we will see more cars driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

To get you prepared for incoming innovations, here are some of the ways that technology has changed automotive safety.

Driver Fatigue Prevention

According to CBT Automotive Network, from 2005 and 2009, more than five million accidents were caused by driver fatigue. This figure may seem shocking, but it shows the issue must be addressed.

Since then, tech security companies have created an alarm that detects when you need to take a break from the wheel. It doesn’t guess you’re sleepy if that’s what you were thinking. Through this alarm system, drivers are informed of possible dangers after the system detects an erratic lane departure or if you are constantly veering from the center of a lane. The car will vibrate or will verbally let you know that you need to rest. You’ll usually also see a coffee sign that alerts you when you’re driving out of your lane.

Park Assist

Parking is a hard thing to do for early drivers, and doing so the wrong way could damage their vehicles or the vehicles of others. This could also cause other types of accidents that could be dangerous for everybody involved.

Park-assisted cars have a sensor that detects nearby obstacles and alerts the driver when he or she should move in a different direction. A system like this also has cameras that allow drivers to see everything around them and avoid accidents this way.

Auto Brake System

Auto brakes systems have hardware sensors that are designed to protect drivers from dangerous situations. Auto brake systems utilize a radar that determines close-by objects and sudden situations that require applying the brake. This way, if the driver is distracted, the car will automatically prevent an accident.

Vehicle-to-Cloud Services

Vehicle-to-cloud services are expected to be one of the principal internets of things (IoT) services in the automobile industry. According to McKinsey, the number of connected cars to cloud services will rise by over 30% per year. This type of system helps drivers have a better, safer, and seamless experience when driving. The company that’s leading the market in vehicle-to-cloud services is AWS.

Blind-Spot Monitoring 

This feature allows users to have a better view of what’s behind their vehicles when driving. Blind-spot monitoring systems usually have a verbal alarm mechanism that lets users know when they’re driving too close to another vehicle or obstacle. This tech trend is expected to grow exponentially in the next couple of years. The reason for this is to help drivers prevent collisions or accidents that may happen because they’re not able to see the blind spot behind their cars.

In Conclusion

Technology is here to shape our future and create a better landscape for us. The automobile industry is no exception to this rule. These were some of the recent trends we’re currently seeing in the car safety industry, but with the advance of IoT and AI-driven technology in the automobile industry, we’re very likely to have smarter vehicles in the future. Experts predict that automated cars will create a safer environment for us when driving.

Technology is changing everything about our society, and the automotive industry isn’t an exception. This year we will continue to see changes in the industry that will impact how we move from one place to another. The end goal is always creating vehicles that offer a better user experience, more safety, and more efficiency. Here are some of the technologies at play in 2021:

Self-Driving and Autonomous Features

Since the invention of the car, we have come to love and need, many changes have happened. Vehicles for transportation have evolved to be safer, faster, and more accessible to the public. New technological developments have also made our jobs easier by improving the way we transport ourselves and other things.

One of the most powerful technologies we as humans have come up with is artificial intelligence. Companies are using artificial intelligence in the automotive industry, along with many other technologies like sensors and other hardware, to create vehicles with self-driving features.

These self-driving features are already a reality in many of the newer models from many companies. Things like self-parking, autopilot, breaking, and accelerating are things that cars can do on their own. But automotive companies are aiming to deliver the first autonomous vehicles as soon as possible.

An autonomous vehicle is one that can do all the driving by itself without the intervention of a human. Many companies have prototypes, but we haven’t seen a functional model in the market yet. This could change soon, but before this happens, we have to create more powerful technology in terms of connectivity.

Electrification

Another thing that technology is changing in the automotive industry is electrification. Traditional cars are powered by gas, which we have realized isn’t renewable energy, and the emission does more harm to the environment. That’s why electrification is becoming the best solution to solve the pollution issue.

This means transforming the industry with electric cars. Electric cars have come a long way and now can be very efficient and offer a great experience to the user. For example, the Tesla S model has a battery life of 402 miles. That is enough to go from New York to Montreal, Canada, without recharging the battery.

This is the future of the automotive industry even when many companies are still resisting the change. What also has to happen to make electric vehicles the best solution for our society is that the electricity we use to charge our vehicles also comes from renewable sources. Hopefully, this would happen sooner than later.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is when we see digital objects mixed with the real world. In the case of the automotive industry, it can be used to enhance the user experience by adding AR features to vehicles. Things like AR dashboards already exist in some models. These allow drivers to see the information they need without having to take their eyes from the road because the data is projected on the windshield.

Another thing that AR will change is the way we buy cars. Right now, we may start our search online, seeing pictures and everything, or going directly to the dealership. Even if we see some car we like online, we go to the dealership anyways to see it for ourselves. With AR, customers will be able to see the car in their driveway and even take it for test runs without actually touching the vehicle, thanks to advanced computer science technologies.

3D Printing

3D Printing has been around for a few years now, and it has made a huge change in the automotive industry. The biggest impact is in the manufacturing industry. Companies can now 3D print specific parts or complete models a lot faster than with traditional methods. It also allows engineers to build cars with lighter and more resistant materials.

This technology makes the manufacturing process cheaper and more scalable. In the future, we could be using vehicles that were completely 3D printed. Technology advances more every year, and new materials are included in the realm of possibilities.

In Summary

The automotive industry is one of the most critical parts of our society. We use cars, buses, or trucks every day. And we always want to make it more enjoyable, efficient, and safe for us. Artificial intelligence, electric power, augmented reality, and 3D printing is just some of the many technologies changing the automotive industry.