The U.S. drone program has seen significant press since the first Gulf War when the defenders of Faylaka Island surrendered to the Pioneer drone, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), flying spotting services for the USS Wisconsin (BB 64). Since that time, the technology powering U.S. drones has steadily improved now allowing the MQ-1B Predator and …
A driverless car (also autonomous/autopilot/auto-drive car) refers to a car that does not need human intervention to function. The first driverless car achieved a maximum speed of 20 miles-per-hour and was built by Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in 1977. The Mercedes Benz robot van built during the 1980s achieved a full speed of 60 miles-per-hour …
Vehicle platooning is one of the innovations in the automotive industry that aim to improve the safety, efficiency, mileage, and time of travel of vehicles while relieving traffic congestion, decreasing pollution and reducing stress for passengers. One of the recent demonstrations of this technology was during the PATH program done in California by 8 Buicks …
Intelligent transportation systems are projects that aim to integrate modern communication and information technology into existing transportation management systems in order to optimize vehicle life, fuel efficiency, safety, and traffic in urbanized cities. The need for intelligent transportation systems stems from the fact that traffic congestion has been increasing all around the world because of …
Automatic number plate recognition is a system designed to automatically recognize and store license plate number data on vehicles passing through a certain point. This is one of the mass surveillance systems that utilize optical character recognition programs and hardware capable of reading 1 plate/second off vehicles running at a maximum of 160 km/hr. Some …
A magnetic levitating vehicle (MagLev) is a vehicle that uses a strong electromagnetic field to resist gravity and keep the vehicle floating out of the ground. The technical name is Electromagnetic suspension. The principle of the Electromagnetic suspension is to charge with the same pole the base of the vehicle and the rail with a …
Most hybrid cars use a combination of gasoline and electric engines. There are also types of hybrid cars that use a combination of diesel and electric engines. Gasoline & Electric -Powered Cars ‘Regular’ gasoline-powered cars derive their propulsion power from combustion of gasoline. The combustion of gas produces the energy needed to turn the transmission …
A common law enforcement practice known as "speed traps" or "speed trapping" is based on one universal factor: Almost everyone speeds. Everyone has their reasons but most people speed on occasion just because they can. While this excessive acceleration is usually harmless as drivers have enough time to slow down during emergencies, many fatal car …
Traffic lights are basically signalling lights placed at crossroads or turning-points to regulate the flow of vehicular traffic. This system is of utmost importance specially in populated traffic zones to avoid accidents and human casualties. That is most cities deploy traffic signals on every road. Less traffic oriented areas in villages and country side may …
Disabling Onstar is not a task that is as simple as pushing a button. Onstar is a device that permits the vehicle to be tracked and, if something happens to the vehicle, allows an operator to conact the vehicle. For some people, there is discomfort with Onstar having the ability to track the vehicle. To …