Archive for Technology

This is an experimental demo of a BMW car configurator using the new Microsoft Surface technology. Even if you are not someone that keeps up to date with the tech world, if you watch CSI: Miami you probably have already seen it in action.

Real life usage can be found in AT&T stores. It’s essentially a system running Windows Vista which uses 5 cameras to record infrared light from human fingertips on the “surface”, as well as specially tagged objects.

The BMW car configurator is appropriately called the BMW Konfigurator, and although it is currently still in prototype form we may see it a regular feature in BMW showrooms soon. Basically you have a 30 inch touch screen display on a table which you are able to interact with to configure your BMW car.

For example, you can change colours of the exterior and interior, change the wheel design, and add other accessories. At the end of your selections the system will quote you a price. You can also view photos and videos on the car.

You can look after the jump for a video I recorded of the BMW Konfigurator being used to configure the latest F01 BMW 7-Series.

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Some companies like Volkswagen have decided to ditch the conventional automatic transmission for an all-twin clutch offering when it comes to a gearbox for those who do not want to bother with shifting and clutching, but many companies still swear by the automatic transmission with planetary gearsets and a torque converter as they usually offer much smoother shifts and thus are usually more suited for a comfortable drive.

Twin clutch and single clutch automated manual transmissions are catching up in terms of smoothness of shifting but the torque converter is also making progress when it comes to shift speed and fuel efficiency. ZF Sachs recently celebrated the 20 millionth torque converter to roll off its Schweinfurt plant.

The latest in ZF’s torque converter technology is the use of twin torsional dampers in the torque converter to allow the lock-up clutch to close at an earlier point in time. This results in faster shift times and better fuel efficiency due to the fact that the mechanical linkage thanks to the lock-up clutch is active more often rather than having power transferred through the oil. This quick-shifting gearboxes have appeared in some higher end BMW vehicles such as the BMW X5.

So yes, conventional automatics apparently aren’t going to disappear anytime soon, with ZF Sachs recently investing another 80 million Euros at its Schweinfurt plant to expand capacity. The plant will also be making ZF’s new 8-speed automatic transmission, that’s said to be making a production appearance on an upcoming V12 760i version of the F01 7-Series and a future Rolls Royce.

Though ZF appears to be committed to improving and pushing the limits of how far the conventional auto can go, ZF will also be venturing into the world of dual clutch transmissions. Two twin clutch boxes are said to be in the works – the 7DCT50 and the 7DCT70 which seems to indicate 7-speed units. Too bad it missed the M DCT boat – BMW’s 7-speed twin clutch box is sourced from Getrag, which traditionally supplies manual boxes to Munich.

Honda has added a new safety feature to its Vehicle Stability Assist system called Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering (Motion Adaptive EPS). Currently only available with the newly launched Honda Legend, it will be added to the Japanese-market Honda Accord (not the same as our Accord as it is known as the Honda Inspire there) and the next generation Honda Odyssey.

Motion Adaptive EPS provides steering wheel feedback to the driver during an unstable slippery corner to prompt the driver’s action in steering the wheel the right way as sometimes drivers tend to over-correct the steering angle. It can also correct steering input when braking on a surface which causes uneven traction between the left and right side wheels of the car.

While it remains a premium feature for now, like all technologies Motion Adaptive EPS should slowly trickle down to the rest of the Honda range. The only question is how long?

BMW’s Director of Functional Integration Dirk Hacker talks about the various technologies and driver aids in the new F01 BMW 7-Series such as the Integral Active Steering (rear wheel steering), Driving Dynamic Control, Integrated Chassis Management and other technologies. An apt job for someone with a surname Hacker.

Look at the video after the jump.

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How often do we use our high beams? Many of us barely use them, in fact whenever I turn on my high beams in areas where there is no oncoming traffic and no cars in front of me, I’ve gotten remarks from passengers that using the high beam is unethical. This seems to be the opinion of quite a few motorists, which surprises me.

Apparently according to auto parts supplier Gentex Corporation, automakers and other parties in the auto industry are actually trying to encourage higher use of a car’s high beams. Studies have shown that the very low usage of a car’s high beams are due to a various reasons including forgetfulness, complacency and the fear of not being able to react to oncoming traffic and turning them off fast enough, resulting in other motorists getting dazzled or annoyed.

Gentex says even at speeds of up to 56km/h, a car’s low beams will not allow you to see far enough head to detect and react to a potential hazard. This is the whole point of high beams but in situations where high beams should by right be used, studies have found that high beams were only used less than 25% of the time.

Gentex’s solution to this is their SmartBeam system, which BMW has put in its cars and called High-Beam Assist. The High-Beam Assist system uses a tiny camera-on-a-chip combined with computer algorithms to automatically determine when to turn on and off the vehicle’s high beams depending on traffic conditions.

The camera is located on the interior’s rear view mirror and faces forward. When the system detects that it is dark and no other vehicles are present, the high beams are automatically turned on. When traffic in front is detected, they are automatically turned off. A manual override for the driver is also provided.

The BMW High-Beam Assist system is available in the BMW 5, 6, 7, and X6 models. It is also available in Malaysia on various models including the BMW 523i SE.

Electric cars or hybrid cars running on fully electric mode can pose a risk to pedestrians as there could be some people, especially those with hearing impairments or the blind, who are not aware of an approaching vehicle because they are just so silent. In fact, there was a bill in the US recently to require a minimum level of sound for vehicles sold in the US.

As an engineering consulting company and component designer/supplier, Lotus is tackling this issue with its new “Safe and Sound” Hybrid demo car. Lotus used a Toyota Prius as a demonstrator vehicle and applied its new Sound Synthesis system to it. The new technology combines Active Road Noise Cancellation, Engine Order Cancellation and Sound Synthesis.

A road speed signal is obtained from the vehicle and a waterproof speaker is positioned near the radiator to emit a realistic sound based on the throttle and speed of the car, projected towards the front of the car. The sound was designed to be instantly recognisable by the human brain, allowing it taking into account pitch and frequency and process it to enable us to identify vehicle speed and distance. The synthesized sound automatically stops if the hybrid car’s combustion engine kicks in.

The sound can be configured to sound like various types of engines. For example, you could drive a fully electric Tesla Roadster and enjoy the lovely rumbling sound of a flat-6 or a V8. Look after the jump for a video of the new technology.

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Most manufacturers encourage fuel efficient driving behaviour by rewarding the driver with a little indicator whenever the driver is driving in a fuel efficient manner. Honda uses a little green ECO light, and BMW has the classic real time fuel consumption analog meter to show how much fuel you’re using.

Nissan Motor Co is taking this one step further by developing an “ECO pedal”, which is an accelerator pedal that will push back the driver’s foot when it senses excess pressure according to driving conditions that could lead to poor fuel economy. This may annoy the driver if he is really in a hurry to go somewhere so this ECO pedal feature will have an option to turn it off.

According to Nissan, the ECO pedal combined with a real time fuel consumption display on the instrument cluster could reduce fuel consumption by between 5 to 10 percent depending on driving conditions, purely by encouraging better driving habits.

Source

Audi has unveiled official details on its upcoming new supercharged 3.0 V6 TFSI engine, that will likely make its first debut installed in the upcoming Audi S4 and as an engine variant for the Audi A6. Sadly there are only technical details and no photos.

The two key technologies in the engine is direct injection and supercharging. It also marks the T in TFSI (and TSI for Volkswagen) no longer standing for Turbocharged, which probably means Volkswagen will have to find some creative alternative meaning for what TSI stands for, as it currently means Turbocharged Stratified Injection. The engine also features Valvelift, which in this implementation allows the intake cams to be adjusted through 42 degrees of angle.

Audi says they decided on a supercharger for the new 3.0 liter engine as compared to a twin turbocharged setup as comparative tests revealed the supercharging solution to be better. This means that somewhere in Audi’s test facilities there is a twin turbo version!

The engine uses a single Roots supercharger that sits in between the 90 degree V bank and is integrated into the intake manifold. The supercharger is located right behind the throttle valve, and is designed to require very low amounts of power to drive it during coasting and other low load, low engine speed driving situations as the rotors can just free-run because of the low density of intake air during those situations.

The supercharger is tuned to deliver a boost pressure of up to 0.8 bar, and is hooked up to two water-to-air intercoolers. They managed to tune it so that boost kicks in from idle speed, so there should be no delay in waiting for that thrilling forced induction surge of torque to kick in when you hit the accelerator pedal from a stand-still.

Peak torque of 420Nm is achieved from 2,500rpm and remains constant up till 4,850rpm. Peak horsepower of 290hp is hit at just under 5,000rpm! This is likely the “milder” stage of tune designed for the Audi A6 installation. Expect more power (say about 350hp) and torque for the version in the Audi S4.

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B8 Audi S4 will come with supercharged V6

Mazda has announced the world’s first idle-start-stop system that restarts the engine without the use of a special starter, and will put the system into one of its production cars in 2009.

The proprietary system called the Smart Idle Stop System restarts the engine by injecting fuel via DISI direct injection into the cylinder and igniting it to force the piston down instead of using a conventional starter like other idle-stop systems. Mazda claims this results in a quieter and quicker restarting of the engine.

When the SISS system stops the engine, it makes sure the pistons that are in the compression stroke and expansion stroke are stopped in the position that creates the right balance of air volume to ensure a smooth automatic restart. The starting process then rotates the engine slightly backward, after of which normal ignition systems take over and the engine moves forward as normal.

Mazda also announced plans to reduce vehicle fuel consumption across its range by 30% by the year 2015. By 2011, all new gasoline engines will incorporate DISI direct injection. From 2011 onwards, Mazda will also introduce new diesel engines. The new 16X RENESIS rotary engine will see an introduction in the early 2010s.

We previously saw Antonov advocating the use of a dual-speed supercharger which allowed boost to be delivered effectively over a wider range of engine speeds. Antonov seems to be taking this dual-speed thing quite seriously, with a new range of gizmos that take advantage of mechanical-based gear shifting.

Their latest idea is allowing belt-driven devices like alternators, water pumps, air-conditioning systems and other engine ancillaries to be driven by two-speed systems. A two-speed planetary gearbox with one step-up ratio and one direct ratio is mounted at the engine crank. At low engine speeds, the step-up ratio is used, and at high engine speeds, it is not necessary to drive ancillary devices faster than is needed so the direct ratio is used to improve efficiency.

Antonov says adding this gearbox will only cost about US$100 and can be used with existing components. Cost is kept low because this planetary gear system is mechanical and does not use external electronic controls or hydraulic systems.