Jaguar Land Rover uses connected-car tech to spot potholes
No
one likes potholes, and with infrastructure spending still a low
priority, they’re only likely to become more numerous. Now Jaguar Land
Rover is experimenting with tech that could make potholes less painful.
The
British company is looking into using connected-car hardware to allow
individual cars to detect potholes, broken drains, and manhole covers,
and then pass that information along to other vehicles and those
responsible for road maintenance.
If drivers are warned of
potholes by other vehicles, they have a chance to slow down and prepare
to avoid them. Future vehicles could even adjust their suspension
settings in anticipation of a bump, Jaguar Land Rover suggests.
The prototype system builds on sensors used for the MagneRide active suspension in the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport.
These sensors monitor motion and suspension-height changes to asses the
state of a given surface, and adjust suspension firmness accordingly.
The
next stage, Jaguar Land Rover says, involves installing additional
equipment in a test vehicle. that includes a forward-facing stereo
camera, to help scan the road ahead.
This ability represents a
milestone on the road to a fully-autonomous car, Jaguar Land Rover
connected-car czar Dr. Mike Bell said. However, the ability to
communicate with other vehicles also represents a step toward the “vehicle-to-vehicle” (V2V) systems that have won favor with some safety advocates, including the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The company believes its prototype
camera could take pictures of potholes and send them to officials with
GPS tags, potentially helping to alert them of problems and prioritize
repairs.
It’ll also save drivers the trouble of writing an angry
e-mail to their local government official after smashing a wheel or
blowing out a tire on a particularly nasty pothole.
Courtesy: Digital Trends
