gmb45
21st June, 2009, 05:16 AM
Drivers will be able to sleep, read, work or watch television behind the wheel of their cars at 70mph on the motorway, using technology being developed by scientists.
A system which will lock cars together using sensors and wireless technology, allowing up to ten at a time to cruise in ?car train? convoys, could be unveiled within two years.
Sensors would synchronise each car to follow in the wake of the vehicle directly ahead, with a laser calculating the speed relative to other cars at a rate of 50 times a second.
The only steering and braking would be done by a professional driver at the front of the convoy.
However the system, being developed by Volvo, could lead to a rethinking of the traditional ?braking distances? in the Highway Code.
Volvo expects the cars to drive just 3ft apart in order to stay in contact.
Drivers would pay a subscription of around 10p for every 1.6miles travelled and would have to book ahead to secure a place in the convoy at a designated time or particular slip road.
They would then join the convoy at the back and allow the system to lock them in to the steering and braking patterns of the vehicles ahead.
At the point where the driver has booked to leave the convoy, their car would be guided by the new technology on to their chosen slip road.
Although Volvo is the only car maker developing the scheme, drivers of other makes would be able to join the convoy if they had the right technology.
The system would even allow the car train to overtake slow-moving vehicles, according to engineers. Volvo and six other companies ? including British technology firm Ricardo UK ? are working on the project.
In the Eighties, having a car that could do all of the work for drivers, like Kitt in David Hasselhoff-starring show Knightrider, was inconceivable
They hope to start testing the system at Volvo?s practice roads outside Gothenburg, in Sweden, in late 2010 and expect to launch a prototype in 2011. The technology could then be rolled out across Europe by 2018.
Jonas Ekmark, a safety researcher at Volvo cars, said: ?It would be the same as sitting on a bus or a train, with the big difference that when you come to your exit you take over and you go directly to your destination without having to switch vehicles.
?The professional driver leading the convoy will be responsible for the safety of those behind him. But those joining the convoy will be taking only the same sort of risks that those jumping on a bus or tube are taking.?
Inventors have been investigating ?car trains? since the 1990s but previous projects have failed because they required dedicated roads to be built.
Volvo claims the convoys would be 20 to 40 per cent more economical than cars travelling independently because closing up the spaces between cars vastly reduces wind resistance.
A number of Volvo models already feature an automatic braking system capable of preventing low-speed rear-end collisions.
And a Volvo due to go on sale next year will include a pedestrian collision avoidance system that uses a camera, image recognition software and a radar.
A short-range radio frequency has been reserved across Europe for the exchange of data between cars ? making convoys possible.
Tom Robinson, of Ricardo UK, said: ?One of our goals is to use as many existing sensing systems and components as possible.?
A system which will lock cars together using sensors and wireless technology, allowing up to ten at a time to cruise in ?car train? convoys, could be unveiled within two years.
Sensors would synchronise each car to follow in the wake of the vehicle directly ahead, with a laser calculating the speed relative to other cars at a rate of 50 times a second.
The only steering and braking would be done by a professional driver at the front of the convoy.
However the system, being developed by Volvo, could lead to a rethinking of the traditional ?braking distances? in the Highway Code.
Volvo expects the cars to drive just 3ft apart in order to stay in contact.
Drivers would pay a subscription of around 10p for every 1.6miles travelled and would have to book ahead to secure a place in the convoy at a designated time or particular slip road.
They would then join the convoy at the back and allow the system to lock them in to the steering and braking patterns of the vehicles ahead.
At the point where the driver has booked to leave the convoy, their car would be guided by the new technology on to their chosen slip road.
Although Volvo is the only car maker developing the scheme, drivers of other makes would be able to join the convoy if they had the right technology.
The system would even allow the car train to overtake slow-moving vehicles, according to engineers. Volvo and six other companies ? including British technology firm Ricardo UK ? are working on the project.
In the Eighties, having a car that could do all of the work for drivers, like Kitt in David Hasselhoff-starring show Knightrider, was inconceivable
They hope to start testing the system at Volvo?s practice roads outside Gothenburg, in Sweden, in late 2010 and expect to launch a prototype in 2011. The technology could then be rolled out across Europe by 2018.
Jonas Ekmark, a safety researcher at Volvo cars, said: ?It would be the same as sitting on a bus or a train, with the big difference that when you come to your exit you take over and you go directly to your destination without having to switch vehicles.
?The professional driver leading the convoy will be responsible for the safety of those behind him. But those joining the convoy will be taking only the same sort of risks that those jumping on a bus or tube are taking.?
Inventors have been investigating ?car trains? since the 1990s but previous projects have failed because they required dedicated roads to be built.
Volvo claims the convoys would be 20 to 40 per cent more economical than cars travelling independently because closing up the spaces between cars vastly reduces wind resistance.
A number of Volvo models already feature an automatic braking system capable of preventing low-speed rear-end collisions.
And a Volvo due to go on sale next year will include a pedestrian collision avoidance system that uses a camera, image recognition software and a radar.
A short-range radio frequency has been reserved across Europe for the exchange of data between cars ? making convoys possible.
Tom Robinson, of Ricardo UK, said: ?One of our goals is to use as many existing sensing systems and components as possible.?