Car Safety Moves Up To Another Level

Tuesday, 25. August 2009

Just as I see many more manufacturers embrace the ESP/ESC safety systems that help you to avoid an accident a new one emerges called FlexRay which is apparently set to become the new standard in safety devices moving us closer to the time when we don’t actually have to drive cars, just programme them and they get on and do it whilst we sit back and enjoy our freshly brewed Earl Grey and munch on a few choccy Hob Nobs whilst reading my blog FAQ’s received via your communications interface. It may all seem a bit far fetched but we already have park assist and adaptive cruise control so the day will come! In the meantime, what is FlexRay? It is a safety system being developed by a consortium headed by BMW and Daimler with semi-conductor manufacturers Philips and Motorola. Best described as the backbone of all the new wire based networks, sensors and actuators being fitted into cars of the future. Future cars will be fitted with electronic “eyes” which will use various sensors to detect road surface conditions and potential obstacles and dangers. This information will be transmitted to on-board electronic controllers that will make adjustments to brakes, steering and suspension. Along with the increase in electronic equipment fitted into cars the new FlexRay system avoids data transfer overload which could cause problems to the large number of safety devices fitted. BMW launched the early version of FlexRay in 2006 when they fitted it to their new model X5. The FlexRay system controlled the acclaimed adaptive suspension system. The consortium are hoping that their FlexRay system will become the industry standard and be at the core of all future driver assist systems, in the meantime I guess I’m going to have to wait a while before I can sit in a car that drives itself. By Graham Hill