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The future deployment of safety-oriented Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology may be hindered due to the so-called “Market Penetration” problem: as a wireless network built from scratch, there is lack of value to consumers who are early adopters. In this paper, we explore potential applications that can be supported during the initial phase of vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) deployment, i.e., sparsely populated VANETs. We show that delay-insensitive information sharing applications are promising since they only require opportunistic network connections (in contrast to safety applications that require “always on” connectivity). This is done via “gossip spread” information distribution protocols by which DSRC vehicles cache and then exchange the information while in range of other DSRC vehicles or road side units. This approach is especially attractive since the number of communicating vehicles will be very small during early deployment years.

The USDOT and the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership-Vehicle Safety Communications 2 (CAMP-VSC2) Consortium (Ford, GM, Honda, Mercedes, and Toyota) initiated, in December 2006, a three-year collaborative effort in the area of wireless-based safety applications under the Vehicle Safety Communications-Applications (VSC-A) Project. The VSC-A Project developed and tested communications-based vehicle safety systems to determine if Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) at 5.9 GHz, in combination with vehicle positioning, would improve upon autonomous vehicle-based safety systems and/or enable new communications-based safety applications.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership-Vehicle Safety Communications 2 (CAMP-VSC2) Consortium (Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota) initiated, in December 2006, a three-year collaborative effort in the area of wireless-based safety applications under the Vehicle Safety Communications-Applications (VSC-A) Project. The VSC-A Project developed and tested Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications-based safety systems to determine if Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) at 5.9 GHz, in combination with vehicle positioning, would improve upon autonomous vehicle-based safety systems and/or enable new communications-based safety applications.

Numerical results are presented for simulating buoyancy driven flow in a simplified full-scale underhood with open enclosure in automobile. The flow condition is set up in such a way that it mimics the underhood soak condition, when the vehicle is parked in a windbreak with power shut-down after enduring high thermal loads due to performing a sequence of operating conditions, such as highway driving and trailer-grade loads in a hot ambient environment. The experimental underhood geometry, although simplified, consists of the essential components in a typical automobile underhood undergoing the buoyancy-driven flow condition. It includes an open enclosure which has openings to the surrounding environment from the ground and through the top hood gap, an engine block and two exhaust cylinders mounted along the sides of the engine block. The calculated temperature and velocity were compared with the measured data at different locations near and away from the hot exhaust plumes.

The usage of multi-body dynamics tools for the prediction of vehicle system/sub-system loads, has significantly reduced the need to measure vehicle loads at proving grounds. The success of these tools is limited by the quality of the digital representations being used to simulate the physical test roads. The development of these digital roads is not a trivial task due to the large quantity of data and processing required. In the end, the files must be manageable in size, have a globally common format, and be simulation-friendly. The authors present a methodology for the development of high quality 3-dimensional (3-D) digital proving ground profiles. These profiles will be used in conjunction with a multi-body dynamics software package (ADAMS) and the FTire™ model. The authors present a case study below.

Large hood mounted plastic trim components are subjected to complex and often extreme loading conditions. Typical loading conditions include solar and thermal cycling, as well as road and powertrain induced vibrations, aero lift and buffeting, and mechanical loads such as car wash. For the above components understanding and classifying the typical loading conditions is an essential and important step in achieving long term quality. This paper discusses different approaches to the design, analysis, development, and testing of plastic trim components. Samples of analysis and test results are presented to demonstrate how to identify and prevent the loss of the part function. Some useful guidelines and practices for addressing thermal expansion, dimensional variation, and redundancy in attachments are also discussed.

Research was conducted to assess driver acceptance and performance associated with a spotter mirror feature intended to reduce the incidence of lane-change conflicts by enhancing drivers' ability to detect vehicles in their side blind zone. The spotter mirror consisted of an integrated spherical convex blind zone mirror inset within a larger planar mirror. The spotter mirror's field-of-view was designed to target the vehicle's side blind zone area and to help drivers quickly detect the presence or absence of a vehicle in the blind zone. The study captured normative lane-change behavior during an extended drive on public roadways, with and without access to the spotter mirror system, for a sample of familiar and unfamiliar supplemental mirror users. In order to capture more naturalistic lane-change behavior, drivers were informed that the purpose of the study was to evaluate the adequacy of existing road signs for navigating to a destination.

Internally excited torsional steering wheel vibrations at frequencies near 8-22 Hz on smooth roads can produce driver disturbances, commonly described as “SHAKE”. These vibrations are primarily excited by the rotating front suspension corners and are periodic in the rotational frequencies of the tire-wheel assemblies. The combination of vehicular dynamic amplification originating in dominant suspension and steering system vibratory modes, and a sufficiently large 1st harmonic non-uniformity excitation of the rotating corner components, can result in periodic vibrations exceeding thresholds of disturbance. Controlling the periodic non-uniformity excitation through individual component requirements (e.g., wheel imbalance, tire force variation, wheel runout, concentric piloting of wheel on hub) is difficult since the desired upper limits of individual component requirements for vibration-free performance are typically beyond industry capability.

Driving through intersections can be potentially dangerous because nearly 23 percent of the total automotive related fatalities and almost 1 million injury-causing crashes occur at or within intersections every year [1]. The impact of traffic intersections on trip delays also leads to waste of human and natural resources. Our goal is to increase the safety and throughput of traffic intersections using co-operative driving. In earlier work [2], we have proposed a family of vehicular network protocols, which use Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) technologies to manage a vehicle's movement at intersections Specifically, we have provided a collision detection algorithm at intersections (CDAI) to avoid potential crashes at or near intersections and improve safety. We have shown that vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications can be used to significantly decrease the trip delays introduced by traffic lights and stop signs.

Today, nearly half of the world population lives in urban areas. As the world population continues to migrate to urban areas for increased economic opportunities, addressing personal mobility challenges such as air pollution, Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) and traffic congestion in these regions will become even a greater challenge especially in rapidly growing nations. Road transportation is a major source of air pollution in urban areas causing numerous health concerns. Improvements in automobile technology over the past several decades have resulted in reducing conventional vehicle tailpipe emissions to exceptionally low levels. This transformation has been attained mainly through advancements in engine and transmission technologies and through partial electrification of vehicles. However, the technological advancements made so far alone will not be able to mitigate the issues due to increasing GHGs and air pollution in urban areas.

An actual trend in the automotive industry is to have global products in order to have economy of scale. This paper presents how a Belt Drive Rack EPS developed for the North American market had to be modified in order to be assembled in a Vehicle sold all around the world. Main technical challenges for achieving that goal were generated from different Architectures, whether electrical or mechanical, used in each vehicle, Packaging issues and Regional Requirements. Main features affected are Database Configuration, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Smooth Road Shake mitigation and Pull Compensation.

The New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), introduced in 1979 by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a vehicle safety rating system that conducts crash test and provides motoring consumers with an assessment of the safety performance of new cars. Similar programs were then developed around the world, initially for Europe (EuroNCAP), Australia (ANCAP), Japan (JNCAP), China (CNCAP) and Korea (KNCAP). NCAP most recently reached Latin America (LatinNCAP) and Southeast Asia (AseanNCAP). Although the roots are similar, many NCAP programs have significant differences on the test procedures and rating schemes. This paper is a comparative analysis of the recent NCAP protocols to highlight the most important technical differences.

Measured vehicle loads have traditionally been used as the basis for development of component, subsystem and vehicle level durability tests. The use of measured loads posed challenges due to the availability of representative hardware, scheduling, and other factors. In addition, stress was placed on existing procedures and methods by aggressive product development timing, variety in tuning and equipment packages, and higher levels of design optimization. To meet these challenges, General Motors developed new processes and technical competencies which enabled the direct substitution of analytically synthesized loads for measured data. This process of Virtual Road Load Data Acquisition (vRLDA) enabled (a) conformance to shortened product development cycles, (b) greater consistency between design targets and validation requirements, and (c) more comprehensive data.