Volkswagen has joined forces with other manufacturers to establish an industry standard for 'Car-2-Car' telecommunications.
No car company spending heaps of R&D budget this type of system wants to see it fade into the obscure annals of history the way Betamax, Laserdisc and the eight-track cartridge player have done. Hence the need for the industry standard that to be adopted by all car companies entering this particular field of research.
Volkswagen's first real-world efforts have been revealed at a testing ground at Dudenhofen in Germany. Two cars, a Passat Variant (wagon) TDi and a Golf GTi took part in the demonstration to prove the concept -- cars encountering hazards on the road can alert other vehicles in the immediate vicinity to the danger. Icy roads, fog or a traffic jam can all be reported through a wireless LAN system.
For the purpose of the demonstration, Volkswagen simulated a motorcycle at an intersection, a stationary vehicle, roadworks and a police car in operation. A datastream concerning the simulated triggers also included road speed, engine operating speed, wheel speed and status of the hazard warning lights.
To comment on this article click here