The Works Rear view cameras – Commonly seen in SUVs and vans, rear-view cameras allow the driver to see what’s behind them as they reverse. This could be anything, ranging from the bumper of a car in an opposing parking space, to the sidewalk on which pedestrians walk.
Self-Park – Cars that can park themselves, whether it’s reverse, front or parallel, are now commonplace. Pioneered by Toyota, parking assisting technology (or park assist for short) has improved significantly over the years, and been adopted by other brands such as Audi and Hyundai.
Crash Avoidance Technology – One of the more futuristic, spaceship-like features found in today’s vehicles are crash avoidance features. Lane departure warnings, blindspot detection and front crash prevention, in particular, are now included in the majority of new car models.
These features are not without their merits, however. Human error is a leading cause of accidents, whether it’s between drivers or collisions with pedestrians. If you have a vehicle with such features, and had a warning kick in, saving you from a disastrous situation, you’ll no doubt appreciate it. Think about backing out of your driveway, and seeing a child run behind your car to grab a ball. Or your ABS activating when the car in front of you suddenly stopped. These features can definitely serve as lifelines when we’re not 100% focused or in control.
Sophisticated Engine Controls
The computer from a Ford RangerBefore emissions laws were enacted, it was possible to build a car engine without microprocessors. With the enactment of increasingly stricter emissions laws, sophisticated control schemes were needed to regulate the air/fuel mixture so that the catalytic converter could remove a lot of the pollution from the exhaust. (See How Catalytic Converters Work for more details.) Controlling the engine is the most processor-intensive job on your car, and the engine control unit (ECU) is the most powerful computer on most cars. The ECU uses closed-loop control, a control scheme that monitors outputs of a system to control the inputs to a system, managing the emissions and fuel economy of the engine (as well as a host of other parameters). Gathering data from dozens of different sensors, the ECU knows everything from the coolant temperature to the amount of oxygen in the exhaust. With this data, it performs millions of calculations each second,