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First all LED Equipped Automobile

Audi R8 V10 Supercar is the First 100% LED-Equipped Automobile

from Gizmodo by Jack Loftus

Even if you can’t afford a luxury supercar like the Audi R8, take solace in the fact that its cutting edge all-LED design will trickle down to your jalopy. Eventually.

Of course we all know efficient LEDs will eventually find their way into every automobile, but the Audi R8 V12 takes the prize for being the first commercial vehicle to sport LEDs in everything. Headlights, running lights, turn signals—you name it there’s an LED shining bright inside.

And not just shining, but "smartly" shining and adapting to the driver’s needs.

Audi developers are convinced that future generations of headlights will react to weather conditions, a vehicle’s speed, the distance between vehicles, and potentially dangerous objects. “We’re striving to create intelligent headlights and taillights which think and anticipate in the interest of enhancing a driver’s safety and comfort. For example, there are already high-beam headlights in pre-series development which will allow drivers to navigate roads at night without temporarily blinding oncoming drivers. This is made possible by a variable distribution of light: An electronic system continuously calculates the distance to any approaching vehicles to ensure that the road ahead is ideally illuminated at all times – without irritating oncoming drivers," said Dr. Wolfgang Huhn, Head of the Light and Visibility Department at Audi.

Sheesh. You know you’re a luxury car manufacturer when you have a Light and Visibility Department. [Gizmag and Jalopnik]

Reposted from Gizmodo – make sure to check out their site for other interesting tech stories.

Air Resources Board – Final Report

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CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

FINAL STATEMENT OF REASONS

PROPOSED DIESEL PARTICULATE MATTER CONTROL MEASURE FOR ON-ROAD HEAVY-DUTY DIESEL-FUELED VEHICLES OWNED OR OPERATED BY PUBLIC AGENCIES AND UTILITIES

Download the Report Click Here

Oklahoma Debuts Ambulance Siren You Can Feel

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By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS – Associated Press Writer – TULSA, Okla.

You’re in the car and you’ve got the radio cranked up insanely loud. Chances are, you’re not going to hear that ambulance siren wailing behind you.

Soon, even if you can’t hear it, you’ll be able to feel when an emergency vehicle is coming.

Oklahoma’s largest ambulance company will become the first ambulance service in the nation to outfit its entire fleet with new Howler sirens, designed to emit low-frequency tones that penetrate objects within 200 feet – such as cars – to alert drivers.

The Emergency Medical Services Authority has equipped one ambulance with the new siren and plans to have them installed on all 77 units in Oklahoma within six months.

Officials say the sirens are ideal for cutting through a sea of traffic, and give emergency responders another tool to let drivers know an ambulance is heading their way.

So far this year, EMSA vehicles have been involved in 16 intersection accidents, typically caused by an unyielding driver. Fifteen of those times, the ambulances were on a call, said EMSA spokeswoman Tina Wells.

"The most frequent thing motorists say to us is they didn’t see the ambulance coming," Wells said at a Tuesday news conference, where the new technology was demonstrated.

During the demonstration, two ambulances were parked near each other. A plastic stepladder with three glasses of liquid on top was placed in between the vehicles.

The ambulance without the Howler sounded its siren and produced its familiar wail. Then, the Howler, which produced booms that sounded like a 1980s video game played at an earsplitting level. The liquids in the three glasses rippled. Wells jokingly said the new sirens sounded like "a vacuum cleaner on steroids."

"It’s going to make going through intersections much safer," said Tulsa Police Officer Mike Avey, who has worked traffic accidents. "People are on their cell phones, people have $1,000 sound systems. You’re going to feel it."

The new sirens cost less than $400 each, meaning the entire EMSA fleet can be outfitted for less than $50,000, Wells said.

"A moderate accident is going to cost $15,000 in body damage alone," Wells said. "We see the potential for recouping this almost immediately."

EMSResponder.com

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