One of the beauties of a battery-powered, electronically-controlled hybrid vehicle is that it’s quiet…right?
Well, maybe not. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117133115592406662-4gKiXEZVH0RXATvUvpkVpLUsbx8_20080213.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top) raises an important point about that lack of noise. Blind pedestrians, it says, can’t hear hybrids approaching because those vehicles are typically so quiet. That’s why the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) is calling on the auto industry to make hybrids emit more noise. An NFB committee has suggested that automakers build a device into axles that makes noise as the wheels rotate.
To be sure, no one has displayed any statistics proving that pedestrian accidents are on the upswing as a result of more hybrids on the road. But automakers are likely to take the matter seriously. And if they do, they may have to deal with a parallel issue: A growing number of pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists can’t hear quiet vehicles because they wear headphones and listen to music while they travel.
Undoubtedly, automakers want their vehicles to be safe. The question is: How loud is loud enough?
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If you design mechatronic systems and want to learn more about using microcontrollers (MCUs) in your applications, listen to our Design News radio program on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Engineers who have equipped cars with cameras and collected millions of miles of data on crashes say that the key to distraction is visual, not cognitive.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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