Electronic safety systems may be showing their value. According to new statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of people who died on the nation’s roads last year reached historically low levels. Overall traffic fatalities fell to 41,059, the lowest level since 1994. Also, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles dropped to 1.37, the lowest fatality rate on record.
An electronic stability control mandate, set to start on September 1st, is expected to reduce annual fatalities by an additional 6,000 to 9,000 per year. Smart highways, which are farther out in the future, are expected to reduce annual fatalities to as few as 10,000 per year.
A massive engineering effort has produced a lightweight, high-strength body structure that will let Cadillac enter the compact luxury market segment this year.
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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