The continuing increase in gasoline prices around the world over the past decade has also seen an increase in the practice of hypermiling – the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. One of the most effective hypermiling techniques is maintaining a steady speed while driving instead of constantly stopping and starting. Unfortunately, traffic lights all too often conspire to foil attempts at keeping the vehicle rolling. Researchers at MIT and Princeton have now devised a system that gathers visual data from the cameras of a network of dashboard-mounted smartphones and tells drivers the optimal speed to drive at to avoid waiting at the next set of lights.

The new system, dubbed SignalGuru, was tested in both Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in Singapore. In Cambridge, where traffic signals are on fixed schedules, the researchers say the system was able to predict when lights would change with an average error of only two-thirds of a second and helped drivers cut fuel consumption by an average of 20 percent. In Singapore, where the duration of lights varies continuously according to changes in traffic flow, the error increased to an average of slightly more than one second, with one particularly light in densely populated central Singapore seeing an average error of more than two seconds.

The version of the system used in the tests graphically displayed the optimal speed for avoiding a full stop at the next light, but a commercial version would probably use audio prompts said Emmanouil Koukoumidis, a visiting researcher at MIT who led the project. The researchers also modeled the effect of instructing drivers to accelerate in order to catch lights before they changed, but decided that wasn’t the safest option.

"The good news for the U.S. is that most signals in the U.S. are dummy signals," (signals with fixed schedules), says Koukoumidis, who launched the SignalGuru project at MIT with Li-Shiuan Peh, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science who came to MIT from Princeton in fall 2009. But Koukoumidis says even an accuracy of two and half seconds, "could very well help you avoid stopping at an intersection." He also points out that the predictions for variable signals would improve as more cars were outfitted with the system, collecting more data.

Koukoumidis says cars are responsible for 28 percent of the energy consumption and 32 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and that, "if you can save even a small percentage of that, then you can have a large effect on the energy that the U.S. consumes."

But it isn’t just more economical driving that could benefit from the technology. Koukoumidis says the computing infrastructure that underlies the system could be adapted to a variety of applications that could be useful to commuters, such as capturing information about prices at different gas stations, the locations and rates of progress of city buses, or about the availability of parking spaces in urban areas. The system could also be used in conjunction with existing routing software, to recommend ducking down a side street instead of slowing to a crawl to avoid a red light, for instance.

Michigan researchers have built a prototype of a new auto motor that does away with pistons, crankshafts and valves, replacing the old internal combustion engine with a disc-shaped shock wave generator. It could slash the weight of hybrid cars and reduce auto emissions by 90 percent.

The generator is about the size of a saucepot, and would replace the 1,000-pound power train in most cars — no transmission, cooling system, emissions regulation or fluids needed. Norbert Müller and colleagues at Michigan State University showed off the new motor prototype at a meeting with the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency.

It consists of a rotor carved with wave-like channels. Fuel and air enter through central inlets, and the rotor spins to block their exit through a separate outlet. The sudden build-up of pressure generates a shock wave, compressing the mixture. Then it’s ignited, and as the rotor keeps spinning, the outlet opens again to let the hot gases escape. New Scientist explains in further detail.

The novel generator would use about 60 percent of fuel for propulsion, according to MSU. This is a dramatic improvement over typical car engines, which use only 15 percent of fuel for forward movement. The system could also make cars 20 percent lighter, improving fuel economy even more.

MSU received a $2.5 million ARPA-E grant to develop the technology. Müller said he hopes to have an even larger 25-kilowatt prototype by the end of this year.

Mobileye’s warning system alerts drivers to imminent forward collisions and other driving hazards

Before we go any further, let’s get this out of the way right up front – nothing is ever going to stop cars from running into things. Until drivers are taken out of the equation completely, accidents will always happen. Nonetheless, Dutch tech company Mobileye has declared that with the release of its new C2-270 collision warning system, “an end to motor vehicle collisions [is] now in sight.” This system warns drivers of dangerously-close cars, alerts them when drifting out of their lane and includes a Pedestrian Collision Warning component.

The Mobileye C2-270 system consists of a windshield-mounted 640 x 480 CMOS camera, connected to a dash-mounted display unit. The camera monitors the road in front of the vehicle when the car is in motion, and detects imminent forward collisions via its EyeQ2 algorithmic system-on-a-chip (EyeQ2 has been in use in vehicles from BMW, GM, Volvo and Nissan since 2007). The driver is alerted through flashing color-coded icons and an audible alarm, and has up to 2.7 seconds in which to respond – the system itself doesn’t apply the brakes, or steer the car out of harm’s way.

Unlike its C2-170 predecessor, the 270 will apparently give drivers a heads-up when they’re on a collision course with a pedestrian, a cyclist or a motorcyclist. Like the 170, it also warns drivers of unintended lane departures, and of insufficient distance-keeping. Optional extras include a black box event recording system, vehicle tracking via integrated GPS, and a fleet management application.

With technology like this, of course, there’s always the worry that users will pay less attention because they assume the machine can now do it for them. It’s not unlike a recent study which suggests that ultra-efficient LED bulbs won’t actually save much in the way of electricity, due to the fact that people using them will be less concerned about their personal energy usage. It definitely bears consideration, although we hope such systems will result in less accidents overall, because that’s always a good thing.

The Pearl River Necklace concept design

Luckily there aren’t many countries that drive on the opposite side of the road and share borders. However, they do exist, such as China, which drives on the right, and the former British colony of Hong Kong, and former Portuguese colony of Macau, both which drive on the left. This can pose an interesting problem for engineers and road planners, but Dutch architectural firm, NL Architects, has come up with a bridge with a twist – a concept that not only puts the drivers on the correct side of the road physically, but helps reinforce that fact visually to help get the drivers into the mindset of driving on the opposite side of the road.

Left or right?

The grooves of a well-preserved track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon, England, suggests that Romans drove on the left. It has been theorized that riders on horseback generally rode on the left so they could hold their reigns with their left and keep their dominant hand free to offer a greeting to passing riders or to defend themselves with a sword.

In the late 1700s in the U.S. teamsters driving large freight wagons pulled by several teams of horses were positioned on the left rear horse so they could hold the whip with their right. To ensure the clearance of the wheels of oncoming wagons they preferred that wagons pass them on the left where they had a better view. This prompted a shift from left to right-hand traffic in many countries. So much so that today around two thirds of the world’s people live in right-hand drive countries.

Current bridges

Hong Kong and Macau have retained left-hand traffic after returning to Chinese control in 1997 and 1999 respectively. There are already some interesting solutions to the problem of setting drivers on the right track when crossing the border such as the Lok Ma Chau bridge between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the Lotus Bridge between Macau and mainland China. Although both these solutions get the job done, they don’t really communicate visually to the driver what is happening.

The Flipper

Dubbed “the Flipper” by its designers, the Pearl River Necklace bridge concept features the different sides of the road separating and twisting around each other to meet up on the opposite side. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing the concept become a reality. NL Architects designed the bridge as part of a competition, but lost – possibly because the switchover technically took place in the wrong location.

Lo-Res Lambo United Nude Lo Res Project

This is a Lamborghini Countach. It was created by taking a hyper-accurate 3-D model of an actual Lamborghini (made up of millions of polygons), then gradually decreasing the resolution of the model with 3-D software until the object is lo-resed down to its stealthy essence. United Nude, a shoe company founded by Rem D. Koolhaas (nephew to the Rem Koolhass), is applying this interesting technique (which they’ve dubbed the "Lo Res Project") to its shoe designs.

Here’s one of the first shoes to be designed with the process:

Lo Res Shoe  United Nude Lo Res Project

I really like the effect. It’s a purely modern composition form, taking a medium most often used to create digital objects that are indistinguishable from their real-world counterparts. But here, they’re broken down into newly abstract geometric shapes that out of their very nature preserve notes of the original object; each data point that remains in the simplified form existed in the original, more accurate model. It’s what happens when you tell the software to show you a Lamborghini rendered with 24 triangles instead of 24 million.

The other trick here is that the low-resolution form is then what’s manufactured into a physical real-world object. With advanced 3-D scanners and 3-D printers, it’s even possible to skip the whole process of creating the 3-D model from scratch; just scan your object, render the ensuing model at a lower resolution, then press "print." And out comes your Lamborghini lite.

Ford’s new Curve Control system automatically slows vehicles down when they’re entering a curve too fast

We’ve all done it – swung too fast onto a freeway ramp and then suddenly had to yank on the steering wheel for control of the vehicle. It’s not fun, and reportedly loosing control on a bend accounts for about 50,000 crashes every year in the U.S. alone. That’s why Ford is introducing Curve Control on its 2011 Explorer and on 90 percent of its crossovers, SUVs, trucks and vans by 2015. The system senses when you’re entering a curve too quickly, and automatically slows your speed by up to 10mph in approximately one second.

An extension of roll stability control (RSC), the Curve Control system uses sensors to measure the vehicle’s roll, yaw, lateral acceleration, wheel speed and steering wheel angle. It runs calculations based on those sensors’ input 100 times a second, and is thus able to detect when the vehicle is not turning as much as the driver is steering. When this situation arises, the system reduces engine torque and applies precisely-controlled four-wheel braking, to help the driver regain control of the situation.

“Too many accidents stem from drivers misjudging their speed going into curves and freeway off- and on-ramps,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s VP of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “Ford’s Curve Control technology senses a potentially dangerous situation and reduces power and applies brakes more quickly than most drivers can react on their own.”

Driving Blind Looks like a blast

An effort to help blind people drive cars has reached an important step — driver awareness systems are now being integrated into a mass-production vehicle. Blind drivers will test-drive a specially outfitted Ford Escape in January at Daytona International Speedway, team members announced Friday.

It will probably be a while before a legally blind person will be able to drive a car on the highway, but it’s not as far-fetched as it used to be. A team at Virginia Tech has been working on a car for the blind since 2007, when they won a Darpa Grand Challenge award for a self-driving vehicle that used sensors to perceive traffic, avoid crashing into other cars and objects and run like any other vehicle.

The National Federation for the Blind joined forces with the Tech team, which spent the next two years developing a dune buggy that used lasers and cameras to act as the vehicle’s “eyes.”

Now, the team has two new interfaces that use blind drivers’ other senses to help them perceive the road. A blind person, who has not yet been selected, will drive a modified Escape on the famous Daytona race track in January, AP reports.

The vehicle has a couple interfaces — one, called DriveGrip, uses gloves with vibrating motors that cover the knuckles. Vibrations tell the driver when and where to turn, AP reports.

Another interface, AirPix, works like an air-hockey game. It involves a tablet with holes that release compressed air, essentially creating a sensory map of the driver’s surroundings, AP explains.

The National Federation of the Blind is involved in the research, hoping to provide blind people with more independence.

2010 Ford Escape

Flying cars seem like a downright terrible idea. After all, if people can’t manage to deal with driving cars without getting into accidents while texting, how would they handle their own plane?

But hey, the gang at the FAA must disagree with me, as they’ve just approved the Terrafugia Transition, a $194K street-legal car that can fold out its wings and turn into an airplane.

It only takes 20 hours of flying time to get the proper license to fly this, a "light sport" aircraft. Think of how much quicker you’ll be able to pick up the kids from school with this thing! And how much more likely you’ll be to crash into the top of a house on the way home!

The U.S. Army just awarded a contract to Northrup Grumman to build its new LEMV surveillance ship, a massive airship set to hit the skies of Afghanistan next year.

So what is the Army getting for its $517 million? Three of the ships, each of which can carry 2,500 pounds of people and cargo. They’ll hover 20,000 feet above sea level and putter along at a top speed of about 34 miles per hour. They’ll presumably be loaded up with all sorts of surveillance equipment that will allow them to get a bird’s-eye view of huge areas of the country, peeking in on those Taliban warlords often.

So what do you think: are three of these airships worth over a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money?

We told you about an eco-friendly resort in the U.S. that was planning on using solar-diesel hybrid houseboats designed by Australia’s Solarsailor. The boats would feature large, moving photovoltaic “wings” that would not only track the sun to gather energy, but also serve as rigid sails – so the boats could move via solar, diesel or wind power. When docked, the boats’ panels would still gather solar energy, which they would feed into the resort’s power grid. The technology has now been implemented on a passenger ferry, the Suntech-Guosheng, that will take up to 180 sightseers on cruises of the Huangpu River as part of the Shanghai World Expo.

Suntech is billed as “the world’s largest producer of crystalline silicon solar panels,” while Shanghai Guosheng Group is a Chinese state-owned investment holding company.

This isn’t Suntech’s first joint venture with an Australian solar technology company. Late last month, the Victoria-Suntech Advanced Solar Facility opened in Melbourne, where researchers will pursue the development of nanoplasmonic solar technology. Suntech has also been developing solar tech in partnership with the University of New South Wales, in Sydney.

The Suntech-Guosheng is actually one of five Solarsailor ferries recently purchased by Chinese clients. Four other boats have been sold to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where they will constitute the world’s first commercial hybrid solar passenger ferry service. The Shanghai boat is a series hybrid, meaning its propellers are driven solely by electric power, generated by the sun or the diesel engine. The Hong Kong boats will be parallel hybrids, in that their props will be driven by both electric and diesel power.

“As our planet bears the strains of fossil fuel energy generation, we are empowering people around the world to look up and harness nature’s cleanest and most abundant energy resource,” said Suntech CEO Dr. Zhengrong Shi. “The Shanghai Expo and this remarkable Solar Sailor technology offer shining examples of the power of technology to create a better life.”