Engineering and Society - Technological Advancements in the Last Decades - Essay Example

Engineering and Society Name Date Course Introduction The automotive industry has undergone a lot of revolution in the last thirty years to meet the demands of the customers. Safety is also an issue that has led to the use of technology in the automotive industry. Technological advancements in the manufacturing industries have also contributed to the advancements in the last thirty years. The improvements have played significant roles in terms of improving the quality of the motor vehicles. The advancements in the last thirty years have seen the changes in the models and features of motor vehicles. New features and components have been introduced due to the technological progression and it has played an essential role in terms of improving on safety, speed and comfort (Nieuwenhuis, 2010). The advancement has also played an important role in terms of reducing road accidents. The paper discusses the technological advancements in the last thirty years in the automotive industry and the advancement that will happen in the next thirty years. Technological Advancements in the Last 20-30 Years Rear Mounted Radar The rear mounted radar is one of the technological advancements in the automotive industry in the recent years. This technological advancement enables the drivers to reverse and park their cars in a busy place without the risk of hitting unforeseen objects in the rear. This technology also searches for approaching traffic when the driver is reversing the car. Incase it detects an approaching traffic it sounds an alarm and hence notifying the driver. This prevents the incidences of hitting another vehicles and hence the reduction in the traffic accidents. The incidences of hitting a wall, fence or another car or object has thus been reduced through the use of this technology (Berente, 2012). The technology has reduced the dependence on the side mirrors when reversing the vehicles as it was not convenient enough. Most of the vehicles are currently using the technology due to its benefits. Night Vision with Pedestrian Detection Night vision with pedestrian detection is also a technological advancement that has taken place in the automotive industry. This enables the drivers to see the distance between them and the pedestrians while they are driving. The images together with the direction of the pedestrians are usually displayed on the dashboard. The distance is also indicated and an alarm is sounded when the pedestrian is too close. This technological advancement has played an important role in terms of reducing the incidences of pedestrians being hit by the moving cars. The technology has thus reduced the road accidents involving the pedestrians. Automatic High Beam Control The automatic high beam control is also one of the technological advancement that has taken place recently. This technological advancement in the automotive industry ensures that the high beam headlights are illuminated and dimmed automatically (Rubin, et al, 2010). This is dependant on the incoming traffic and it is controlled by a camera that has been mounted on the rearview mirror. This advancement has improved on the convenience of driving at night. The control of the beam is important for the purposes of avoiding the distraction of light from the other vehicles. This is compared to the past when the drivers had to control the beams manually and it contributed to road accidents when other drivers failed to control their beams and hence distracting the other drivers. The parental control is also a technological advancement tat enables that reduces the distraction to the young drivers. Through the parental control, the speed limit is controlled which reduces over speeding. It also controls the volume of the music which is responsible for distracting most of the teenagers and young drivers. This has played an important role in terms of reducing the road accidents. The parental control also sounds an alarm if the seatbelts are not fastened and hence cautioning the driver and the passengers. This feature has played an important role in terms of improving the safety of cars in the automobile industry. The number of road accidents due to the distraction of drivers by the music and overspeeding has thus been reduced due to the technology. GPS Vehicle Tracking The GPS vehicle tracking is yet a technological advancement in the automotive industry. The use of the GPS enables the vehicle to be tracked and its exact position known. This is because the GPS updates the position of the vehicle at an interval of ten seconds. This is considered as a security feature and it has reduced the theft of the vehicles. This is because the location of the stolen vehicle can be easily known through the use of the GPS. On the other hand, the use of the GPS enable the companies to monitor the transportation of goods as it gives them details regarding the location of the transportation vehicles. This technological advancement has greatly benefited the automotive industry in terms of security (Chryssolouris, 2010). The driver capabilities are also an important technological advancement that has been witnessed in the automotive industry. The fitness of the driver can be detected by the system and hence sounding an alarm that enables the driver to put in place corrective measures. The in-car internet is also one of the technological advancement that has emerged in the recent past. This technological advancement ensures the availability of the internet in the car. This enables the passengers to surf the internet while travelling. The installation of Wi-Fi in the moving vehicles is advantageous to the passengers as they can surf for free. The recent technological advancement in the automotive industry has greatly transformed the cars which are the major products of the industry. It has thus played an important role in increasing the efficiency of the industry. Technological advancement that will happen in the next 20-30 years Self Driving Cars In the next 20-30 years more technological advancement in the automotive industry will take place. The advancements will be aimed at solving the weaknesses that are still present in the automotive industry. The major concern will however be focused on safety. Self driving cars will be developed in the next 20-30 years. This will be aimed at reducing the road accidents that are caused by human errors. This technological advancement is expected as other industries have automated machines which have eliminated the human involvement during the operations. Several companies in the automotive industry are currently exploring the possibilities of developing self driving cars (Truong, 2011). Cars That Are Capable of Communicating With Each Other This innovation can be made possible due to the high rate of technological advancement that is set to be witnessed in future. The technological advancement in the next 20-30 years will also lead to the development of cars that are capable of communicating with each other. This will mainly play an important role in terms of enabling the cars to be self driving. Communication will be for the purpose of reducing road accidents and controlling the speed of the cars as they will be self driving. The communication between the cars will be based on sensors and cameras. This will also be a modification of the current technology that has enabled the cars to sense traffic by using cameras and sensors. The loss of lives through road accidents will thus be reduced by the future technological advancements in the automotive industry (Veloso, 2011). Development of airbags Reducing the impacts of the vehicle during a crash will play an important role in terms of saving lives. The airbags have been used for the purposes of reducing risks to passengers and the driver during a crash. This has played a significant role in terms of saving lives. The technological advancement in the next 20-30 years will be focused on how to stop a car from crashing. This will be achieved through the use of an airbag that will stop the car upon detecting the chances of a sudden impact. This will play an important role in terms of preventing the vehicles from crashing and hence saving lives. Currently there has been a lot of concern on the environmental protection. The cars are responsible for the environmental pollution through emitting smoke which is composed of toxic gases. The automotive industry will therefore focus on developing cars that do not pollute the air (Li-Hua, 2011). Development of Hybrid Cars The development of hybrid cars that do not consume fuel is thus expected in future. The cars will mainly use the solar energy and hence avoiding the consumption of fuel that leads to the environmental pollution. This technological advancement will impact positively on the environment and hence prevent pollution. Augmented reality dashboards will also be developed in the next 20-30 years. This will be useful in terms of providing information to the drivers regarding the conditions of their cars. It will also be used to determine the components that need to be replaced in the cars. This will play an important role in terms of ensuring that the car is always in a good condition. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the technological advancement in the automotive industry has contributed to the improvement of the motor vehicles. It is also important to note that the technological advancement in the automotive industry has contributed to the increased safety of the car. It has also led to the replacement of components in the in the motor vehicles which has improved efficiency. The road accidents have also been reduced due to the advancements. It is also worth noting that the advancements will continue in the next 20-30 years. This will be for the purposes of increasing the efficiency of the cars. On the other hand, it is also evident that the future technological advancements will ensure that the environment is protected during the movement of the vehicles. The progression in the next 20-30 years will also play n important role in terms of automating the cars. References Truong, A. (2011). 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Virtual design, problem framing, and innovation: An empirical study in the automotive industry. Journal of Management Studies, 48(1), 99-122. Read More