Lero, an Irish research group, predicts that 40 per cent of the cost of a car's production will be software-related soon. Donal Byrne reports
Lexus and VW already have cars that can park themselves, thus making life considerably easier for those who find parallel parking a challenge, and BMW has designed a programme that can detect problems such as an oil spill on the road and help a driver avoid, or at least minimise, its potential consequences.
The system will even alert other BMW cars with similar equipment that may be following behind. The future, it seems, is already here. The rapid development of software programmes in cars means our levels of comfort, safety and entertainment while driving is limited only by imagination and standardisation.
Mercedes has a radar system already in use that can sense an impending impact and will warn the driver, close the sunroof and tighten seat belts in anticipation.
Nissan has developed another system that automatically selects the safest distance between your car and the one in front, and some Chrysler cars have taken automatic headlights to new levels of sophistication.
Electronics can switch off the high beams when they detect the lights of an oncoming vehicle, or the rear lights of a car in front, thus maximising your use of full beam in the safest way.
However, many of these systems are developed in isolation and at huge expense. So the motor industry is struggling to keep pace with technology but prepared to spend huge amounts of money in the process.
This is an area in which one Irish company, Lero, is hoping to tap into a market that is estimated to be worth up to €130 billion by 2015.
Lero's Dr Kevin Ryan, who is based at the University of Limerick, predicts that the car is becoming so complex that 40 per cent of the cost of a car will be accounted for by software by that date.
The aim of the Lero group, which involves some 40 academics and postgraduate researchers, is to develop large software-based systems "in a disciplined and cost-effective way". There are ambitions to become involved not only in building new systems but also to manage issues, such as directing development teams, scheduling and budgeting at a time when the amount and complexity of software is increasing significantly.
Development of software systems is central to the future of the car and is concerned mainly with emissions, safety, accident avoidance, autopilot systems, information and entertainment, vehicle condition recognition, valve control that shuts down cylinders when the car is not being used to its optimum, and active suspension systems.
In short, the car will become the master rather than the driver. Interestingly, the development of the self-parking car is being held up because of legal considerations. Volkswagen can get the car to park itself, but what if it hit another car in the process?
Would that be the fault of the driver or the VW system that took over?
Some senior motor industry figures are now wondering how far technology should go, and just how much control should be left in the hands of the driver.
Professor Vinny Cahill, a computer expert at TCD, is one of those involved in Lero's development work. Much of his expertise is in developing systems that will allow a flow of information between cars on the road and the sharing of that information.
"Satellite navigation, for instance, is commonplace, but it is relatively unsophisticated and unconnected.
"We are looking at areas like car-to-car communication (like the BMW example above), the development of sensors that can detect road conditions like ice, increasing the driver's vision and awareness based on information from surrounding areas, developing wi-fi in cars and electronic tolling."
Lero is already in talks with Microsoft about developing car to car gaming. Imagine two children in two different cars sharing a computer game and you have some indication of what is possible in the future. Much of the emphasis in development work, however, is in the area of safety.
"Accident avoidance is a very big area. Citroën has already developed a system that jolts the driver's seat if he or she crosses a continuous white line without indicating. We have already seen in Germany a direct correlation between the deployment of electronic stability programmes in single car accidents and lower death rates. That is a good example of how technology can intervene to save lives," says Dr Hanz Jurgen Kugler, an adviser to Lero.
The provision of more driver information on screen, the maintenance of control of the vehicle and what is called "infotainment" are also key areas for development. "Voice recognition is also another logical area of development," he says.
In the future, then, it should be much more difficult for us to get lost, get involved in accidents, lose control of our cars and be much easier for us to communicate, allow our children to watch satellite TV in the car or whatever computer programme they choose, "talk" to our cars and have them "talk" to us.
The beauty of current developments, however, is we will have fewer gadgets to fiddle with, and we can tell the car the exact temperature we want. In turn, it will tell us when the next service appointment is due and anything else the software developers think we need to know.