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Has automation in the automotive industry made drivers lazy?

Lisa Miles

It's been a beautiful summer here in the UK this year. We've been treated to day after day of blue sky and sunshine making the commute to work an absolute dream. 

However, I woke up the other morning to find the world wrapped in a thick blanket of mist and fog for the first time in what feels like a decade (but in reality is probably only a few months Blush)

So, on the commute to work that morning, I popped on my fog lights (both back and front) while driving along the country road that winds from my village and out to the main highway to help my fellow travellers see me in this fog soup, only to come up rapidly behind a small silver grey Peugeot with no lights on! Then on the other side of the carriageway, more cars coming head on out of the mist with again with no lights on... Fearful

I would safely estimate that 3 out of every 10 cars I encountered on my journey into work that morning through the thick fog and mist, was not sporting any lights on their car at all let alone the very useful fog lights that are purpose made for driving in situations of reduced visibility.

I'm aware that many modern cars have automatic lights that come on when light levels are low BUT I'm finding that many drivers are not taking matters into their own hands when it comes to deciding when their car lights should actually be illuminated. Again the other day the sky went black and there was a sudden downpour on the way home from work and again, many drivers did not have their lights on probably opting for the decision to be taken by the onboard light sensors instead. 

A friend of mine also has automatic main beam on her car so she doesn't have to decide when to use it and when not to. The car makes that decision for her. 

It got me thinking... have we gone too far with automation in vehicles? Should we be encouraging drivers to make more decisions for themselves when behind the wheel of their car? Have we in fact through automation, removed too much responsibility from the driver themselves? 

Parents

  • good afternoon,
    I can compare the automation to automatic transmissions (nowadays many drivers prefer to buy a car with an automatic transmission than a mechanical transmission), it is much more convenient for the driver to use an automatic transmission and the technology is also advancing and more and more drivers are looking for maximum comfort and automation in their vehicle.

    I can explain the progress of autonomy for the example of the automatic transmissions of certain manufacturers, as it increases, in my opinion, autonomy will become more widespread.

    Explanation: The history of the creation of an automatic transmission

    The idea to create a gearbox with an automatic transmission was born at the beginning of the last century. Some cars had transmissions very similar to those used in modern cars.
    In Europe, Mercedes produced a small series of cars with a gearbox in 1914, which can conventionally be called an automatic.

    In the late 1930s, companies such as Chrysler, Ford, and GMC came close to developing mass-produced cars with automatic transmissions, the first of which was GMC, which began installing automatic transmissions in 1940. .
    Hydromantic for Oldsmobile and Cadillac vehicles. This transmission had a three-speed gearbox with hydraulic shift control.

    Continued development of automatic transmissions, until the early 80s of the 20th century, followed the path of improving production technology and improving the quality and reliability of the mechanical part of the automatic transmission. No fundamentally new solutions are used here.

    At the same time, the hydraulic system of the automatic transmission was constantly modernized. They tried to bring it to absolute perfection in order to provide the maximum comfort of driving a car. As an example we can mention the Mercedes company, which developed an original and unique hydraulic control unit circuit for its automatic transmissions 722.3, 722.4, 722.5.

    Since the 1980s, car manufacturers have been using electronic control systems for automatic transmissions. I did it for the first time in 1983. Toyota... then in 1987 Ford also started using it in A4LD transmissions to control the transmission clutch and torque converter. Electronic unit... In 1984, Chrysler introduced the advanced A604 and A606 transmissions (41TE and 42LE) for front-wheel drive vehicles with a fully electronic control system and at that time very advanced. By 1991, GMC had developed the 4L60-E and 4T60-E transmissions, also with a fully electronic control system.

    Today it is possible to distinguish between two trends in the development of transmissions with automatic transmissions.
    One of them is characterized by a constant increase in the number of gears. In the early 1980s, a fourth gear (overdrive) appeared in automatic transmissions, which was caused by the need to significantly improve the fuel consumption and economic performance of cars. At the same time, a torque converter lock is used to achieve the same goal. Then, at the beginning of the 90s of the same century, in order to improve the dynamic characteristics of the car, five-speed automatic transmissions were developed (another reduction gear appeared). At the beginning of 2001, the German BMW company began to install the company's ZF-6HP26 automatic transmission on its cars. Here, unlike five-speed automatic transmissions, a second overdrive appeared. And finally, recently, companies such as Honda, Audi, Nissan and others began to actively use continuously variable transmissions. transmission ratio (CVT).

Reply

  • good afternoon,
    I can compare the automation to automatic transmissions (nowadays many drivers prefer to buy a car with an automatic transmission than a mechanical transmission), it is much more convenient for the driver to use an automatic transmission and the technology is also advancing and more and more drivers are looking for maximum comfort and automation in their vehicle.

    I can explain the progress of autonomy for the example of the automatic transmissions of certain manufacturers, as it increases, in my opinion, autonomy will become more widespread.

    Explanation: The history of the creation of an automatic transmission

    The idea to create a gearbox with an automatic transmission was born at the beginning of the last century. Some cars had transmissions very similar to those used in modern cars.
    In Europe, Mercedes produced a small series of cars with a gearbox in 1914, which can conventionally be called an automatic.

    In the late 1930s, companies such as Chrysler, Ford, and GMC came close to developing mass-produced cars with automatic transmissions, the first of which was GMC, which began installing automatic transmissions in 1940. .
    Hydromantic for Oldsmobile and Cadillac vehicles. This transmission had a three-speed gearbox with hydraulic shift control.

    Continued development of automatic transmissions, until the early 80s of the 20th century, followed the path of improving production technology and improving the quality and reliability of the mechanical part of the automatic transmission. No fundamentally new solutions are used here.

    At the same time, the hydraulic system of the automatic transmission was constantly modernized. They tried to bring it to absolute perfection in order to provide the maximum comfort of driving a car. As an example we can mention the Mercedes company, which developed an original and unique hydraulic control unit circuit for its automatic transmissions 722.3, 722.4, 722.5.

    Since the 1980s, car manufacturers have been using electronic control systems for automatic transmissions. I did it for the first time in 1983. Toyota... then in 1987 Ford also started using it in A4LD transmissions to control the transmission clutch and torque converter. Electronic unit... In 1984, Chrysler introduced the advanced A604 and A606 transmissions (41TE and 42LE) for front-wheel drive vehicles with a fully electronic control system and at that time very advanced. By 1991, GMC had developed the 4L60-E and 4T60-E transmissions, also with a fully electronic control system.

    Today it is possible to distinguish between two trends in the development of transmissions with automatic transmissions.
    One of them is characterized by a constant increase in the number of gears. In the early 1980s, a fourth gear (overdrive) appeared in automatic transmissions, which was caused by the need to significantly improve the fuel consumption and economic performance of cars. At the same time, a torque converter lock is used to achieve the same goal. Then, at the beginning of the 90s of the same century, in order to improve the dynamic characteristics of the car, five-speed automatic transmissions were developed (another reduction gear appeared). At the beginning of 2001, the German BMW company began to install the company's ZF-6HP26 automatic transmission on its cars. Here, unlike five-speed automatic transmissions, a second overdrive appeared. And finally, recently, companies such as Honda, Audi, Nissan and others began to actively use continuously variable transmissions. transmission ratio (CVT).

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