Do we have to learn to live with in-car computers?
By T. Uncle
THE large-scale intervention of electronics into car design is a surprisingly recent phenomenon.
Most of the things we take for granted today -- even the simple digital clock that adorns the instrument panel of practically every new car made is a virtual newcomer on the general motoring scene -- were simply unheard of 20 years ago.
So, the degree to which motorists today have taken the electronics revolution on board is something of a surprise, especially motorists from the era of carbureted engines, cable- driven instruments and three- or four-speed manual transmissions.
Which is really only a couple of decades ago.
It is hard to identify a single area of modern car design that has not been subjected to significant electronic input.
Even at the fundamental design stage, electronics play a major role.
The virtual reality world of computers allows, for example, engineers to test the behavior of complex designs in crash situations before a single panel or structure is actually built.
Stylists can create a complete car on the computer screen, resplendent in any colors they like, then view it from any angle to observe how the curves and shapes react to real-world light and shade.
The behavior of complex suspensions systems can be created on computer, then analyzed not only for their function in controlling wheel movement, but also for potential wear and tear trouble spots.
Perhaps the most visible influence of modern car control systems is the in-car computer.
Adopted widely by European carmakers, but as yet -- surprisingly -- not a big item with the Japanese, the in-car computer is essentially a sophisticated information tool.
Even the most simple in-car computer is able to advise the driver quickly of things such as average fuel consumption, or how far the vehicle will travel before requiring a fuel stop.
Considering the calculations such systems must perform to do even simple tasks such as these -- they need to constantly monitor fuel use and distance traveled, then regularly update according to changes in driving conditions -- the benefits are obvious, even if they are taken for granted by most drivers.
The tendency is to produce positive results.
Most people accustomed to in-car computers will admit to forming a habit of keeping an eye on the average fuel consumption and striving for the lowest possible figures. That can only be a good thing.
Most in-car computers, of course, do a lot more than simply calculate fuel consumption.
In most cases, any self-respecting in-car computer will also provide a facility for calculating the total and remaining time for a specific journey, while also advising such things as external temperature and average speed.
Some will also provide a speed warning that can be preset to sound a discreet warning chime if a preset speed is exceeded.
The methods of calling up and displaying the information are the areas in which carmakers tend to differ.
Some, to maximize driver convenience, use controls activated by a steering column stalk, while others require the driver to fiddle around on the instrument panel to call up the required information.
BMW, which has tended to lead the way in developing useful in- car computers, favors the central control panel approach, with so many buttons and functions that at first glance the display looks like something out of a Boeing 777.
Especially in the 7-Series, where the in-car computer is integrated into the systems that also control the in-car telephone and satellite navigation system.
The challenge today is to maximize the amount of information that can be provided, while simplifying the controls used to extract and display that information.
The most simple and easiest-to-use systems to date are those that simply scroll through the displays as a single button is pressed, although this can be frustrating if the driver is after a single item of information and needs to scroll through less relevant data on the way to finding it.
The question, however, remains: Are in-car computers toys, or do they have real value in this world of information overload?
Ask any driver with an in-car computer and you will probably get a mixed answer.
Some will swear it has revolutionized the way they use their vehicle; others will probably have never even bothered to find out how to use it.
The reality is that the in-car computer has a way of infiltrating the consciousness so that once used, even for the most simple function, it is likely to be used again until eventually it becomes just another part of the vehicle's control systems.
One thing appears certain: we will have to learn to live with in-car computers in the same way we have had to accept the personal computer as an inescapable part of our lives.