Jaguar Land Rover engineers design a Pot-hole alert system

More and more technology is being developed to make cars more efficient and the newest on the block is the ‘Pot-hole alert’ system created by Jaguar Land Rover engineers.

Jaguar Land Rover say that this technology will save lives and reduce the amount of compensation claims for damage and injury. In the UK last year there was an estimated £20 million pay out of compensation due to potholes.

The system is designed to detect a pot hole, adjust the cars suspension and send data to other drivers using the cloud to warn them of the impending pothole.

Engineers say that in the future the vehicle will be able to take a photo and send it to the local council who in turn can send someone down to fix it.

Dr Mike Bell JLRs director of global connected car has said ‘Our vehicles feature sophisticated sensors that allow the vehicle to profile the road surface under the wheels and identify potholes, raised manholes and broken drain covers,’ he said.

‘By monitoring the motion of the vehicle and changes in the height of the suspension, the car is able to continuously adjust the vehicle’s suspension characteristics, giving passengers a more comfortable ride over uneven and damaged road surfaces.

‘While this gives our customers a more comfortable ride, we think there is a huge opportunity to turn the information from these vehicle sensors into “big data” and share it for the benefit of other road users.

‘This could help prevent billions of pounds of vehicle damage and make road repairs more effective.’

‘At the moment the most accurate data comes from when the car has driven over the pothole or manhole.

‘So we are also researching how we could improve the measurement and accuracy of pothole detection by scanning the road ahead, so the car could predict how severe they are before the vehicle gets near them.’

‘We are looking to develop systems that could automatically guide a car around potholes without the car leaving its lane and causing a danger to other drivers.

‘If the pothole hazard was significant enough, safety systems could slow or even stop the car to minimize the impact.

‘This could all help make future autonomous driving a safe and enjoyable reality.’




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