Johannesburg - Imagine a car that knows where potholes are before you get to them, and, can either warn you ahead of time or prime the suspension for impact.
Well, this tyre, wheel, and money-saving prospect might not be too far away, as sister brands Jaguar and Land Rover are working on technologies to make this dream a reality. The group is now in the research and development phases of a new Pothole Alert system, which will allow a vehicle to identify and store the location and severity of road imperfections. This data could then be uploaded to the cloud, where it would then be shared and distributed to other vehicles in real-time using new connected-car technologies.
“Our MagneRide equipped Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport 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,” says JLR’s Mike Bell.
“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 rands of vehicle damage and make road repairs more effective.”
In the UK, Jaguar and Land Rover are also working with city councils to understand how this information could be shared with authorities and road maintenance teams to more efficiently initiate repairs.
Here in South Africa connected car tech is still in its infancy, but in recent times major brands have rolled out internet-based features and navigation systems with real-time traffic updates; and, in Gauteng new cell phone apps have been effective in locating and triggering road repairs.
Although there’s no word yet on when Pothole Assist might be introduced, JLR South Africa has announced that its InControl connectivity features should be introduced in cars locally sometime next year.
Star Motoring