While several basic sat-nav systems don't offer this service, many of the more upmarket units will provide you with live traffic information. This feature is often connected with the traffic updates tool, and provides users with alternate routes of travel for reasons like excessive traffic congestion, closed roads, etc. Most satellite navigation systems feature voice-guided directions now, so it reduces distraction when the sat-nav is in use.
A very useful tool with modern sat-nav systems is the POI feature, which displays various kinds of POIs along your route, like ATMs, hospitals, restaurants, malls, etc. Your sat-nav unit can provide you with information about expected travel time to your destination. Sat-nav systems also provide you with your precise geographical location, with latitudinal and longitudinal co-ordinates.
Even modern cars have a small error in speedometer readings, so if you're really concerned about your fastest speed during your highway blast, it's best you rely on the accuracy of vehicle speed from your sat-nav system instead.
Several sat-nav systems have this inbuilt feature, namely, displaying a warning if you're over the designated speed limit in that area. Not always applicable on our roads, but it's there, just in case. Modern day sat-nav units often have three-dimensional representations of the road and the places around, so displays are looking increasingly cool these days. Satellite navigation systems can also provide information about your height above sea level, which will no doubt be appreciated by the adventurer in you.
Most satellite navigation system providers offer regular updates for the map database in your car, often for a non-substantial sum. When all you need to do is follow directions from your sat-nav unit, travelling to new places becomes much easier. Just turn up your AC and let the system do the talking. Sat-nav systems work independently of the Internet, so you need not worry if you lose connectivity, unlike Google Maps for example, which is dependent on the Web.
With the recent digital electronic revolution, sat-nav systems have become cheaper to manufacture. As a result the end user is benefited because of increased accessibility. Don't think there's a Sat-Nav For Dummies edition out, and with good reason. Because modern day systems are generally easy to navigate and use, more and more people are getting used to this luxury. More and more sat-nav systems offer more than just navigation, since it is now possible to integrate media players, picture viewers, reverse cameras, and more, to your setup.
Portable devices: These are removable GPS units that mount themselves to the windscreen or dashboard, and usually powered by the cigarette lighter power socket. Original factory equipment: This is when the sat-nav unit comes pre-installed in your car, or when you have an option to retrofit the factory-supplied GPS system. After four years of deliberations, President Clinton signed a bill in ordering the military to cease scrambling satellite signals used by civilians. This instantly upgraded the accuracy of the few consumer-based systems already in existence by a factor of 10, and opened the doors to a much larger, consumer electronics-based industry for GPS navigation.
Today, a network of 24 U. Most people don't realize that in order for global positioning to work, Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity must come into play. On a basic level, GPS finds your position by looking at the time stamp from a number of satellites orbiting the earth, how far away each one is from you, and how far apart each one is from the other. With that data, the system triangulates your position on the ground.
But because of relativity, the clocks in the satellites advance ever so slightly faster than clocks on the surface of the Earth. Plus, moving clocks are slower than ones standing still—again, by a very tiny amount. While those two effects work against each other, the net result isn't equal: You end up with a discrepancy of roughly 38 microseconds per day. That incredibly small difference is still enough to report your actual position off by miles, which would render the GPS system worthless, were it not for allowing for relativistic effects.
Fortunately, the dot com boom was already coming to the rescue. Recently the Japanese car maker Ssangyong took electric windows to the next level; theirs open and close to the touch of the glass itself.
While Google Maps on a mobile has somewhat replaced portable sat nav technology, the most popular device, TomTom, was actually voted the fifth most important invention of the 21st century in a YouGov survey of the British public in The Audi Quattro pictured revolutionised rallying with the introduction of four wheel drive for a hatchback.
It's since become commonplace on family cars. The first luxury 4x4 was the Range Rover by British Leyland; the model is now in its fourth generation. A special mention must go to the ground-breaking Jensen FF, however. Made from , the British company's Interceptor-related car was the first non off-road permanent four wheel drive car with anti-lock braking. Automotive data and valuations expert hpi has just marked its 80th anniversary, and to celebrate has predicted what it expects to see transform motoring in the next 80 years.
As early as , Chevrolet was manufacturing vehicles with power steering for the British army. However, it was rival US car maker Chrysler that produced the first commercially available power steering on its Imperial.
General Motors soon followed suit and by a quarter of all American cars were making turns with the help of hydraulics. Perhaps it was the popularity of hit TV show Knight Rider that led manufacturers to launch talking cars in the s. Drivers who left the window down, the key in the ignition or were nearing an empty tank of fuel would be alerted by their friendly talking car.
The futuristic technology never really took off, with warning beeps and flashing lights proving more popular in the long-run. Remember hinged windows? Often triangular in shape, they were a common feature of cars throughout the sixties and seventies, providing fresh air to front and rear passengers.
They fell out of fashion and are now something of a novelty in older, retro models. Horrified by the smog in Los Angeles, he started work on a way to reduce exhaust fumes. Thanks to US federal regulations, adoption of the devices was well underway by the mids. Since January , all new petrol-driven cars sold in the EU have been fitted with a catalytic converter. Not only do they cut down the amount of poisonous carbon monoxide, but also nitrous oxides, the primary cause of smog and acid rain.
Thanks to the catalytic converter, we can all breathe a little easier. Volkswagen led the field by including car scanning capability in some models in The feature could alert owners to potential problems before they escalated further. Fifty years on, onboard computers are a legal necessity. Every car has at least one, which monitors emissions to keep them as low as possible.
The industrial engineer John W. Hetrick patented the airbag in the USA on 18 August, Airbags have only become commonplace in passenger vehicles since the early s, when BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo included them on high-end models. Airbags are standard equipment on cars these days, but before the s they were considered a luxury safety item to have.
Long before streaming media, Bluetooth, Spotify and Apple Music were invented, listening to music while driving was already one of the greatest pleasures of life on the road. Toyota created the first mass-produced hybrid car when it launched the Prius in The Honda Insight followed in , and since then the market has seen many additions. Uptake in the UK is growing fast. In January, pro-hybrid campaign group, Go Ultra Low, revealed last year's sales were up by more than 27 per cent on This growth is partly down to emissions legislation, which means the UK is legally bound by the Climate Change Act to reduce emissions 80 per cent by The original Toyota Prius launched in and paved the way for the hybrid models that followed it.
Many of the Caped Crusader's various other vehicles since have featured form of self-driving tech. Lovable Herbie is much more than just a driverless car; he plays pranks on people and has a humorous personality. The original movie had chains of driverless Ford Explorers rolling through the park on safari.
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