Adaptive Cruise Control

 

Image credited to Futurez

    Assalamualaikum and good day. Nowadays, technology is growing rapidly, so as the innovations done on some technology. In this blog, I am going to share about adaptive cruise control. The cruise control technology had been around for quite some time. The cruise control was invented on the early of 1900s, in a Wilson-Pilcher car. The driver was able to set the chosen speed using a lever on the steering column. Then, the modern cruise control was founded in the late 1940s by a man named Ralph Teetor. Alright, that's enough for the short history of cruise control. The purpose I write this blog is to share about the adaptive cruise control, so let's jump straight to it. 

What is Adaptive Cruise Control?

Image credited to MEKANIKA

    Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a system designed to help vehicles maintain a safe following distance and stay within the speed limit. The system automatically controls the acceleration and braking of a vehicle. It is activated through a button on the steering wheel and cancelled by the driver's braking or another button. The driver can set their preference regarding certain factors, such as the distance to the car in front, driving mode and others. Together with information about speed limits, road curvature, accidents data and more, these choices influence the automatically selected speed. 

    Cruise control has come a long way from its early days in its quest to assist drivers on the road. When first introduced, it was only found in luxury car models due to its high production cost. As less expensive sensors reached the market, adaptive cruise control is steadily becoming a standard feature in new vehicles today.

How does Adaptive Cruise Control function?

Image credited to Parkers

    The cruise control modulates the cars' accelerator to maintain the speed at a constant determined by the driver. Adaptive cruise control on the other hand is a more advanced system of that feature that controls the accelerator and brakes to maintain a preset distance to the car in front with a maximum speed tacked on if there isn't a car in front.

    For example, if the driver sets the speed to 100kph but there is a vehicle in front going only 80kph, the car with assistive cruise control will modulate the accelerator and brakes to maintain a set distance to the vehicle in front. Once the vehicle moves out of the way, the system will accelerate the car to 100kph and maintain that until it comes up on a vehicle in front going slower than that speed. 

Advantages of Adaptive Cruise Control

    Increased road safety is one of the main benefits of adaptive cruise control since vehicles equipped with this technology will maintain a safe distance from other moving vehicles. Accidents brought on by a blocked vision or a close following distance will also be less likely thanks to these space-conscious features. As a driver, you don't have to worry about your speed and can instead concentrate on what is going on around you thanks to the adaptive cruise control's spatial awareness, which will help to optimize traffic flow.

Disadvantages of Adaptive Cruise Control

    Adaptive cruise control has a lot of benefits, but there are some drawbacks as well. The fact that this system is not totally independent is one of its key flaws. To achieve the optimum outcomes from this technology, the driver of the car must continue to cultivate safe driving practices. Similar to how bad weather like snow, rain, or fog may fool the system's sensors, environmental elements like driving through tunnels can also be problematic.

    We have now completed our discussion of adaptive cruise control. I acknowledge that some of you may find it challenging to comprehend what this blog is about, as I indicated in my prior blog. This is why I've included a YouTube video from mix AUTOTECH so you can see how the adaptive cruise control works. This video should be helpful.

    As we have now reach the end of this blog, we can conclude that the adaptive cruise control is a great technology as it can predict the actions of neighboring vehicles which can save lives. Each year, adaptive cruise control develops new features. Automobile manufacturers are consistently improving this technology, making it more accessible and inexpensive solutions that may be added to or purchased with older car models to increase safety for regular drivers.

    I really hope you gain much information with new knowledge from my blog. Feel free to share your thoughts, suggestions or proposal in the comment box below. Kindly follow my blog for more information on Technology in Automotive. 

That is all from me, drive safe and drive smart!

References/Source

• https://www.caranddriver.com/research/a32813983/adaptive-cruise-control/
• https://www.carsome.my/news/item/understanding-adaptive-cruise-control
• https://www.tomtom.com/newsroom/explainers-and-insights/what-is-adaptive-cruise-control/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_cruise_control
• https://www.tomtom.com/newsroom/explainers-and-insights/a-brief-history-of-cruise-control-systems/