Safety has long been a selling point for the wireless industry and customers historically have pointed to safety as a primary reason for purchasing a wireless phone.
Now several automobile manufacturers are deploying systems in their vehicles that can summon emergency help to accident victims, even when drivers can’t make that call for themselves. The systems, which typically incorporate cellular and global positioning system technologies, automatically send a distress call to a service center whenever a vehicle’s air bag is deployed. The operator then can contact emergency crews if voice contact with the driver cannot be established and provide critical location information to the emergency dispatcher.
Besides the emergency functions provided by these systems, the automobile and wireless industries have begun to converge with offerings that include road-side assistance, help with directions and other information services. The emerging market is known as telematics, which encompasses the transmission of wireless voice and data to and from vehicles.
Motorola Inc. and Nissan Motor Corp. USA last week became the latest companies to launch such a system. The Infiniti Communicator is available on the mid-year releases of the Infiniti Q45 and I30 luxury sedans beginning in March. The system uses Motorola’s in-vehicle global positioning system and cellular technologies to provide a link to the Infiniti Response Center.
Services include 24-hour emergency roadside assistance, air bag deployment notification, stolen-vehicle notification and remote door unlocking. Motorola said the IRC notifies emergency services upon request from the driver, when an incorrect password is entered or when the air bag is deployed.
Motorola formed a separate business organization-Telematics Information Systems-to handle its telematics offerings.
General Motors’ OnStar system also uses GPS technology and a hands-free, voice-activated cellular phone link to connect drivers to the 24-hour OnStar center. The OnStar system provides services, including automatic notification of air bag deployment, emergency services, remote diagnostics, automatic theft notification, stolen-vehicle tracking, convenience services, roadside assistance, route support and remote door unlock.
A new feature this year to OnStar’s system is its remote diagnostics function that can help drivers determine the severity of car problems. OnStar can interrogate 266 system codes that cover the vehicle’s engine and powertrain systems, the anti-lock brake system and the air bag system. The codes, including transmission fluid temperature, engine misfire, fuel injector malfunction and engine over-temperature protection, represent more than half of all service and repair incidents for GM customers, said the company. OnStar agents can help a driver determine whether the problem is serious enough to turn the car off immediately or if drivers can wait to have the car repaired in the future.
The ability of GPS technology to pinpoint locations has helped OnStar and police recover several stolen vehicles since its launch in September 1996, including a car stolen from a Tennessee woman who was carjacked at gunpoint and a Cadillac stolen from a dealership in Mississippi. In both cases, the vehicles were tracked by the OnStar center and located within an hour of the incident.
The system also features a database of information to help drivers find banks, campgrounds, golf courses, hotels, restaurants, stadiums and other destinations.
The OnStar system is available on more than 1.3 million vehicles this year including all Cadillacs and Buicks and some minivans, sport utilities and full-size trucks, premium cars and mid-size vehicles from Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Pontiac-GMC, said OnStar.
Ford Motor Co. has a similar offering available through its Visteon Automotive Systems enterprise. Called RESCU (Remote Emergency Satellite Cellular Unit), the system allows drivers to press one button for emergency help or roadside assistance and another button for information, including route assistance. The “SOS” activation is made automatically upon deployment of the vehicle’s air bag, said Visteon.
When activated, the system automatically initiates a cellular phone call and data transmission to the RESCU response center operator. Information transmitted includes type of request, the vehicle’s identification number and the last recorded speed and direction of the vehicle via GPS. When the data transmission is complete, voice contact between the operator and the driver is established and mapping software allows the operator to locate the driver.
Visteon said by mid-year convenience features also will be available, including an electronic yellow pages, directions to museums, universities, landmarks and other points of interest and a concierge service that allows the driver to order theater tickets, make dinner reservations and send flowers.
RESCU has been available as an option package on all 1998 Lincoln Continentals. The company later this year plans to make specially designed dealer-installed versions of RESCU available on the Ford Taurus and Explorer models.
Ford’s foray into the wireless world also includes a “black box” technology designed to help Ford engineers understand how customers are using their vehicles and use the data to set up more robust durability tests for future cars and trucks. The Customer Logger Modules download driving data from vehicles via cellular networks. The boxes were designed by Cosworth Engineering. Trimble manufactured the Global System for Mobile communications components and Air Communications provided the cellular unit.
Ford deployed the modules in geographic areas known for weather extremes, poor roads and high altitude to determine how vehicles responded to harsh conditions. The company said it has discovered a variety of trends, including areas where braking is aggressive and where drivers are more aggressive. The company also has discovered some peculiar activities, including one driver who warmed his vehicle on wide-open throttle for 15 minutes.
