Toyota: Car That Can Park Itself Put on Sale by Toyota

In article <ca>, ca says...
 

Lousy parkers come in all races, no need to narrow it down to any one.
I see them all the time her in NYC. More often than not, they are tourists.
--------------
alex

> TOKYO (Reuters) - A car that can park itself without the driver having 

Sounds like a nice piece of technology.

But I can see a follow-on that will be even better: A car that will
automatically change out of the fast lane if someone is following you
closely and you're not following anyone else closely.

If Toyota isn't interested, maybe a competitor will be. Or maybe Prius's
onboard computer can catch a virus that will introduce this behavior.

Philip® wrote: 

No - same idea. Engine drives generator. Constant speed
affair for maxiumum efficiency. Generator drives electric
motors.

Just that in a car, a small unit based off of a turbocharger
might provide enough power. Get almost turbine efficiencies
in a tiny package.

Matthew Russotto wrote:
 

Maybe. Otoh, 80% efficiency with losses factored in for the entire
system is a lot better than 40% or so the hybrids get, so space might
not be a problem, especially since at optimum RPMs and output,
a tiny engine the size of a motorcycle could get the job done.

Figure twice the efficiency of a car. Figure most cars don't
actually generate more than 100hp in actual driving, as the
automatics shift way before their optimum RPM(power) ranges
to get good economy.

A tiny 30-50hp engine should easily be enough. I've seen
600cc 4-stroke motorcycle engines that put out 100HP, so
definately doable.
 

John David Galt wrote: 

Programming by Microsoft. Airbags by...

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 21:59:55 -0700, John David Galt
<sacramento.ca.us>
 

Better yet, since the gov't has seen fit to mandate airbags, seatbelts,
etc....simply mandate self destruct devices for vehicles stuck in the
left lane when they shouldn't be.

There have already been cars which have driven themselves 99% of the way
across the country with no human intervention, BTW.
 

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 20:58:55 -0400, Alex Rodriguez <edu> wrote: 

More often than not, they are women.

--
Roger Blake
(Subtract 10 for email.)

In article <net>,
Matthew Russotto <speakeasy.net> wrote: 
You say this as if it would be difficult. Even the Maybach 62 should be able
to cruise at 60mph with less than 100 hp (probably closer to 60). Gas
turbines are rediculously small. A package that is a foot in diameter and
three feet long can produce nearly a thousand hp, and for a small decrease
in overall efficiency and allowing for a wider package, we can reduce the
length by nearly a third. A 60 hp turbine could probably fit in the same
volume as the starter, and it would weigh less. The only lower limit on
a generator's size is the requirement to extract waste heat. The motor is
similar, but there is the problem that smaller motors produce less torque
and require a gearbox [comments on motor/generator variations with size
assume constant power. Increasing the electrical frequency decreases the
size and increases the mechanical speed]