Press Release
BMWs ConnectedDrive
photo caption:ConnectedDrive Projekt Pixel light on DMD Basis(Digital MicroMirror Device): Caution of obstacle on foggy road Pooling comfort and service benefits from the Web. BMW Online already offers a wide range of individual services (not available in the US).
- E-mail accounting.
- Address book functions.
- Inquiry services.
- The latest news in politics, sports, culture and business, as well as local news.
- The latest corporate news.
- Stock prices.
- City guide and travel information.
- Weather information.
- A 3D view presenting a specific location from a bird’s-eye perspective.
Connected Drive laser projection: A new experience in rear seat entertainment The customer is also able to enter individual reading markers for the BMW gateway on his PC at home, then accessing the services required quickly and conveniently from his car. Indeed, he is able to access the BMW gateway not only from his car or his PC at home, but also from his mobile phone. To ensure an optimum combination of information requirements, safety and comfort, all online services are tailored to the operating and control conditions within the car itself. As an example, the BMW gateway presents news, business reports, directory inquiry services or weather conditions at the driver’s point of departure or his destination, condensed in each case to the key words and headlines both the driver and passenger are able to take in within fractions of a second. Floating Car Data: cars exchanging data in a fully automatic process Precise traffic information provided reliably and in good time gives the driver extra safety and motoring comfort. The prerequisite and starting point absolutely essential for this purpose is the comprehensive coverage and compilation of traffic data. Future-oriented concepts therefore use cars as mobile sensors. Since September 2001 all BMW cars equipped with the BMW Assist telematics service have been participating in the Floating Car Data (FCD) system – provided the driver wishes to use this service himself. This means that BMW cars on the road serve not only as recipients, but also as collectors and providers of traffic information, the car’s current position and road speed being transmitted for this purpose to the FCD Center – naturally in a fully anonymous process, without identifying the car as such. Then, proceeding from the position and speed data entered in this way, the system is able to calculate the current traffic load with a relatively high standard of accuracy. BMW drivers participating in the FCD system thus enter and receive information free-of-charge on traffic obstructions not even covered and detected by sensors on the motorway. And precisely this is another big advantage, traffic conditions being monitored and evaluated without requiring any additional infrastructure. This means that the system is able to anonymously gather and process traffic flow information from any point on the digitalised road network. Via BMW Assist, the networked cars transmit the data registered by the ConnectedDrive on-board network automatically to a registration and recording center where the data is compared with information from other road users and sources of traffic information, processed and transmitted directly by SMS through the car’s telephone to the navigation system in BMWs equipped with BMW Assist. Should there be any traffic obstructions on the route the driver intends to take, the navigation computer will immediately select an alternative route and offer the driver this option. Without requiring any additional sensors, BMW cars equipped with FCD are able to generate information on the flow of traffic on motorways and country roads and within built-up areas. The dynamic route guidance function enabling the driver to avoid traffic congestion is incidentally no longer limited to the motorway (ie, the Autobahn in Germany), but also covers the entire digitalised road network. The XFCD ConnectedDrive project:
BMW Group developing enhanced data acquisition functions. Road speed and the distance covered are only rudimentary data, not sufficient for a detailed assessment of traffic conditions and their ongoing development. Precisely this is why the BMW Group is developing the Extended Floating Car Data or XFCD system providing far more precise traffic information by means of extended car-generated traffic data coverage. To provide this input, a modern car is able to present not only speed, but also a wide range of other data generated by the various on-board systems. The introduction of modern on-board networks ranging from dynamic suspension control systems to driver assistance provides a wide range of further data available for assessing traffic conditions, road conditions and the weather situation. Such data is provided by the low- and high-beam headlights, the foglamps, ABS, ASC or DSC, the outdoor thermometer and air conditioning, the car’s brakes, the navigation system, rain sensor or screenwipers. Taking the same approach as with FCD, XFCD processes the entire range of extended data within the car to provide incident-related, traffic and road condition reports indicating current traffic situations and dangerous conditions such as heavy rain, aquaplaning, black ice, limited visibility or fog. Operation of ASC in conintersection with a low outdoor temperature, use of the windscreen wipers, and low road speeds, for example, would clearly indicate the risk of slippery roads at the location where the car is currently being driven. The wide range of ConnectedDrive functions is intended not only to provide communication linking the driver, the car and the stationary infrastructure, but also to ensure direct car-to-car communication in future without going through any kind of control center.
