Car giant announces new technology to let parents program limits on a vehicle before they let their children drive it
Ford is to give European parents the chance to tell their children how to drive without even being in the car with them.
The car giant announced on Thursday that its MyKey technology, first introduced in the US in 2009 as a way of helping businesses manage their fleet drivers, will make its way to the Fiesta line in Europe in 2012. Ford is promoting MyKey as ideal for parents who worry that their kids drive too fast while playing music too loudly and without doing up their seatbelts.
The technology, which will be rolled out across Ford's entire European range after the Fiesta, lets parents pre-program a master key that sets various limits on the vehicle. Top speed settings can be limited, with warnings beeping at 70, 90 or 100kph. Failure to fasten seatbelts can also activate a chime and mute the audio system.
Pim van der Jagt, managing director of the company's Aachen research centre, said at Ford's IFA launch event in Berlin that under-25s were three times more likely to be involved in accidents, and MyKey would allow parents to tailor the vehicles performance to help their children drive more safely and more fuel efficiently without taking away their independence.
"It also encourages safety values," van der Jagt said, noting that MyKey could limit distractions by allowing parents to set a maximum audio volume.
MyKey also reminds young drivers of low fuel levels sooner than would otherwise be the case, if the system was not in place – warnings sound 125km before fuel is likely to run out, rather than 80km before that point.
If MyKey involves increased automation of control, it has nothing on the Ford Evos concept car that will be shown off at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month. Ford revealed the technology featured in the car at IFA, ahead of its physical unveiling.
Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology officer, described the Evos as an ultra-smart, cloud-connected vehicle. There are several cars on the market that already feature internet connectivity, but the Evos takes it a step further by interacting with the user's smartphone, tablet and even work diary.
If a meeting is cancelled first thing in the morning, Ford's software would tell the user's alarm clock to allow a lie-in. The car would know what the user was listening to via their iPad on their home sound system, and continue the music in-vehicle. It would also pre-cool itself to the user's chosen settings, also taking into account the weather outside.
If a meeting is delayed, the Evos would suggest the driver take a scenic route to work, and it would also suggest diversions to cleaner routes if it detects high pollution levels. It would even scan social networks to see what routes are recommended by friends.
A heart monitor built into the seat would detect a quickening of the pulse and take away extraneous information from the digital dashboard in response. If the car is put into performance mode, it would also automatically select music above a certain level of beats per minute, to go with the chosen speed. As the Evos is a hybrid, it would also scan the neighbourhood for nearby charging stations.
Of course, concept cars are just there to show off what could be made reality with a bit more work. MyKey will make it into real European cars next year, and Ford also hopes to bring its Sync voice control system across the pond soon too – that particular piece of technology is delayed for a rollout here due to the fact that Europe has a much greater variety of languages than the US.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/01/ford-mykey-parents-control-children-driving
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