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    HISTORY

    Automobiles changed the world in the 20th Century. They have given people the freedom to

    live, work, and travel almost anywhere they want. The automobile industry has caused the suburbs togrow, and made the development of road and highway systems necessary. The manufacture, sale, and

    repair of automobiles are very important to the countries that produce large amounts of manufactured

    goods. But along with the advantages of automobiles, there have been disadvantages. Automobile

    accidents are a leading cause of death and injury in the world, and the automobile has brought about air

    and noise pollution. Despite the problems automobiles have caused, they are an important part of the

    culture and economy of the world.

    Before the invention of railroads, streetcars, and automobiles, people traveled to work by horse

    or horse and carriage. A streetcar was a public passenger car operated by rails through the streets of

    the city. Traveling by horse was a slow means of transportation, so people had to live close to wherethey worked. People tended to live on farms or in the city where the businesses were located. In the late

    1800s, when railroads and streetcars were developed, people could live farther from work. The

    communities that grew next to or near the central cities were called suburbs. The growth of the suburbs

    dramatically increased when people started owning automobiles, because it became even easier for

    people to live farther from their work. Also, businesses and stores moved to the suburbs where the

    people lived.

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    The travel industry grew with the invention of the automobile. When people had automobiles,

    they could drive to different places to visit. People started going on vacations and spending money in

    the cities they visited, which helped the economy.

    In the early days of the development of the automobile, there were three sources of automobile

    power steam engines, electric motors, and gasoline engines. The first self-propelled vehicles were

    made during the late 1700s in Europe using steam-powered engines. Steam engines are external-

    combustion engines. A steam engine works by using the heat energy of pressurized steam to push the

    pistons. In the late 1800s, many Americans also experimented with steam automobiles. These

    automobiles were not successful, because it took a long time for the engines to heat up, they cost a lot

    to make, they caused a lot of noise, and sometimes they exploded if too much pressure built up in the

    engine.

    In 1891, William Morrison built the first successful electric-powered automobile in the United

    States. Electric-powered automobiles were an improvement over steam-powered automobiles because

    they were quiet, cost less, and they did not produce smelly fumes. The disadvantages of electric cars

    were that they could only travel about 20 miles per hour, and the batteries needed to be recharged

    about every 50 miles.

    In 1860, Jean Lenoir of France patented an internal- combustion engine that is similar to the

    type of engine used in automobiles today. Internal-combustion engines run on gasoline or diesel (oil)

    fuel. Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz developed the first successful gasoline-powered automobiles

    separately in 1885 in Germany. Eventually, gasoline powered engines were used for nearly all

    automobiles because they provided for faster and longer trips than engines powered by electricity or

    steam.

    The first modern automobiles were made in Germany and France in the 1890s. Many small

    companies made them by hand. Until 1900, Europe led the world in the development and production of

    automobiles. During the early part of the 20th Century, the United States became one of the leading

    countries in automobile production. The United States passed other countries in the number of

    automobiles produced because the United States had a greater population and higher personal income

    levels than the countries in Europe. The United States had more people who could afford to buy

    automobiles.

    Another reason that the automobile industry grew in the United States was because gasoline

    prices dropped in the United States when oil was discovered in Texas in 1901. Gasoline is made from oil,

    so fuel prices went down, making the automobile less expensive to operate. Also, the United States

    automobile industry used mass production techniques, which further lowered the cost of owning an

    automobile. Mass production techniques make goods in large quantities using standardized parts and

    often using assembly lines. The production of automobiles in the United States increased rapidly in the

    early 1900s from less that 5,000 in 1900 to more than 1.5 million in 1916.

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    The first automobiles built for sale to the public in the United States were made by Charles and

    J. Frank Duryea in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1893. The brothers founded a company in 1895 called

    the Duryea Motor Wagon Company, and it was the first company in the United States to make

    gasoline-powered automobiles.

    Detroit soon became the Automobile Capital of the World. Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor

    Company in 1903, and five years later introduced the famous Model T. This automobile was popular,

    because it was the first affordable automobile made for the average American. Originally, the Model T

    sold for $825 and over 17,000 were sold in the first year.

    In 1913, Ford introduced the moving assembly line, which allowed his company to build

    automobiles faster and at a lower cost. The frame of the car was pulled through the plant by a chain and

    workers on each side added parts that were brought to them by conveyor belts. Up until this time,

    workers assembled each automobile on one spot on the factory floor. With the assembly line, Ford was

    able to drop the time needed to build a Model T from 12.5 hours to 2 hours and 38 minutes. This time

    was eventually decreased to 1 hour and 33 minutes, which lowered the price of the Model T because the

    cost of labor went down. By 1924, the price of the Model T had dropped to $290. More than 15 million

    Model Ts were sold by the time the model was discontinued in 1927. The Model T changed the United

    States because large scale ownership of automobiles led to the growth of the suburbs, motels,

    shopping centers, and highways.

    By the late 1920s, there were three major automobile companies in the United States, all

    based in Michigan General Motors Company, Ford Motor Company, and the Chrysler Corporation.

    The giant automobile companies wanted to produce and sell automobiles in all price ranges for people

    of all ages and lifestyles. Automobiles are made in various styles two-door, four-door, small, large,

    sporty, and luxurious.

    In 1923, when Alfred Sloan was the president of General Motors Company, he introduced the

    concept of changing model styling each year. This meant that, even though an automobile had the

    same name, the body design or features offered would be changed and improved. Eventually, this

    practice was used by the other automobile companies. This resulted in more frequent improvements to

    automobiles because every year changes were made to introduce the new models. Sales also increased

    because more people wanted to buy the new cars, because they looked different from their old ones.

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    INNOVATIONS

    There have been many improvements in the automobile over the past 110 years. In the early

    1900s, most automobiles looked more or less like horseless carriages. There were no roofs or windows.

    By 1906, automobile bodies were changed to include bumpers, a hood that covered the engine,

    fenders, and lamps placed on the front as headlights.

    An important invention in the development of the automobile was the electric self-starter that

    was invented by Charles Kettering in 1911. General Motors Company first used the electric self-starter

    in 1912. Prior to that time, automobiles had to be started with hand cranks. A crank was put into the

    front of the engine and the crank had to be turned by hand until the engine started. The driver had to

    stand outside to use the hand crank, which was not very comfortable when the weather was bad. It was

    also difficult to start an automobile with a hand crank, because it took a lot of strength. The electric

    self-starter was better, because it was easier, faster, and the driver could be inside the automobilewhen starting it.

    Today, automobiles use pneumatic tires, which are rubber tires filled with air. Michelin, a

    French rubber-making company, introduced the first pneumatic tires used on automobiles in 1895.

    Before this time, most vehicles had wooden wheels and steel tires. Pneumatic tires were an

    improvement over steel tires because they gave a smoother ride. Originally, the tires were filled with 55

    to 75 pounds per square inch of air pressure. These tires were called high-pressure tires. In 1922, low-

    pressure tires that held from 30 to 32 pounds per square inch were introduced. The low-pressure tires

    provided for a smoother ride because they were not as hard and absorbed bumps better.

    In 1939, air conditioning and automatic transmissions were introduced. The transmission

    changes the gears of an automobile depending on the speed. A larger gear is used when an automobile

    is starting out because a lot of force is needed. Smaller gears are used as the automobile picks up

    speed. With a manual transmission, the driver presses down on a clutch pedal while shifting the gears

    with a gearshift. Automatic transmissions have internal clutches that disengage the engine

    automatically as the gears change. Both automatic and manual transmissions are used today.

    Automatic transmissions are easier to use because the driver does not have to change gears. Manual

    transmissions give the driver more control and are less expensive to make.

    Each year, about 300,000 people throughout the world die in traffic accidents. The three maincauses of accidents are driver error, defective automobiles, and poor road conditions. Accident

    prevention programs are aimed at these three causes. In Michigan, for example, drivers must be at least

    16 years old to obtain a drivers license. Traffic rules are enforced by police. Safety features are included

    in automobiles to reduce the number of injuries and deaths from accidents. The main safety features

    built into automobiles are safety belts, air bags, and bumpers. Roads and highways are built with safety

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    in mind. Lighting and guardrails are included in road design, and intersections, the number of lanes, and

    traffic signals are all carefully planned.

    When automobile engines burn gasoline, they release gases into the air and cause air pollution.

    This is especially a problem in big cities such as Los Angeles where there is a lot of traffic. Government

    agencies have been established to set standards for the amount of pollution that an automobile may

    produce. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency enforces the standards that have

    been set up by the government. There are two main ways that automobile companies have reduced the

    amount of pollution caused by automobiles. Starting in the 1970s, catalytic converters were installed in

    the exhaust systems of automobiles. Catalytic converters reduce pollution by minimizing the gases

    released into the air. Also, automobile companies have designed automobiles to use less fuel.

    Automobiles continue to be improved as we enter the 21st Century. It is expected that future

    automobiles will use less fuel, cause less pollution, and be safer to drive. There will be greater use of

    computers to control more of the automobiles systems, such as the suspension and navigation

    systems. Electric engines are already being used on small vehicles, such as delivery trucks, that make

    short trips, because electric engines produce much less pollution than internal-combustion engines.

    The major countries producing automobiles today are Japan, the United States, England, France,

    Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Canada. Automobiles are one of the greatest inventions of all time and

    will continue to change the way we live.

    FUTURE INNOVATIONS

    COMPARING THE AUTO INDUSTRY to the computer industry is like comparing two

    different generations of technology. Weve got super-fast smartphones and iPods streaming

    Rhapsody in our pockets, but satellite radio and clunky GPS devices attached to our

    dashboards.

    Automakers are aware theyre a little behind the times, and by 2020, many are

    promising dashboard and safety systems as sophisticated as iPads maybe even more so.

    1. WifiObvious, but vital; most of the technologies on this list would be fairly useless if the car

    wasnt a rolling hotspot. Several auto manufacturers are already working on developing wifi for

    cars. In fact, connected cars are the third fastest-growing technological device, following

    smartphones and tablets.

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    Ford has introduced this in some models with their Sync system, and Toyota is working

    with Intel on developing one of their own. Ideally, these systems will also have the ability to

    connect to your home network, allowing you to transfer information from your computer or

    laptop directly to your car.

    2. Voice recognition

    I take it back this is the most vital technological advancement in automobiles. If

    texting increases accident rates, what will happen when drivers can tweet, update their

    Facebook page, and watch videos on YouTube?

    Voice recognition is still making its way from novelty to necessary, even in the

    smartphone world, as its proven a difficult technology to master. But theres arguably a more

    urgent need to succeed in this field for car manufacturers than in any other industry; already,

    the US Department of Transportation is calling to require voice input control of smartphones,

    mp3 players, tablets, and any other devices drivers may use in the car.

    Unfortunately, this technology may also prove to be the most expensive for auto

    makers. As of now, Apples Siri is the only voice recognition system thats been highly praised

    and even Siri is a long, long way from whatever Kirk had on the Enterprise.

    3. Digital dashboard

    Youre on the road and its time to find a hotel. Today, you might fumble with your

    phone, use an app to search for something nearby, and get directions. Or maybe youd use that

    GPS device suction-cupped to your window.

    But by 2020, your dashboard will likely resemble a giant iPad. Ideally, that means your

    cars system can be linked to whatever cloud service your smartphones and tablets use,

    allowing you to keep up with texts, calls, emails, social network updates, and apps from behind

    the wheel. So when youre ready to check in, you can just open apps like HRS Hotel Portal with

    a vocal command and talk your car through a map-based search, browse rates and room types,

    view photos and videos (while youre parked, hopefully), and book a room.

    Toyota calls it HMI (Human-Machine Interface), a system theyre already working on in

    partnership with Intel and Microsoft. These digital dashboards may turn your USB mobile

    broadband modem or smartphone into a wireless router, like Fords Sync system. Or they

    could connect with Bluetooth devices like Kias Uvo, so making calls and finding music are all

    voice-controlled.

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    4. Holographic displays

    GEElab (Games and Experimental Entertainment Laboratory) wins here for possibly the

    best project title ever theyre currently working on an in-car entertainment system

    tentatively named Enjoyable Interactions in the Rear Seat.

    According to Business Review Europe, this system will combine holographic displays

    with motion sensors to create applications for folks in the backseat thatll be similar to

    Microsoft Kinect and Nintendo Wii. While games are the goal, the resulting holographic

    technology could also be used to display dashboard and control info, as well as GPS.

    Even now, some cars are equipped with technology only a step or two away from

    holographics. S-class and CL-class Mercedes feature SplitView screens, which are pixelated in a

    way that projects two completely different images one for the driver and one for the

    passenger. However, the system is not yet legal in all states.

    5. Car-to-car communication

    Unlike driver-to-driver communication, this (probably) wont involve middle fingers.

    Once cars are connected thanks to technologies such as Intels M2M (Machine -to-Machine),

    theyll be able to share data with other cars on the road and warn drivers of accidents, as well

    as figure out alternate routes based on real-time information which in turn will help cut

    down on traffic and increase safety on the road.

    As an example, the Car2Car Communication Consortium points out a fairly

    commonplace scenario: A motorcycle is riding alongside or just behind a larger vehicle on a

    main road, while you wait at an upcoming intersection to make a right turn onto that road. The

    larger vehicle turns off the road, and because you still cant see the motorcycle, you pull out

    right in its path. With car-to-car technology, both you and the motorcyclist would receive a

    warning early on, which would likely help avoid a collision.

    6. Car-to-X communication

    Theres some overlap between car-to-car and car-to-X technology. BMW prefers car-to-

    X, as theyre looking into designing a system that allows cars to communicate with other

    systems outside of those in vehicles.

    One of these research projects is known as PROTON-PLATA (programmable telematics

    onboard radio), conducted by DEUFRAKO, a Franco-German cooperation in traffic research.

    The project is addressing the issues posed by a wide range of digital standards and radio

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    frequencies currently in use in digital broadcasting and mobile telecommunications, all of

    which are continually upgraded into their next generations about every two years. Because

    the life cycle of a car is significantly longer, drivers are constantly falling behind when new

    systems are released.

    The PROTON-PLATA project is researching whether SDR (software defined radio) is

    the possible answer technology which will allow all of these systems to be implemented in a

    single hardware unit.

    BMWs AMULETT (active mobile accident avoidance and mitigat ion of accident effects

    through cooperative data acquisition and tracking technology) project focuses on using car-to-

    X systems to actually communicate with people. The system includes a radio transponder that

    cyclists and pedestrians wear, which notifies the driver when the wearer is crossing the street

    or stepping out from behind a parked car.

    7. Digital goods

    Also known as apps. A shift from hardware to software in car systems will mean that by

    2020, you wont need to bring your car in for an actual installation every time you need an

    upgrade. Just like with your smartphone, itll be as simple as visiting the app store. And as Car

    and Driver pointed out, these systems are relatively inexpensive for car makers, as the

    technology is already standard in the computer and mobile industries.

    This paves the way for developers to focus on entertainment and utilities apps

    specifically for the driver. Apps to find your perfect match on the road. Apps that adjust the

    music to suit your mood. Apps that adjust the lighting to calm you in stressful situations. Apps

    that wake you up when you start to drift off thanks to soft music and dim lights.

    8. Remote control

    At the Busan International Motor Show in South Korea last month, Hyundai Motor

    introduced Bluelink, an IT controlling system that allows smartphone owners to find, unlock,

    and start their car remotely, as well as turn on the AC and opt to receive texts if there is

    damage or a break-in. BMW is working on remote-controlled parking.

    The next version? Maybe an app that memorizes your preferences and utilizes GPS to

    detect your proximity to your car. By the time you slide into the drivers seat, the AC is

    cranked, the music is on, and theres a hot cup of coffee in the cupholder.

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    9. Intuitive safety features

    Safety and emergency notifications can be helpful in preventing accidents but, in many

    cases, a barrage of beeps and ominous blinks only adds to a stressful driving situation.

    The solution for some manufacturers is a pre-safe system. Scenario: A car in front ofyou slams on the brakes, and your car senses its too close. The system primes the brakes so

    that even a light tap of the pedal will apply full force, increasing your chances of stopping in

    time.

    In emergencies, your car may even be able to take control and guide you to safety. For

    example, if your car detects youre having a heart attack or losing consciousness, BMWs

    Emergency Stop Assistant system will locate your car, flip on the emergency flashers, use

    sensors and video to monitor surrounding traffic, steer you safely off the road, and place a 911

    call.

    10. Invisible chauffeurs and copilots

    Technically, the invisible chauffeur already exists Google has been test-driving

    driverless cars in California. Nevada recently approved licenses for autonomous vehicles,

    meaning if you see an empty car cruise down the strip, theres actually a chance it isnt a

    drunken hallucination. And General Motors claims it will have its own driverless cars on road by

    2018. An invisible co-pilot, however, has already made its way into upcoming models.

    Your car will help you parallel park if youve got a Lexus LS 460 L, the Advanced

    Parking Guidance System asks you to align the car and put it in reverse before tapping a

    button. After that, take your hands off the steering wheel, control the speed with your foot on

    the brake, and let the car manueuver its way in.

    Cruise control can go beyond staying at a set speed. With radar sensors on the front of

    your car, the system will detect the speed of and distance between you and the car in front of

    you, adjusting cruise control to keep a safe distance.

    The co-pilot will also watch out for lateral collisions by using a variety of sensor

    technologies lidar, radar, ultrasound, video to monitor the area surrounding the car and,

    when another car or object gets too close, applying a directional impulse tug to the steering

    wheel.

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    11. Health monitor

    Ford has announced the development of a car seat with sensors to monitor your heart

    rate using electrical impulses. Mitsubishi Electric has plans to take this much further, and they

    believe such an interface will be a reality within the decade.

    Things like the seat position can be customized for all kinds of people, said Kiyoshi

    Matsutani, Manager of Automotive Electronics Development Center, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor

    Show. This is done through personal ID, facial temperature measurement, or heart-rate

    measurement using a Doppler sensor. In this way, the system senses the persons health

    condition on that day. The aim is to position the seat and steering to match the driver, and

    provide information to help with safe driving.

    12. Eco-mode

    Researchers at organizations like the Continental Corporation in Germany are focusedon using technology to make cars more eco-friendly. According to Popular Mechanics,

    Continental is developing an interface that includes an eco mode, which can search for the

    most economical route and offer other green tips. The system rewards eco-friendly driving

    behavior when the four-leaf clover display is filled green, the driver is eligible for rewards

    from their dealership.

    13. Financial GPS

    If your future car will be able to communicate with other cars, systems, devices, and

    humans, why not your bank? BMW has developed a key that functions as a credit card. In 2020,

    your entire car might become one. Skymeter calls it Financial GPS.

    With Financial GPS, consumers can get one bill at the end of the month for every car-

    related cost: their parking, their insurance, their lease, their roads, even full repairs coverage,

    said Kamal Hassan, Skymeter CEO, in a Mashable interview.

    Everything would be paid automatically per minute or per mile, based on your actual

    driving and parking. Drivers could then control their costs. Not driving for a week would save

    you money on your lease, your insurance, and even your municipal tax bill.

    This may mean were facing a future in which toll passes forever lost between car seats

    have become obsolete.

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