Initiatives for Improving Traffic Safety

To achieve Toyota’s ultimate goal of completely eliminating traffic casualties developing safe vehicles is of course important, but it is also essential to educate drivers and pedestrians regarding traffic safety and to create a safe traffic environment. Toward achieving a safe mobility society, Toyota believes it is important to promote an Integrated Three Part Initiative, involving people, vehicles, and the traffic environment, as well as to pursue “real-world safety” by learning from accidents and incorporating that knowledge into vehicle development. Toyota has also defined its Integrated Safety Management Concept as the basic philosophy behind technologies for achieving the elimination of traffic casualties and is moving forward with developing such technologies.

Electronic power steering

Electric Power Steering (EPS) is favored over hydraulic power steering in most new vehicles. Eliminating the power steering pump can reduce weight and improve fuel economy. EPS also offers greater handling and steering feel while improving vehicle safety by adapting the steering torque to the vehicle's speed and providing active torque in critical driving situations.

The central electronic elements of today's electric power steering systems are modern 16- and 32-bit MCUs designed for safety-critical applications. Freescale's 16-bit and Qorivva 32-bit single and dual-core MCU provide enhanced computing power and specialized peripherals for complex electric motor control functions. Integrated power supply solutions are also important elements of a power steering control unit. They provide connectivity to automotive busses, such as CAN and LIN. For MOSFET power stages control, integrated pre-drivers are typically used to interface with the MCU directly or via SPI.

type of eps

Electric Power Steering

Electric Power Assisted Steering 

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

An automatic transmission (also called automatic gearbox) is a type of motor vehicle transmission  that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually. Most automatic transmissions have a defined set of gear ranges, often with a parking pawl feature that locks the output shaft of the transmission stroke face to keep the vehicle from rolling either forward or backward.

Similar but larger devices are also used for heavy-duty commercial and industrial vehicles and equipment. Some machines with limited speed ranges or fixed engine speeds, such as some forklifts and lawn mowers, only use a torque converter to provide a variable gearing of the engine to the wheels.

Besides automatics, there are also other types of automated transmissions such as a (CVT) and semi-automatic transmissions, that free the driver from having to shift gears manually, by using the transmission's computer to change gear, if for example the driver were redlining the engine. Despite superficial similarity to other transmissions, automatic transmissions differ significantly in internal operation and driver's feel from semi-automatics and CVTs. An automatic uses a torque converter instead of a clutch to manage the connection between the transmission gearing and the engine. In contrast, a CVT uses a belt or other torque transmission scheme to allow an "infinite" number of gear ratios instead of a fixed number of gear ratios. A semi-automatic retains a clutch like a manual transmission, but controls the clutch through electrohydraulic means.

A conventional manual transmission is frequently the base equipment in a car, with the option being an automated transmission such as a conventional automatic, semi-automatic, or CVT. The ability to shift gears manually, often via paddle shifters, can also be found on certain automated transmissions ( manumatrics  such as  tiptronic), semi-automatics (BMW SMG), and CVTs (such as  lineartronic).

The first automatic transmission was invented in 1921 by Alfred Horner Munro of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and patented under Canadian patent CA 235757 in 1923. (Munro obtained UK patent GB215669 215,669 for his invention in 1924 and US patent 1,613,525 on 4 January 1927). Being a steam engineer, Munro designed his device to use compressed air rather than hydraulic fluid, and so it lacked power and never found commercial application. The first automatic transmissions using hydraulic fluid were developed by General Motors during the 1930s and introduced in the 1940 Oldsmobile as the "Hydra-Matic" transmission. They were incorporated into GM-built tanks during world war ll and, after the war, GM marketed them as being "battle-tested".

celerio

Bharath benz

Suzuki’s offering in the liter-class, the V-Strom 1000 ABS, was launched for Rs 14.95 lakh

maruti suzuki celerio

It is a strange thing this, Maruti-Suzuki the most grounded of Indian car makers flying high – in spirit – with its wild naming spree of its most recent new car models.  Take its Sting Ray moniker, this was way too extreme especially for its blunt nosed styling approach to the Wagon R when all along the very mention of that evocative name makes one consider the decidedly 1960s muscular chic exemplified by the Chevrolet Corvette, especially the twin window fastback versions. 

Given this context then the all new addition to Maruti-Suzuki’s large small car portfolio is certainly not a fruity take or a salacious edible on a lunch or dinner spread but actually a model name that comes to India from the firm’s global portfolio, one that has done duty in Japan but rather more prominently in south east Asian markets. The all-new Celerio is actually a move by the market leader to do the impossible using its vast product bin and utilizing vital bits and pieces to come up with a car that is incrementally in tune with the times and the competition. Oh and by the way lets get the name out of the way – celestial river is what Celerio means literally in the Latin or Greek but the moot point is whether this car has the wherewithal to do the business and ramp up the passion for more punters to upgrade within the Maruti-Suzuki portfolio while also sucking in many others from the competition.

The Celerio is a large hatchback deemed to operate in the space where normally the Ritz operates at the top end and the Wagon R at the other extreme. What this clearly illustrates is that it is an even narrower band that has now been further thin-sliced by its maker to make room to push in yet another small car offering. Fathom this and you begin to understand why this carpet-bombing approach at the base of the huge 2.0 million plus car Indian market has paid rich dividends for its maker. Also precisely the reason why others haven’t got to grips with confronting it with the challenge needed, either individually or collectively!