Hotest/coolest spots in automotive environments

Don Y · 2015-06-16T19:29:05+00:00

Hi, We've been casually shopping for a new vehicle. Many of them now come with front-facing cameras that attempt to "watch where you're going". They use these to provide features like detecting when you are deviating from your lane, approaching some moving/stationary object, creeping up on a vehicle ahead of you (e.g., while on cruise control), etc. The cameras, of necessity (?) are mounted forward and high -- often *in* the rear view mirror or in a smallish SEALED (?) enclosure "attached" to the windshield immediately ahead of the rear-view mirror mount. Of course, for cosmetic reasons (?) these enclosures are invariably *black*. And, exposed to direct sun while in use (driving) -- or, sitting in uncovered parking lots (during daylight hours). The other day, while sitting in a vehicle at a dealership (i.e., out in an uncovered parking lot) and familiarizing myself with the dash, controls, etc., an error was signaled for one of these "camera-based" features (i.e., "Feature X failure"). "Hmmm... did *I* do that?" Within a few minutes, "Feature Y failure" (another feature reliant on the camera system). Then, "Feature Z failure", etc. Of course, salesman was quick to rationalize this as "normal behavior" (ha! you mean the features work fine as long as you are *indoors* in an airconditioned tunnel??) I'd previously assumed under the hood to be the most inhospitable location in a vehicle (and, it probably is, "in general" -- though I suspect you can find certain spots under the hood that are less traumatic than others). I had *not* considered a "box left on the dash" (of course, *anything* would end up *in* a box) to be that significant of a risk. Clearly, in this case, it is (or, a "fluke"). [Of course, it's been 105-110 here so starting with that elevated ambient can't make things any *easier* for this sort of kit!] This begs the 2 questions: - where (other than the engine compartment) would the worst place for kit be in a vehicle (in a "secure" location --...

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Jim Thompson 11 years ago

Which brand has the highest crash rate ?>:-} ...Jim Thompson

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upsidedown 11 years ago

A long time ago trams had ballast resistors on top of the vehicle to dissipate the breaking power.

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Spehro Pefhany 11 years ago

Some cars have electric speed-sensitive steering.

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That's a $2700 module.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Amazon link for AoE 3rd Edition: http://tinyurl.com/ntrpwu8 Microchip link for 2015 Masters in Phoenix: http://tinyurl.com/l7g2k48

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Jim Thompson 11 years ago

I don't think I've had a car that didn't have hydraulic-assisted steering, that was speed sensitive, for at least 25 years. ...Jim Thompson

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mroberds 11 years ago

I believe that Mercedes had brake-by-wire on production cars for a few years recently, but discontinued it in favor of "conventional" hydraulic brakes. I don't know much more about it than that.

Supercapacitors are great for absorbing that "I was going 60 mph (100 km/h) and I slammed on the brakes" charge. However, you then have to build an inverter that works over an input range of 1 to 300 V to get all the energy back out of them.

Matt Roberds

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mroberds 11 years ago

Diesel-electric locomotives still have these. They are somewhere near the top and have big fans on them to help dissipate heat. Occasionally they fail while in use, which 1) looks spectacular and 2) gives the engineer cause for concern, especially if he is still on the hill.

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Matt Roberds

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Jasen Betts 11 years ago

Just make one for 200v to 400v and switch them into series with the

200v battery when the cap gets too low.

umop apisdn

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Hotest/coolest spots in automotive environments

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