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Self-driving and self-parking Audi technology demonstrator cars show how some of the stress of urban motoring could be alleviated in future

• Autonomous Audi demonstrators enable drivers to turn their attention to other tasks while in traffic jams and to park by remote control from outside the car
• Working prototypes shown at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Audi wants to tackle traffic jam tedium and bring placidity to urban parking. In pursuit of these goals the Vorsprung durch Technik brand has developed two fully operational demonstrators that show how future models could offer ‘hands (and feet)-free’ driving in moving traffic and completely ‘driver-free’ parking.

The first of the two working prototypes, which have been in service at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, shows how piloted driving in traffic jams will in future reduce the driver’s workload in stressful situations, such as in congested traffic. At speeds of between zero and 37mph, the system helps to steer the car within certain constraints, and also accelerates and brakes autonomously.

The car’s speed and the speeds of nearby vehicles are constantly analysed by the piloted system. If it detects a traffic jam from the data at speeds below 37mph, the driver can activate the assistance function. By broadly scanning its surroundings, the system can also work in a temporary lane even in the absence of lane markings. It also reacts cooperatively to cars moving into or out of the lane.

The new system is based on the functionality of Audi adaptive cruise control with Stop & Go, and has exactly the same operating characteristics when moving off and braking, but in this case the system is enhanced by the addition of lateral guidance. Two radar sensors monitor everything up to 250 metres ahead, at a scan angle of around 35 degrees. A wide-angle video camera monitors the lane markings, and can also detect objects such as pedestrians, other vehicles and safety guardrails. Eight ultrasonic sensors monitor the zones directly in front of the car and at its corners. A laser scanner is also used which provides highly precise data over a scanning angle of around 140 degrees up to 80 metres in front of the vehicle.

As an assistance function, piloted driving in a traffic jam enables the driver to devote their attention, within certain limits, to other activities while the system is operating. If the vehicle reaches the limits of the function, for instance if the traffic jam disperses, the driver is prompted to resume control.

No more car park tight squeezes

Struggling to manoeuvre into a parking space or home garage, and then struggling to get out of the car with kids, dogs, pushchairs and other paraphernalia, without damaging it, could be a thing of the past with the help of Audi piloted driving. The advanced system fitted to the second technology demonstrator operating at CES enables the driver to get out of the car in front of the garage or before negotiating a tight parking spot, and to instruct it to autonomously park itself via the remote key fob or a smartphone.

With the help of its sensors, the car drives autonomously into the parking space or the garage under the driver’s supervision, stopping immediately if it detects an obstacle. Once it has reached its final position, it shuts off the engine, deactivates the ignition and locks the doors before finally sending a confirmation to the driver.

Getting out of the garage or parking space is just as convenient. At the touch of a button the vehicle manoeuvres out of the space, and the driver and passengers can easily get in and drive off.

Communication between car and car park

Another parking talent simulated by the demonstrator at CES that could be viable in the longer term involves the car ‘talking’ to the public car park it is entering, enabling it to find the nearest parking space and to guide itself autonomously to that space and then park.

The driver activates the futuristic technology with the aid of a smartphone app, which enables a connection to be established with the car park’s central computer. The central computer takes over part of the control function and guides the vehicle via a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection to the nearest available parking space. The vehicle’s movements are recorded via external laser sensors and processed with additional movement data by the car park’s computer to pinpoint the vehicle. The central computer also has a map of the car park layout and records parking space occupancy. This information is transmitted to the vehicle and used to plan the route, thus ensuring that the vehicle can actually drive from the starting point to its destination. The vehicle also monitors its surroundings using twelve ultrasound sensors as it moves. In future, four video cameras will also be used.

Audi is currently in the process of equipping a car park in its base town of Ingolstadt, Germany, with the relevant technology

Lightweight construction technology is embraced in the future of furniture

• Pioneering Audi R18 Ultra Chair unveiled at Design Miami/, developed using the same technology employed in Audi racing cars
• Made from carbon fibre, carbon and high-strength sheet aluminium, it weighs just 2.2kgs
• Digital designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram worked in collaboration with Audi engineers to develop the prototype

The seemingly humble household chair has just undergone a Vorsprung durch Technik makeover inspired by the Audi sports prototype that competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race this year, resulting in a tremendous 1-2-3 finish. The visually stunning R18 Ultra Chair was revealed earlier this month at the prestigious Design Miami/ show to a global audience.

Masterminded by designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram, and developed using the most efficient and sustainable processes, the R18 Ultra Chair is made from a mix of carbon fibre, carbon and high-strength sheet aluminium. This combination guarantees maximum stability and comfort with minimum consumption of materials, and also ensures that the chair is almost feather-light to lift.

The striking chair appeared first in prototype form at the Milan Furniture Fair in April this year, where it was fitted with an array of sensors capable of collecting data on the forces at play whenever the chair was used. Some 1,500 testers took the opportunity to try it out, and in the process informed the evolution of its design. In conjunction with engineers at the Audi Lightweight Construction Centre, the designers used the data to optimise their prototype, resulting in a finished product which embodies the principles of Audi ultra lightweight construction – through the intelligent deployment of advanced materials, high strength and exceptionally low weight have been achieved – in this case a total weight of just 2.2 kilograms.

Dr. Karl Durst, an engineer in fibre-reinforced composites at the Audi Lightweight Construction Centre, explains the finished product: “We combine the strengths of the materials in such a way that their weaknesses are no longer important. This efficiency is the focus of our ultra lightweight construction principle.”

The R18 Ultra Chair is the design duo’s second project for Audi after the widely acclaimed, award-winning installation OUTRACE on London’s Trafalgar Square in 2010. Described as ‘the vanguard of the next generation of digital designers’, permanent collections display the work of Weisshaar and Kram at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Audi has been the exclusive automotive partner of Design Miami/, the most influential international design forum, since 2006 and has a sense of obligation to design and technology in equal measure. In recent years, the brand with the four rings has commissioned installations by international designers and architects such as Tom Dixon, Moritz Waldemeyer, Mirko Borsche and Bjarke Ingels, and is committed to promoting design culture and research.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk

New online fuel calculator offers users the opportunity to compare and contrast models to find the Audi best suited to their budget

• New online fuel calculator at audi.co.uk allows comparison between current Audi models in terms of purchase price, fuel economy and estimated fuel costs
• Allows users to input detail such as average annual mileage, expected ownership duration and local fuel costs for the most relevant predictions
• Customers can submit a test drive request directly from the calculator once their preferred Audi is selected

Comparing how far the latest Audi models will stretch each pound spent at the fuel pumps has just become considerably easier thanks to a new online fuel cost calculator which is available free on audi.co.uk.

The useful tool enables new customers in search of their ideal Audi, or existing owners looking to upsize or downsize, to easily establish which model will best suit their budget by mixing and matching different body styles, model classes, trim levels and fuel types. Each time a pair of models is selected, the system provides a virtually instantaneous calculation of the potential financial benefit of choosing one model over the other.

To make the figures that are generated as precise and relevant as possible, the calculator enables users to input their projected annual mileage right down to the last mile, the duration in years they would like the calculation to cover, the specific MPG figure they want to use for comparison (urban/extra urban/combined) and the anticipated price per litre of fuel. The latter is automatically added based on the national average according to the AA Fuel Price Report, which is updated monthly, but prevailing prices at the user’s local filling station can also be entered manually. 

The calculator displays the official government fuel economy figure for each model chosen (based on the urban, extra urban or combined option selected), and uses this, along with the other preset parameters, to predict totals for fuel expenditure over the chosen period (between one  year and seven years) based on the current fuel price. From these it then calculates the monthly, and annual, sum that would be saved by choosing the more economical of the two models selected. Differences in purchase price are also clearly displayed.

Taking the all-new A3 three-door compact hatchback as an example, the calculator quickly shows that the 1.4 TFSI 122PS SE petrol model is £950 cheaper as an outright purchase than the 1.6 TDI  105PS SE diesel, but that a driver covering 10,000 miles in a year on average could save very nearly this sum at the pumps by choosing the 1.6 TDI, though only after three years. This makes it easier for drivers to tailor their choice of model to suit how, and for how long, they tend to use a car.

Once the user has arrived at a decision, a test drive in the chosen car can then be simply arranged by clicking on a button at the foot of the page.

The audi.co.uk online fuel calculator can be accessed by clicking on the “Explore Models” tab at the top of the home page and then clicking the “calculate fuel costs” option.

Article source: www.audi.co.uk