The Future has a Sensor – Location Awareness meets Powertrain Controls

Good or bad? There already is such a thing as "location awareness”! Smartphones have localization apps which not only know where they are, but also log onto the net to find out what's in the vicinity.

At the 4th International Symposium on Development Methodology, Felix Pfister (AVL) and Bernhard Schick (IPG) explained how local awareness can help reduce CO2 emissions. In combination with predictive vehicle control this can open up completely new fields of application. Possible applications range from intelligent cruise control to avoid hard brakes and predictive air conditioning which keeps the engine at an efficient level to hybrid operating strategies for optimized battery charge and discharge. Testing these new functions efficiently requires powerful tools and methods.