Audi invents cars that can see shapes?

[Kirby]

Cars that can see - another step closer to "Kit" from the old Night Rider TV Show?

"The system also has the potential to enhance pedestrian protection: its three-dimensional perception capability allows the system to distinguish between people and vehicles and to initiate an emergency stop if the driver fails to react when a pedestrian steps into the road."

http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2050317.003/audi/1.html

 

[tool fan]

This just in.........Swarms of Audi drivers are suddenly diagnosed with Brain tumors and other radical cancers. Doctors believe that it has something to do with the Star Trek 3d photo laser people identifyer thingy majigger that has recently been installed in 2008 Audis.


No this isn't true, but probably not far fetched either.

 

[///M SPEED]

"REPORT" 20 car pile up on highway I5 due to Audi's new three-dimensional perception capability equipped vehicle. Seems a large bird (Crow maybe a Raven) flew in front the sensor causing the Audi to perform an emergency stop at 70 MPH when the driver failed to react in time. All report is there were no deaths involved with this accident, but lawsuits are bound to be on the horizon.

Hehe, I am sure (well I hope) there will some sort of safe guards in place...we'll see.....

 

[bmwrocks]

"A further application would reduce the severity of accidents by priming the vehicle's protection systems accordingly as soon as the sensors registered an imminent impact."

Did you all know that Infiniti already has a system (for sale in the new M) that provides anticipatory brake pre-pressurizing? It uses the auto cruise control lasers to detect a rapidly slowing vehicle in your lane and pre-pressurizes the brake system for you in anticipation of a possible emergency stop. Maybe it works like the LRF in an M1A2 SEP tank. If you take a series of LRF pulses with a known time between pulses, you can calculate the approach speed of another vehicle.

Does BMW also have this system with safety system priming in their vehicles with auto cruise control?