Japan Says Yes To Mirrorless Cars (carscoops.com) 290
An anonymous reader writes: Last month, Japan became one of the first countries to allow vehicles to use cameras instead of mirrors. "Video mirrors" will no longer be reserved for concept cars. They will likely turn into a huge marketplace for tech businesses and suppliers now that the "Land of the Rising Sun" gave Japanese companies the green light by allowing mirrorless vehicles. While many would argue that glass mirrors work just fine, video mirrors do have some real-world advantages. They can reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency (Warning: source may be paywalled) while improving the looks of a vehicle in the process. In addition, they can capture a wide-angle view that can see blind spots, and they can improve visibility by digitally compensating for glare, darkness or even rainy weather. The first company to supply digital mirrors will be Ichikoh. Their first product will be an interior rear-view mirror named the Smart Rear View Mirror that will enter production on June 28th.
It's all fun and games (Score:5, Interesting)
Until your mirror bluescreens on you....
Say what you will about oldschool tech but a normal mirror is never going randomly cut out on you. I could see cameras as supplemental but never as an outright replacement.
Re:It's all fun and games (Score:5, Funny)
Or hacked:
"What? Why's there a stripper in the right lane!? Not that it's a bad thing..."
Re:It's all fun and games (Score:5, Insightful)
a normal mirror is never going randomly cut out on you.
I've had a couple that did randomly cut out on me. While driving down the road the glass just fell off the driver's side mirror. Another time the interior mirror came unglued and dropped off the windshield.
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I remember being surprised by a mirror doing this once upon a time. Luckily, I wasn't in the middle of heavy traffic at the time....
Re:It's all fun and games (Score:5, Insightful)
I have had my rear view camera routinely cut out on me. In fact nearly every single fucking day. Reversing down my driveway at certain times of day, means the sun will shine right onto that screen and I see nothing. I ain't quite so bad when it shines onto the camera, you can sort of still see what is happening. Night time with insufficient illumination behind the vehicles, reversing lights are simply not bright enough, is also difficult.
Could be just becoming a grumpy old dude but I gotta be honest, over the years in the conflict between automated and manual, I have drifted to manual simply because it is far more reliable case in point, you beaut super automated coffee machines versus a French press, that French press has already way outlasted those three previous coffee machines. If manual works and is good enough, stick to it, automating for no advantage whilst it does generate profits for others will cost you more over the long run, far, far more (that French press was way cheaper than any one of the failed coffee machines, let alone all three combined and the coffee tasted better because I go create the exact kind of coffee I felt like at the time).
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Have you checked the wiring at your house? My own first Keurig, along with some other appliances while I lived there, died at my former (rental) house. Eventually, we had the wiring in out unit and discovered that some outlets had fluctuating voltages. They were usually under but would sometimes spike over. It took a while to discover this, as all of the important electronics (Computers, TV, Playstation, etc.) are on UPSs as a matter of course. But we concluded that the screwy outlets did correlate wit
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My car has four cameras and they have never failed. We should be able to build a camera that is as reliable as a wing mirror, considering how many cars I see with them ripped off or missing the glass.
Personally I prefer cameras. Nissan do one that replaces the rear view mirror with a wide angle lens and night vision, and it's great. I suppose if you are paranoid you could carry a stick-on mirror strip to cover it if it ever failed, but rear view mirrors are not actually mandatory on cars anyway where I live
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Very much agree with you on the french press coffee. I'm also a big fan of the old style double edge safety razor. 10 cents a blade and the shave is even better than the expensive 5 blade ones after you get the hang of it. And before anybody says those things are dangerous, I've never got a major cut with my safety razor, and only had maybe 5 minor nicks when I started learning how to use it. Stopped bleeding quickly enough. I'll never go back to those 5 bladed cartridge razors again. It may take an ext
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I don't think that you could really save money with a straight razor. By the time you buy a quality razor to begin with, and all the supplies needed to sharpen and maintain it, you could buy blades for your entire life on the safely razor.
1 blade a week X 52 weeks in a year X 70 years x 10 cents a blade = $364 spent in blades. You could easily spend that amount just buying the razor and a strop, and then you'd still have to have it honed every once in a while.Which is going to require more equipment or send
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Right there are any number of things that can, and do happen to normal mirrors. As long as they're not going to remove the windows and replace them with video monitoring then "video mirrors" are no more or less dangerous than conventional ones. Any decent driver knows how to drive without actually relying on the mirrors anyway, they are supplemental to help out in certain situations, but you can look over your shoulder to see behind you when reversing and check your blind spots when changing lanes.
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You _may_ want to pay a little bit more for your cars in the future ;)
Unless you're in the US - never been in a car in the US, where stuff weren't coming loose/falling off...no idea why though.
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Unless you're in the US - never been in a car in the US, where stuff weren't coming loose/falling off...no idea why though.
Two reasons, cars and roads. American cars are universally built like shit. Even the most expensive ones have garbage interior plastics, and crap fit and finish. And American roads are also built like shit; most of them have inadequate road beds, so they need lots of maintenance that they then subsequently do not receive. The roads in California, where there are the most vehicles and the most vehicle-miles traveled, shake cars to shit. The same is true in every other state in which I've driven, which is not
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I've driven in many countries around the world including France, England, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Hong Kong, China, Senegal, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada and I did not notice a qualitative difference between the US and elsewhere.
However one often times you find a marked difference between states (say driving on I-91 between Vermont (great) and Massachusetts (less than great).
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Re:It's all fun and games (Score:5, Insightful)
Until your mirror bluescreens on you....
You have a fallback of looking over your shoulder.
Say what you will about oldschool tech but a normal mirror is never going randomly cut out on you.
Except for the blind spots. Rearview cameras are way better than rearview mirrors at avoiding accidents, which is why they will mandatory starting in 2018. Sideview cameras will likely have similar advantages. There may be an occasional accident caused by electronic failure or whatever, but that will likely be swamped by the accidents avoided by the better view.
speaking of blind angles (Score:3)
Except for the blind spots. {...} Sideview cameras will likely have similar advantages.
A driver will only occasionally turn their head to watch blind spots. They might forget.
Whereas systems like BLIS can be constantly watching the road and blink a light nearby the mirror alerting the driver of the presence of a vehicle in the blind spot.
Combine it with sideway pointing sonars and you're almost sure that no driver is every going to accidentally cut somebody up.
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A driver will only occasionally turn their head to watch blind spots. They might forget.
That would be extremely bad driving habits. Keep in mind that in most places if you don't check your blindspots when changing lanes during the drivers test it is at least a significant point loss and likely an automatic fail.
Whereas systems like BLIS can be constantly watching the road and blink a light nearby the mirror alerting the driver of the presence of a vehicle in the blind spot.
Combine it with sideway pointing sonars and you're almost sure that no driver is every going to accidentally cut somebody up.
This would certainly be helpful, but it should not substitute for good driving habits. Unfortunately it probably will for a lot of people. That said, if such a system were to fail unexpectedly then I would think that the driver of the vehicle would become much more cautious and check
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A driver will only occasionally turn their head to watch blind spots. They might forget.
That would be extremely bad driving habits. Keep in mind that in most places if you don't check your blindspots when changing lanes during the drivers test it is at least a significant point loss and likely an automatic fail.
I took a refresher-course after moving to Belgium, since I hadn't actually been driving for some years, and I wanted to also learn about differences in laws - the instructors basically told me that they never bother telling students to check their blind spots, because "why bother"....
Since moving to Belgium, I've largely stopped riding my bike. Experiences like the one above, and people's driving-habits in general here, scare the shizzle out of me.
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That would be extremely bad driving habits
Welcome to life.
if you don't check your blindspots when changing lanes during the drivers test
I challenge you to find a single person on Earth who drives as carefully as they did during their driving test, a few years later.
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If your mirrors are properly adjusted you do not have to turn your head to check, because the blind spots are covered by the mirrors when they are properly aimed.
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NHTSA says [howstuffworks.com] there are over 800,000 blind spot accidents in the U.S. every year, resulting in about 300 fatalities. That's why higher-end cars are coming with blind spot detectors now. Note that Japanese taxis mount the side mirrors on the front of the car [dreamstime.com] to eliminate the blind spot. The image is smaller (boo hoo, you can't read the front license plate), but you can immediately see any vehicles in your blind spot. The taxi companies have found such a big improvement in safety
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Everyone arguing that side mirrors are superior needs to come to grips wit the fact that unless you mount the side mirrors on the front of the car, they are simply not a very good solution to the problem. If cameras can eliminate the blind spot, they will be a huge improvement to safety. Any aesthetic or fuel consumption improvement is just gravy - the important thing is the safety improvement. Even the argument that camera viewscreen require a different focus distance can be addressed by mounting a mild lens in front of the display.
This is Slashdot, home of the grumpy old men, and all of the excuses for why cameras are bad is just creeping codgerism. Weird stuff like BSODs and the sun getting in the way of a camera is no different than a mirror falling off or the sun getting in the way of a mirror.
I personally love the idea of a panoramic view of the area around me and blind spot sensors, although I suspect they would be better called proximity alerts since there will be no more blind spots.
I've found that sometimes the argument n
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Rearview cameras don't show everything, like the person who is about to pass behind you.
Neither does a rear-vision mirror.
Already I am seeing drivers who don't bother to do a shoulder check at all.
And you get this with people driving with rear-vision mirrors as well, with the same results. This is not an argument against the cameras, this is an argument against bad driving habits.
Even worse I'm had a couple rentals where they've been making the rear window so small that using the camera is mandatory to back up at all, making for a dangerous situation when the camera or screen breaks down (or hell, even got water splashed right on the camera by a passing car, had to get out and wipe it off before I could finish backing out as nothing was visible through the water on the lens.)
Now this I agree is bad, but not because of the camera, but because of the poor visibility through the rear window. Having a camera should not be a substitute for poor visibility due to car design, neither is it a substitute for poor driving practices. When a camera is used in conjunction
Re: It's all fun and games (Score:5, Interesting)
Mirrors are un-breakable (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah because regular non-electronic mirrors never ever get broken, at all!!!
They are all made of iPhone 8-grade gorilla glass, feature a mithril reflective coating and are encased in adamantium.
(ob staw comic ref [satwcomic.com])
I suffered more frequently from mirror broken by anonymous dip-shit while leaving my vehicle parked somewhere (when they aren't straigh breaking the whole car), than I've suffered electronics failure since I've started driving cars with cameras on them.
(And that's ignoring the fact that some cars feature a very nice rear camera view, while the back window is absolutely tiny and thus the rear view mirror is useless).
Retractable side mirrors are really a saver on recent cars.
Replacing them with cameras is:
- one protruding item less that will get destroyed.
- less obstacles that interrupt the aerodynamic shape of the car.
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Sounds to me like you live/work in a very shitty area. I can leave my car parked out in the street and unlocked and nothing happens.
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Retractable side mirrors are really a saver on recent cars.
They're not even recent, they've been around since the eighties. Thing is, the place you saw them actually implemented was Japan, because they would cite you for not folding them in... in Tokyo or something. Almost nobody else cares, it's just one more thing to break.
Re: It's all fun and games (Score:2, Insightful)
You've never had the sun temporarily blind you via the mirror? Or cars come up behind you at night with their high beams on?
Re: backup! (Score:5, Funny)
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I think he was confused on the distance due to objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
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Well this is a coincidence. 2 times a day I and my co workers have to read off two dozen numbers off the environmental monitor software, which has to run on an old win xp box, and put them into a spread sheet. We can't throw together a quick parser or other automated recording system because my just as ancient manager says that's "a solution looking for a problem".
Just because you don't recognize the benefits doesn't mean a younger generation isn't allowed to innovate.
Re: backup! (Score:2)
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Then make it optional. Why does all this stuff have to be mandated 5 years down the road?
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Oh shut the hell up. This is a solution looking for a problem, it isn't in any way necessary, it's just more expensive and not necessarily any better, in fact it might just be worse overall.
Explain? After using a backup camera plus calli's and convex mirrors, as well as a fresnel device on my RV, I can't imagine how less information is better. And the camera is the star of the show, allowing me to back up solo into tight spots, as well as some idea of where kids are.
That prompted me to get backup cameras for my Jeeps, which have also proved very handy.
I like the concept of having as much local tactical info as I can get my little mind around, so having a suite of cameras forward back and
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And the old vehicles weren't "dependable" they were just treated with more care because they were so much more delicate. And were more likely to fail slow, though more often (running rough for a long time before finally failing).
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The problem with side mirrors is about 80% of drivers are idiots and aim both side mirrors to show you the view behind the car, which is already covered by the rearview mirror.
Given that /. has lots of engineers and scientists among the userbase, I'll be generous and guess that about 50% of slashdotters get it right, and the other 50% are imbeciles who have all three mirrors looking directly behind the car.
When mirrors are properly adjusted, there are no blind spots.
http://www.caranddriver.com/fe... [caranddriver.com]
http:// [aaa.com]
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I'd prefer a MIRROR to all this tech garbage.
For the sake of humanity, please be a Poe!
Re:It's all fun and games (Score:5, Interesting)
Until it explodes with so much force that it sends shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
I've had that happen! Clipped a misplaced construction barrel at moderate speed, and the glass from the side view mirror exploded into the car (my window was down). Better to have you mirror cut out on you than to have it cut into you!
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I had a dickass who can't drive crowd me into a trashcan on my road when he had several feet available on the other side, blowing the entire side mirror assembly (except the mount, natch) right off a 1993 Subaru Impreza. The mirror "glass" (which was plastic) flew right through the car, past our faces, and right out the other window. Who uses glass side mirrors anyway?
Planned obsolescence (Score:3)
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Just more subtly planned obsolescence. While mirrors may wear out or break, it is simple enough to make a replacement. When these cameras wear out/break it is going to require a factory to make a replacement.
Or, I suppose, you could just go buy a mirror and attach it to the appropriate location on the car.
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Or, I suppose, you could just go buy a mirror and attach it to the appropriate location on the car.
Not a bad plan, only problem is if you go to sell the car you have to get it replaced. In many places, when you get a safety done all OEM equipment must be working on the vehicle. So that mirror you attached? Nope, not going to work.
What's going to get really interesting though is all the places where this is illegal. I don't mean replacing mirrors with cameras, I mean where the video displays are counted as a TV(most of north america -- can't comment on europe since I don't know the traffic laws). Whi
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My Honda Accord has a right side mirror camera. It displays your blindspot in the centre screen when the right signal is on so it can't be illegal here in Canada.
That said it does kind of suck. I like having it but on a sunny day it's pretty useless due to both the camera and screen getting washed out. I use the mirror more than the camera still.
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Re: Planned obsolescence (Score:2)
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So, you buy a mirror larger than you need, take it to a glass professional and have them cut it to size.
Re:Planned obsolescence (Score:5, Funny)
Just more subtly planned obsolescence. While mirrors may wear out or break, it is simple enough to make a replacement. When these cameras wear out/break it is going to require a factory to make a replacement.
I said the same thing when they replaced my trusty hand crank with them fancy electric starters that may wear out or break
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I said the same thing when they replaced my trusty hand crank with them fancy electric starters that may wear out or break
They do wear out and break, and my local starter rebuilder has gone out of business, you insensitive clod! He was old, and nobody else wanted to do what he did, apparently. On the other hand, I'm not hand-cranking any diesels or V8s, and that's all I own (including a diesel V8...)
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Good for Aerodynamics, Bad for Human Driven Cars (Score:2, Interesting)
This is great for aerodynamics. Aptera first used cameras on the sides before the state here told them no.
Bad for the driver though. Tech breaks all too often. Or sunlight on the screens. Etc.
Now will they allow the side mirror with no blind spot already?
http://phys.org/news/2012-06-math-professor-side-mirror-patent.html
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Bad for the driver though. Tech breaks all too often.
Electronic cameras will be more reliable than the mirrors. I see lots of broken mirrors on cars. And I don't know of anyone who has complained about a failed camera yet, and reversing cameras are quite popular now.
Eeh (Score:2)
Not in my experience (Score:2)
but my backing camera gets crapped up a lot more easily than my mirrors do.
Of course. You backing camera is usually situated at the back of the car where it is exposed to lots of mud and dust projections.
Whereas your rear-view mirror is usually *INSIDE* the car.
Of course one is going to get dirty faster than the other.
Whereas for side mirror...
And any likely camera location on the vehicle is likely to get covered with snow more quickly and thoroughly than my side mirrors do.
...in my experience: No.
The side mirrors have a thin rim at the bottom (the must be orientable, so there's always a small rim), and snow DOES accumulate here
(though for the record, most north-european brand will heat the mirror in cold weath
$500 mirror (Score:2)
Let's see... 5 bucks for a mirror... 500 for a camera. Sure. After all cars are cheap. What's another few hundred bucks. And who wants to spend 5 bucks for a replacement mirror when they can pay 500? Plus installation.
Re:$500 mirror (Score:5, Insightful)
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If my side-view-camera isn't a full frame Hasselblad with a custom Zeiss lens, what's the point of even getting into the car?
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Seems like a good idea (Score:2)
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Are mirrorless cars a good idea? (Score:2)
Something to reflect on.
Another solution looking for a problem (Score:2)
Side view mirrors suck (Score:2)
A "small amount of money to replace a broken sideview mirror"? Where is your body shop because I've never seen one that I would consider cheap and I've had to replace several of them. Cheapest one was $550 and that was 25 years ago.
Not to mention that side mirrors look terrible, suck fuel, don't perform super well, and can't see in all sorts of conditions not to mention the blind spots. It's amazing how many people think we should stop technological progress because we have something they are already us
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A "small amount of money to replace a broken sideview mirror"? Where is your body shop because I've never seen one that I would consider cheap and I've had to replace several of them. Cheapest one was $550 and that was 25 years ago.
I've replaced side mirrors, but I was able to source replacements in the proper color in both cases - one for a 240SX and one for an Impreza. In each case I was able to go pull a replacement for forty bucks. Today, you can get replacement mirrors for many cars on eBay for about the same. Which reminds me, if my A8 comes out of the transmission shop working properly I'm going to have to order a British or Chinese right-side mirror for it. I have been spoiled by the non-convex mirror on the right side of my W
DRMed dealer only part (Score:2)
DRMed dealer only part is what things like this may end up being.
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Actually if we're talking a camera, why couldn't people replace it with their own?
Probably not all that complicated.
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When you add in the fuel cost for the heavy wind-breaks, the electronic mirrors are much cheaper than your expensive Luddite solution.
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Honda civic, $350 to replace the drivers side mirror.
I think you need to update your information on how much exterior car parts cost, It's already "hundreds of dollars" for a few pieces of plastic that makes the housing and the single glass mirror assembly.
I'm all for advancement, but (Score:5, Informative)
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Just shifting my focus to deal with the stupid passenger-side mirror in which objects may be closer than they appear is offensive. I can't imagine how bad it would be to have one video mirror. But if they were all video mirrors, it might not be bad. At least then I could check all the mirrors without refocusing much.
wider (Score:2)
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so does that mean that cars can now be made wider by the dimension of 2 mirrors ?
Vehicles can be wider than they are, they just aren't for aerodynamics reasons. The most important number is frontal area.
MPG savings (Score:4, Interesting)
What is the actual fuel economy savings on a normal car over the course of a year with this new technology?
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Back of the envelope estimation here... the mirrors are probably 1% of the drag cross section of the car and the drag is maybe ~50% of the total energy loss in the car. So my guess would be around 0.5% reduction in fuel consumption. Over its life, your car might burn about 20,000 liters of gas, so you'd save about 100 liters, or about $100 (depending on exact prices). Of course, I'm likely to be off by more than a factor of two (but probably less than a factor of 10).
Re:MPG savings (Score:4, Informative)
Back of the envelope estimation here... the mirrors are probably 1% of the drag cross section of the car and the drag is maybe ~50% of the total energy loss in the car. So my guess would be around 0.5% reduction in fuel consumption. Over its life, your car might burn about 20,000 liters of gas, so you'd save about 100 liters, or about $100 (depending on exact prices). Of course, I'm likely to be off by more than a factor of two (but probably less than a factor of 10).
Actually side view mirrors account for about 2-7% of the drag cross section for typical passenger cars (cars vary a lot in drag cross section), but only about 9-19%of the energy produced by burning gasoline makes is used to overcome drag (about 65% is lost in the engine itself). However, the rest of the typical passenger car is becoming more aerodynamic all the time so that 7% number is going up all the time.
As an example, there is a big win is for semi-trucks where their large side view mirrors can account for up to 10% of the drag cross section (after the rest of the truck is already streamlined) and every 2% reduction in drag results in a 1% increase in fuel economy. This is because over 50mph, drag becomes the most significant factor affecting fuel economy and truck spend much more of their time at speed than a typical passenger car.
There is a case for cameras to eventually replace mirrors in passenger cars, though. The cameras will likely be there already (for Advanced Driver Assist Systems required by the emerging New Car Assessment Program standards) and bulking up the various pillars (already required by the NHTSA for improved rollover crush resistance) is easier/cheaper if they widen them (unfortunately widening pillars creates larger blind spots which need to be accommodated by automotive architects), so if they just don't need to install mirrors, it is one less thing to install in the car and one less constraint on the automotive architects.
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bulking up the various pillars (already required by the NHTSA for improved rollover crush resistance) is easier/cheaper if they widen them
It's easier/cheaper than a double-walled pillar, but still inferior, and you'll see both approaches used — especially as more cast members work their way into cars as more Aluminum gets in there.
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Sadly most car makers dont bother with real aerodyanmics on the mirror.
2007 civic - standard zero engineering mirror.
2007 BMW X3 - has real aerodynamics built in with air channels and even vortex generators to disrupt the flow at the trailing edge.
Yes BMW did it to reduce noise, but noise reduction is an improvement in aerodynamics and reduces energy lost.
And the mirrors are not 50% of the energy lost it's the freaking front end of the car and the grilles on the front that cause most of the losses. It's why
Not always the best solution. (Score:3)
I very rarely have to clean my rear view mirror but frequently have to clean my rear view camera which is just used for parking. If I had to depend on my rear view camera I would not feel that comfortable. You need a way to keep them clean while driving.
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Yes this has everything to do with the technology. Electricity just statically charges the camera lens and dust just magically attracts to it.
Or maybe what you're complaining about is nothing to do with the technology and everything to do with the implementation.
Horrible in daylight (Score:4, Interesting)
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I've never had trouble with glare making my backup camera unviewable in my Tesla. I've seen some horrible screens on rentals, though.
The problems I have had are too many fingerprints on the screen and water drops on the camera. A heating element around the lens could quickly eliminate water drops, but they haven't incorporated that yet.
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I have a late model car with one of those back-up cameras, which is displayed on an LCD display mounted in the dash. On a bright sunny day, when I'm backing into, say, a shaded parking spot, the cameras display in completely useless. The glare from the dashboard, hood, etc., completely drowns out the wimpy LCD display. In those cases, there's no way in hell I'm going to want a car without mirrors.
This is why we need to get rid of windows too. They can also be replaced with LCDs!
Cars are too expensive for many already. (Score:2)
Not good for all driving conditions. (Score:4, Insightful)
Mirrors have far FAR more contrast range than any camera and LCD made.
Mirrors go down to 0.000000000000000001lux for low light visibility.
Mirrors work when submerged
Mirrors have over 8K resolution
Mirrors work in a lot of conditions where even a $1500 video camera fails to get a useable image.
So unless our cars are coming with $4500 4K cameras with FLIR overlay ...
Now I do like the advantage of using some processing, cameras using the computer to do car and motorcycle recognition and alerts, cameras using IR at night to see further than we can, cameras blocking the headlights of the BRAH truck that is raised up 3 feet and has the BRUH blue headlights added that are aimed way too high.
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Mirrors work when submerged
Okay there Mr. Bond, or should I say Mr. Pond? A car that's been submerged even once should be dragged out and thrown away.
You're right about the rest of this stuff, but they have got these things working in pretty much all light conditions now.
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While all of those may be true, in practice few if any of them matter, for two simple reasons:
- Humans are the bottleneck
- Mirrors can only reflect what's around them...both for better or worse
A pitch black reflection of pitch black surroundings isn't useful, regardless of how clear it is, but a night vision display is able to enhance our ability to perceive the world around us, making it immensely more useful. Likewise, in low contrast conditions mirrors have failed me on numerous occasions (e.g. seeing gr
Best reason (Score:2)
Best reason for ditching mirrors: it seems like 80% of drivers aim both side windows to look behind the car instead of aiming them at the blind spots.
Mirrors are super-easy to aim correctly, and the same method works for about 90% of automobiles and light trucks, and yet it seems that the vast majority of people aim the side mirrors to look behind the car. Why do they do this? There is this newfangled device INSIDE the car called a "rearview" mirror which shows you what is straight behind you. Why the FUCK
Late to the party (Score:2)
Cadillac is shipping this on their CT6 and I think a couple of other models. They managed to avoid regulatory delay by making the "rear view mirror" be both a mirror and a display. So you can make it just a plain rear view mirror, or throw a switch and the mirror becomes a high definition display. The only negative I have heard so far is with a mirror your eye focuses far, whereas with the camera image, it is focused close. I am wondering if the display could somehow have a far focus as well. I know the HUD
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-- Bill Gates ... Lady Gaga not like it makes a difference.
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Accuracy isn't really required here.
-- Colonel Paul Tibbets
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"I am who I am" - the ultimate authority
"I am that I am" is a better translation of the Tetragrammaton.
Unless you were going for a different authority with "I yam what I yam".
Just a little heater. (Score:2)
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Re: My next project (Score:3, Funny)
*last project
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How often do you change lanes with your ignition off?
Every time my ignition cuts out while I'm not in an outer lane. Granted, I haven't had a loss of power on the highway in ages (knockonwood) but I have had it happen.