By now we’re pretty much aware of semi-autonomous driving and active cruise-control systems. And, as expected, automakers are quickly advancing these technologies that only a decade or so ago would have been straight out of a science fiction movie. One of those automakers is Porsche and according to a new report from Car and Driver, it’s already testing its next-generation cruise control system called InnoDrive. Why is it so advanced?
Porsche claims it’ll be able to handle cornering up to 0.70 g. In fact, Porsche is already testing it on winding two-land roads just outside Weissach, Germany. How it works is that it utilizes data from all of the elements of semi-autonomous driving along with two additional bits of data from the nav system: the grade of the pavement and the radius of the turn. Combined, this allows the car to create a three-dimensional picture of the road that’ll allow the onboard computers set the ideal speed for cruising and for 0.50 g turns and the approximate lateral limit in the middle of the three driver-selectable modes. And the most efficient setting corners at 0.70 g.
Bottom line: all the driver needs to do is steer and enjoy the ride. The overall idea behind InnoDrive is "to deliver the driver to a destination as quickly as possible while consuming the least amount of fuel." Porsche is already saying the technology can diminish fuel consumption by 10 percent while shortening drive time by 2 percent.
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