"The
typical new car today generates 15 gigabytes (109)
of information per hour - a number that's climbing as sensors proliferate.
A little back-of-the-napkin figuring suggests that 250 million such
vehicles would produce around 2000 exabytes (0.002 yottabyte) per year,
most of which never leave the car. But that's changing." So said Frank
Markus in the September 2013 edition of Motor Trend magazine. His article
titled, "You
Car's Contribution to the 'Big Data' Cloud," does a nice job in
explaining the immense amount of digital data generated by a new car's
computer system. The numbers include everything from tire pressure sensors
sending metrics via Bluetooth to fuel injection and entertainment systems.
Smart headlights, auto-dimming rear view mirrors, self-parking algorithms
and gesture sensing make it easy to believe the numbers. Coming soon
to a vehicle near you is a personal health vital signs monitor that
communicates heart rate, blood pressure, glucose level, etc., to warn
of impending heart attack, anxiety attack, or other ailment that could
impair your ability to safely navigate. The computer could even pull
your car to the side of the road and call 911. Of course if it detects
alcohol or illicit drug presence, it could lock the doors, windows,
and seat belt, and call the police while pulling to the side of the
road.In another article, the author (not Markus) makes a noble
attempt, but fails, at calculating the total number of combinations
possible with three available settings for each of five different controls.
He claims 125 combinations, which is 53,
but the real number is 243, which is 35.
Posted November 6, 2013
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