Google is about to make driving safer to a great extent. No, we aren’t referring to the driverless car this time. However, to something that will bolster the safety that robotic chauffeur will provide in future.
A recent patent by Google shows that it wants to automate roadside assistance in case of vehicle breakdown through its Roadside Assistance App. This App will augment the level of security in driverless cars and even in conventional ones.
Well, how Google’s Roadside assistance app will be of any use to you; I’ll go over that later in today’s post. First, let’s jump right into the hows and whys of the technology behind this app.
How Google’s Roadside Assistance App Functions?
The roadside assistance app by Google makes use of your device’s location, speed, time of the day. It also takes general user behavior into account when it comes to stopping roadside.
Based on these inputs, it determines the cause of a particular stoppage and checks whether the stoppage is due to vehicle breakdown or accident. For example, if the vehicle stops by the roadside in an abrupt manner at 2 am at night where there are no usual signals or stoppages, it determines that there is some kind of problem and assistance may be needed immediately. On the other hand, if the vehicle stops at a traffic jam or a red light, it knows that this is a normal situation.
Of course, all the information collected would be after prior permission from the user. You can see that the functioning this app is pretty simple that makes good use of existing technologies.
5 Applications of Google’s Roadside Assistance App
Instant Help: Automating assistance in times of stress is always welcome. If your car breaks down in the middle of the road it obvious that you would get frustrated to quite an extent.
What if Google driving assistance provides you crucial information in such scenarios? And that’s too without delay? Wouldn’t you just love such a product?
User Safety: What if the user meets a car accident and is not in a condition to be able to call out for assistance. Relaying information to the right authorities or channels in time could save many lives.
Fuel monitoring: Many times, especially on long drives, the user doesn’t know how far the next fuel station is. And you know what that can make things quite unpleasant if the fuel runs low and you can’t refill for miles together.
A simple fuel monitor in connection with Google’s driving assistance may give you good suggestions about when to refill.
Vehicle health monitoring: Most vehicles have inbuilt sensors in them that communicate with the ECU to ensure smooth functioning. There’s crucial data that gets transmitted through these sensors related to vehicle health.
For example, the air temperature sensor in the exhaust takes note of the temperature of the exhaust coming out. Such data could be useful in making sure that the vehicle doesn’t break down in adverse conditions like hail or snow. In case of a prediction for breakdown, the system could call out for assistance much before time.
Advanced location based ads? : Location based ads are the next level of online advertising. The application could use data like your vehicle speed, location, time of the day and suggest you place to have lunch or a coffee break.
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