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Laser Guided Car

Laser lines on road show trajectory
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When a laser is shone on a fast moving mirror, the reflected light can be used to form lines and graphics, on any surface, including non-flat ones.

Install such a projection system in front of the central rear view mirror, shining out through the windshield, down toward the road ahead.

Give it a wireless connection to the car's computer, so that it knows the car's speed, and steering angle.

Have it draw a rectangle on the road, indicating where the car will be three seconds in the future.

This rectangle allows the driver to keep his car exactly centered in the lane, no matter how narrow the lane is, without his needing to worry about a lack of road shoulder.

It also lets the driver know if he's too close to the car ahead of him, because it will be drawn underneath the car in front, if he is.

goldbb, Mar 30 2009

Laser guided cars.... http://www.popularm...botics/4210546.html
Yep, but the picures aren't that pretty yet. [WcW, Mar 30 2009]

Laser lane guide Laser_20lane_20guide
Not quite the same thing. [phoenix, Mar 30 2009]

[link]






       How does the laser know where the car is going to be in the future?
tatterdemalion, Mar 30 2009
  

       The problem with this is, I think, that people will end up "chasing the box". Then, if the beam splitter goes akilter in any fashion, people will kill themselves trying to compensate. This occasionally happens (in reverse) to aircraft pilots.
phoenix, Mar 30 2009
  

       Uhm.. The three second rule IS adjusting the distance depending on the speed.
zeno, Mar 31 2009
  

       To see that rectangle in broad daylight, the laser would have to be quite the beam weapon - This could have some interesting side applications, like pre-roasting soon-to-be roadkill, shooting out tires (the black of a usual tire makes it an ideal target, the laser could be rotating to be stabilized on one point on the moving tire), and mowing the lawn. [+]
loonquawl, Mar 31 2009
  

       //the black of a usual tire makes it an ideal target//
//However, the fact that it is probably rotating mean any heating is rapidly dispersed.
coprocephalous, Mar 31 2009
  

       How bright would the laser need to be, to be visible in the day?
goldbb, Apr 04 2009
  

       // //the black of a usual tire makes it an ideal target// //However, the fact that it is probably rotating mean any heating is rapidly dispersed.//   

       thats why my theoretically destructively inclined driver is using the moveable mirrors: //the laser could be rotating to be stabilized on one point on the moving tire//   

       As to brightness: A normal 1mW laser pointer is barely visible if unmoved in bright daylight. The point created is ~ 2mm in length, For a car-shape you'd need ~2+2+3+3= 10 meters,so the power would be diluted 1/5000; Laser would have to be 5 Watt for the rectangle to be barely visible.
loonquawl, Apr 05 2009
  
      
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