So the driverless SEAT Leon Touring Car was a gag, but this one isn't. We even have video to prove it, which can be seen after the jump. What you'll see when you click through is a 1:1 scale Saab being remotely controlled by a Nokia phone. Throttle, brakes and steering are all controlled via the phone through a Bluetooth connection. The application running it also has a built-in kill switch should you get out of range. How thoughtful of them. Seriously though, this seems like a great idea to bring your car to the front door during a rainstorm, or squeezing into very tight parking spots, but unless you're with national security we doubt many other drivers will share your joy at a remote control car. And God forbid some 11-year-old hacker figures out a way to control your car for you. Yikes. Fun in the James Bond, gee whiz factor way, but we really don't like the idea of these making it onto public roads.
[Source: Techeblog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viv @ Apr 5th 2007 7:13PM
Ofcourse it won't make it out on to public roads.
Rémi @ Apr 5th 2007 7:18PM
A cellphone? No Wiimote? Pffffff, boring :p
Demetrius J @ Apr 5th 2007 7:25PM
Bluetooth's range isnt the best for this technology. Mount a camera on it, and find a way to attach a cellphone to the servos to control the car and stream the video through the cell (video conferencing) so you can see where it is going. THat way, you can valet your OWN vehicle! I wonder if you can hack a LS460 since it obviously has servo's to control the steering, acceleration, and braking (the latter two via adaptive cruise control)? Anyone on my train of thought...?
Swade @ Apr 5th 2007 8:01PM
April Fools!!
Heydn @ Apr 5th 2007 9:06PM
Although **I THINK** it's pretty spiffy... Yea, it's an April Fools joke...
Chris J @ Apr 5th 2007 9:09PM
I think this is a great idea! I can finally squeeze my way into narrow parallel parking spots alone. Pull up, get out and never bump into a car again.
I still think the video is of a non-working demo. The video is cut up (read: edited out the driver) and there are no obvious modifications to the car. Still an interesting idea.