Autoblog

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]

Click image to see high res gallery of this unbelievable car!

The Seat Leon is a holy terror on the European touring car circuit, but bad luck and driver error can often mean less than perfect results. So the team has been hard at work creating a virtual interface for the vehicle to take the human error out of the equation. By eliminating the driver, the car can be driven remotely and consistent fast laps are a virtual certainty. It's really unbelievable that nobody has been able to accomplish such a feat before now. And the way in which they've done it makes it look like child's play. In fact, it's as easy as driving a remote control car. No driver means less weight, so it's likely the team will have to carry ballast to make it more realistic competition -- a lot of it if it's supposed to simulate team manager and remote-control jockey Scott Dennis, according to driver Jason Plato). If they didn't, they'd be toying with the rest of the field.

Plato and fellow Seat Sport UK driver Darren Turner aren't too keen on the robotic car, but Scott Dennis says that they'd better get used to it. The advanced electronic system uses computers to replicate driver inputs while controlled from the comfort of the pits by Dennis. Dubbed the Telematics Remote-Information Control Kit, it is sure to surprise more than a few other drivers when it debuts April 1 at the season-opening race at Brands Hatch. The other teams would be foolish not to hop on board and try the TRICK system themselves.

Full release after the jump.

[Source: SEAT Sport UK]

Around our office, we're always passing small files between the multiple workstations via USB flash drives. Chinese toymaker Marsilli has come up with a fun way for us to amuse ourselves as we pass files back and forth. Their 512MB flash drive that doubles as an RC car comes with its own race track, though the first thing we'd try is zooming these little buggers around from room to room. They're controllable with your cellphone, though we're not sure if it's via Bluetooth or some other scheme. The USB port jutting out the back of the New Beetle is also just about the correct scale to match some of the inane drainage-pipe exhausts we've seen on clapped out rides around town, too. It's too bad we don't have an office pet, as we bet these zoomy little cars would do great on smooth surfaces and drive cats and dogs absolutely bonkers. We know we'd giggle like schoolgirls for a good half hour, maybe more. We're not sure where to find these in the US just yet, but we haven't looked terribly hard, either. We've been avoiding actually finding them because they're just what we need, more excuses to be unproductive while we hold out for that dream job of GranTurismo beta tester.

[Source: engadget.com]