plw@rayssdb.ray.com (Paul L. White) (08/09/89)
Watching CNN Headline news on cable last night, I spotted an Amiga A2000 being used as a processor for an experimental driverless automobile (van). There were several experiments in several vehicles. One experiment was a radar warning device to provide an alert of an impending collision. The camera panned back from the windshield view of the van driving toward a large, green dumpster...to a view of an A2000 computer (with one 3.5" drive) that was mounted behind the van driver's seat. An Amiga color monitor was mounted just to the right of the computer. It wasn't clear what was being displayed on the monitor, but the picture inferred that the Amiga was either being used as the controlling device or monitoring device. The voiceover described how a radar would be used to avoid a collision with the dumpster. Another experimental vehicle was designed to follow a copper wire embedded in the pavement. The apparent object was to enable the passenger (you could scarcely call him/her a driver) to input the vehicle's destination and then sit back and read the paper, while the vehicle drove itself to the programmed destination. The radar warning device mentioned above served to avoid collisions and to maintain an equal distance between vehicles to preclude traffic jams. I didn't catch the name of the California-based research group, but I would be interested to know how they wired up the power source to the Amiga...just in case I want to multitask Dpaint III and driving my Hondoid around Rhode Island ;-). One other mention of the Amiga is in this month's Omni magazine. In the cover story about volcano research in Hawaii, there is a description of the volcano/seismographic monitoring setup at the Hawaiian research station. Several Amiga computers are a key component of a very extensive and impressive network of undersea and land thermal sensors. Wake up Commodore marketing! If you want to sell some computers, run some ads in Omni and Scientific American about these applications. It's time to take the Amiga out of the Rodney Dangerfield mode (i.e. I can't get no respect) and unveil the Amiga as the versatile, powerful machine it is! ========================================================================== Paul White Technically writing everyday like the big kids. ==========================================================================