Regarding turning the wheels to the curb, do cars that have automatic parallel parking do that when they finish?

They would need to know if they were facing uphill or downhill, don't think current cars have a sensor for that.

Cars with stability controls would have accelerometers which would know which way was up.

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

---

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

Two other things just came to mind:

GPS map databse which may have altitude information.

How is the software to know there is a curb? Wheels turn a different direction.

---

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

Two other things just came to mind:

GPS map databse which may have altitude information.

How is the software to know there is a curb? Wheels turn a different direction.

I haven't looked into it, but I assume there are sensors to help it navigate into the parking space, which should also tell it whether there's a curb and where it is.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

Two other things just came to mind:

GPS map databse which may have altitude information.

How is the software to know there is a curb? Wheels turn a different direction.

Don't count on GPS. It is good to maybe + or - 20 meters. Your moving map looks good because the software clicks you to the nearest road. Watch it when you drive past a shallow Y in the road, it can get tricked and show you on the wrong branch for a few seconds.

Car accelerometers I'm familiar with sense horizontal plane accelerations, for anti-skid braking and such. Nothing showing vertical offset. The parking assist sensors look for other cars, not curbs.

---

http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/s/fsmp2/authorities-id-man-killed-in-tractor-versus-train-crash

This hits a bit too close to home. The UP at this crossing is right next to the museum main and west station lead. This might force us to finally put in gates. The two railroads are too close together for one to have gates and the other not. Our gates would have to be linked to theirs. This is complicated by the fact that we're electrified.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/s/fsmp2/authorities-id-man-killed-in-tractor-versus-train-crash

This hits a bit too close to home. The UP at this crossing is right next to the museum main and west station lead. This might force us to finally put in gates. The two railroads are too close together for one to have gates and the other not. Our gates would have to be linked to theirs. This is complicated by the fact that we're electrified.

Without seeing that intersection I can't comment on that crash.

However the vast majority of crashes at signal less level crossings here are a result of people either not stopping & looking (If they had looked, they'd see the train) or thinking they can beat it, turns out they can't.
Whether there are signals, or signals with gates depends on the amount of traffic & the frequency of trains.
There are some signals on low traffic crossings due to the location of the crossing on a curve of the track- it's not possible to see the trains until they're there.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/s/fsmp2/authorities-id-man-killed-in-tractor-versus-train-crash

This hits a bit too close to home. The UP at this crossing is right next to the museum main and west station lead. This might force us to finally put in gates. The two railroads are too close together for one to have gates and the other not. Our gates would have to be linked to theirs. This is complicated by the fact that we're electrified.

And I see the Hiway department calls them two seperate crossings. I could see how someone going north seeing the two tracks sign could confuse your two tracks as one and the UP as the second.

Also looking at the crossing is there actually enough room for a full size semi to sit between the two RR's? If not it really is a single crossing and mismarked for road drivers.

As to signals, electrified might be an issue, but I suspect it will be their equipment and you will have to supply signal indications at their electrical specifications. So you have to put in a relay box to connect to theirs. Of course if you don't have block signals on that track, that is another issue.

---

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

I don't know about cars, except those fitted with a smart phone, but smart phones also have gyroscopes on all three axis. Which should be able to detect changes of less than a third of a degree of rotation.

Gyroscopes measure the speed and angle of rotation of the watch along three different axes i.e. how fast the device is spinning in any of three directions. Accelerometers measure the acceleration of the device along the same axes. Using these sensors together, apps on the phone or watch can detect specific movement.
Just to worry you about smart phones, it is possible using the motion detectors, to be able to monitor your keystrokes, and deduce things like passwords and pins.

I'm thinking you'd need inclinometers.

No. Accelerometers (3 axis) are what are inside a smartphone and it knows up. After all gravity is an acceleration. Remember your general relativity.

Yep.
But would the accelerometers in a car be sensitive enough to be effective on a slight slope (considering they have to deal with considerable vibration in general operation)?
I guess it would depends how good the software is.

I don't know about cars, except those fitted with a smart phone, but smart phones also have gyroscopes on all three axis. Which should be able to detect changes of less than a third of a degree of rotation.

Gyroscopes measure the speed and angle of rotation of the watch along three different axes i.e. how fast the device is spinning in any of three directions. Accelerometers measure the acceleration of the device along the same axes. Using these sensors together, apps on the phone or watch can detect specific movement.
Just to worry you about smart phones, it is possible using the motion detectors, to be able to monitor your keystrokes, and deduce things like passwords and pins.

Well, A single gyro can tell you your latitude. It can sense the rotation of the earth and from that work out how far north or south of the equator you are. I doubt the ones in smart phones are that sensitive though. Give it one more data item, the time (GMT), and it now knows your longitude. It is called an inertial navigation system. As long as it knows the time no matter how it is moved it will always know where it is. Even on a rocket ship to Pluto.

---

Trucker’s dash cam video shows amazing near miss with a car

NEAR COOMA, Australia - A truck driver in Australia had a very close call with a daring driver and the video of his encounter has gone viral.

Richie Gillman was driving a semi truck on Monaro Highway near Cooma, Australia Friday and his dash cam caught the amazing near miss with a small car that zipped passed him and narrowly avoided a head-on crash with another truck.

Gillman says another trucker behind him called over the radio to alert him of the passing car.

He says his heart sank as the car cut in front of him.

The driver of the car sped away. No one was injured and the car never stopped.

---

People in the car are now in need of new underwear - did you see the puff of (brown) smoke just after the car got back in lane???

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

People in the car are now in need of new underwear - did you see the puff of (brown) smoke just after the car got back in lane???

I wonder if that was an individual puff or a collective one. :-)

Used to get that at least once a day, some of which put my heart in my mouth :-(

Trucker’s dash cam video shows amazing near miss with a car

I'm more convinced than ever that even before people go for their driving theory test they need to sit a d&*($head test. If you are one, you don't get to drive a car or truck or ride a bike. If you're that lacking in common sense and/or patience then you'd be a danger to yourself & everyone else on the road; as that video shows so well.

Used to get that at least once a day, some of which put my heart in my mouth :-(

According to the driver it's not an unusual occurrence, but that one was much, much closer than usual.
"This happens too often on the Monaro Highway," he said.
"Usually we just ignore it but that close call shook me up a bit and the driver needs to be held accountable."
Dashcam footage shows car's near miss with truck on Monaro Highway
I think a "dangerous driving" or "driving without due care" charge would be appropriate.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

Trucker’s dash cam video shows amazing near miss with a car

I'm more convinced than ever that even before people go for their driving theory test they need to sit a d&*($head test. If you are one, you don't get to drive a car or truck or ride a bike. If you're that lacking in common sense and/or patience then you'd be a danger to yourself & everyone else on the road; as that video shows so well.

Used to get that at least once a day, some of which put my heart in my mouth :-(

According to the driver it's not an unusual occurrence, but that one was much, much closer than usual.
"This happens too often on the Monaro Highway," he said.
"Usually we just ignore it but that close call shook me up a bit and the driver needs to be held accountable."
Dashcam footage shows car's near miss with truck on Monaro Highway
I think a "dangerous driving" or "driving without due care" charge would be appropriate.

I've been seeing this type of stupidity for over 45yrs now and I still see it on the New England Hwy here often enough (even doing it while going through this village with a 50km/h limit), but some arn't so lucky.

Cheers.

I've been seeing this type of stupidity for over 45yrs now and I still see it on the New England Hwy here often enough (even doing it while going through this village with a 50km/h limit), but some arn't so lucky.

Cheers.

True, but there just seems to be more & more of it occurring.
How often is one of the first things you see on the news these days "Head on crash..."?

---

Grant
Darwin NT

Trucker’s dash cam video shows amazing near miss with a car

Elderly driver charged after car's near miss on Monaro Highway caught on dashcam.

---

Grant
Darwin NT

http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/s/fsmp2/authorities-id-man-killed-in-tractor-versus-train-crash

This hits a bit too close to home. The UP at this crossing is right next to the museum main and west station lead. This might force us to finally put in gates. The two railroads are too close together for one to have gates and the other not. Our gates would have to be linked to theirs. This is complicated by the fact that we're electrified.

And I see the Hiway department calls them two seperate crossings. I could see how someone going north seeing the two tracks sign could confuse your two tracks as one and the UP as the second.

Also looking at the crossing is there actually enough room for a full size semi to sit between the two RR's? If not it really is a single crossing and mismarked for road drivers.

As to signals, electrified might be an issue, but I suspect it will be their equipment and you will have to supply signal indications at their electrical specifications. So you have to put in a relay box to connect to theirs. Of course if you don't have block signals on that track, that is another issue.

No, there is absolutely not room for a semi. However, the way the signage is set up is pretty typical for this kind of situation.

What would happen is that we and UP would each install our own crossing signals. There would be an interconnect between them so that if a train comes on UP, both of their gates would go down as you would expect, but our south gate would also go down. Our north gate would stay up so that anyone already between them and us could escape. When our train comes, both of our gates and UP's north gate would go down (which would be the much more frequent case during our operating season).

UP does not have any sort of block signals on this line. However, this crossing and Seeman Rd. (the other one where we parallel them) are the only ones all the way from West Chicago to Belvidere that don't have gates (okay, Karstens too, but that's a private driveway, not a public road). No doubt UP would install a state of the art system with speed detection (same theory of operation as radar, but instead of radio waves through the air it sends a pulse down one rail and measures how long it takes to be shunted by the train's lead axle and come back down the other rail).

We do have operating block signals, but the reason we can't do speed sensing has to do with us using the rails as the ground return for electric trains. Our system would just detect a train within a fixed distance of the crossing. I'm sure we would also use brand new control equipment, but we might try to use antique lights and gates if the state (and our insurance carrier) will let us.

The South Shore line (also electrified) over in northern Indiana has several similar crossings to our situation here, so however they do it is probably how we would.

The biggest issue, actually, is the necessary 24/7 on-call maintainer for malfunctions. Very likely, we would contract with UP to respond to our problems (which again makes our being electric an issue, since UP's maintainers would be unfamiliar with our system).

What it all comes down to is the money to install everything. I'm sure this incident will cause both UP and us to reassess the risk/benefit analysis.


Footnote: a couple of years ago, the state announced plans to start Amtrak service to Rockford on this UP line. This would have involved installing some sort of signal system to raise the maximum speed from the current 49 to 79 MPH. As part of the project, the state would have paid to install gates on these crossings. However, our voters in their infinite wisdom/stupidity elected a new governor, who put the project "under review," meaning nothing has happened and probably won't before the federal grant expires. (Although, the project to run Amtrak to Moline just got a new puff of artificial respiration last week when the state informed the feds it's still interested and would like to have the grant deadline extended. However, in that case some money has already been spent and the state would have to pay it back to the feds if the project is not completed.)

[edit]
Footnote 2: on our Thomas weekends, we have people out to flag the crossing. There are huge numbers of cars going over it, and Thomas is very tightly scheduled and can't afford to slow down or stop for cars on the track.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Not Safe
http://kron4.com/2016/06/29/viral-video-police-chase-go-kart-down-oakland-freeway/

---

Bad news for Driver & Family...

Not too good for Tesla either

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36680043

---

Happy Crunching,

Graham