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Posts with tag autos

sQuba, the driving, diving concept car from Rinspeed

Our old friends at Swiss tuning, restoration, and general ride-pimping expert Rinspeed are back with perhaps their most ambitious project to date: a fully-submersible concept car dubbed the sQuba that's equally at home on the road or under the sea. Set to be unveiled next March at the Geneva Motor Show, the multi-faceted, electric motor-powered vehicle reminds us somewhat of the Gibbs Aquada and Hydra Spyder, except the sQuba is actually able to dive and navigate up to ten meters underwater thanks to jet drives in the bow and propellers in the stern. A self-contained, on-board system inside the carbon nanotube-based body structure provides occupants with fresh air while submerged, although the engineers probably let down more than a few folks by omitting a weapons system of any kind. No release date yet -- or even production plans -- for this one-off supercar, which, might we be so bold to suggest, would make a hell of a better-looking crime-fighter than you, Mr. Knight Industries Three Thousand. Bigger pics in the gallery below...

Heathrow Airport's parking garage to get automated tracking system


Finally, someone has had the kindness to step in and solve the age-old problem of finding your car at the airport. Britain's Heathrow -- a major hub for scores of European airlines and their travelers -- is about to unleash a new wing known as Terminal 5, and as part of the package, its parking lot is getting an upgrade. A new automated system in the garage will snap a photo of your license plate as you head in, direct you to a space using illuminated arrows and an infrared camera tracking system, then issue a ticket which can be read at a kiosk when you get back. When you insert the stub into the reader, a digital display shows you a 3D map of the carpark, and points you to the exact location of your vehicle. According to planners, the project will reduce traffic, cut carbon emissions by 397 tons per year, and will halve the number of relationship-ending arguments that occur while trying to find a car.

[Thanks, Rastrus]

Future BMWs will self-park in your garage


Anyone whose garage is so packed full of junk that getting in and out of the car is nearly impossible will appreciate a new feature set to debut on future BMW models that allows you to stand outside while your Bimmer parks itself (as well as unparks itself, we assume, or this tech wouldn't be very useful). The German manufacturer recently released a video of this self-parking wizardry -- you can catch it by following the Read link -- which shows a happy homeowner simply pushing a button on his keyfob to fire up the motor, retract the side-view mirrors, and send the car on a controlled journey to its home just inches from another luxury ride. The system leverages distance-sensing technology that we've seen before from Mercedes, Toyota, and the like, but requires a reflective lens on the garage wall to operate, which unfortunately precludes its use in public parking lots. Still a pretty useful feature, but if it takes three years to find its way into commercial vehicles as BMW anticipates, we'll probably already have the parking covered with those self-driving models we've been promised.



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