Abstract
Mechanical engineering ignited the design concept of motorized vehicles, built for the purpose of supplanting horses and carriages. Devising different types of power unit propulsion systems, electronic engineers soon designed specific innovations that incrementally transformed vehicles into electrified systems and thereafter into computerized systems that automated many functional features of automobiles. Before vehicles were programmed to self-drive, they were digitally optimized devices.
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Notes
- 1.
How Mercedes-Benz has achieved such a footprint in the car market has its roots in the country’s legacy of innovative engineering. Germany is a country of crafty engineers who thrive to build the best of everything. It is a national pride and something that speaks of their ability to push the limits in innovation. Today Mercedes, synonymous with “prestige bling,” fends off both Audi, whose motto translates to “Innovation via technology,” and BMW, a brand leading by their handling and fast performance, with solid sophisticated technological advances but not luxury. Furthermore, Mercedes-AMG Petronas’ Formula 1 sports racing team has been winning the constructors’ championship for six consecutive years since 2014. They are the contenders to beat and the biggest stand at Frankfurt’s Car Expo every September. To be that obsessed with perfection has paid off.
- 2.
Vehicles were fitted with belts in the early days of motoring, but they often injured drivers and did more harm than good until Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin developed for Volvo the now traditional three-point seat belt, ergonomically adapted to wrap around a human body with better grip and less prone to cause injuries.
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© 2021 Inma Martínez
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Martínez, I. (2021). OK Computer. In: The Future of the Automotive Industry. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7026-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7026-4_1
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Publisher Name: Apress, Berkeley, CA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4842-7025-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4842-7026-4
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