Distance sensor for drafting
 

Thinking about a distance sensor to make drafting a bit safer.
Three types, depending on functionality:

1. Only displays distance to the vehicle you are following,
2. Reads your speed and also displays how many seconds behind the vehicle you are,
3. Interacts with your cruise control to keep either the distance or the time constant (with a limit on max speed).

Option 2 would be helpful for me, as Poland recently adopted a new 3-second minimum following time, to combat tail-gating.

Just tossing this idea up for discussion about available and DIY sensors.

4. Buy a new car with that feature.

4a. Raid such a car for the sensors, and homebrew a software solution.

Look for vehicles that come with adaptive cruise control, if your vehicle has the option on a higher trim level, you might be able to find a totalled one and get all the parts to install on yours, then enable it using special programming software like Forscan or others.

What range are blind spot monitors good at ?
I have seen several aftermarket sensors for cheap.
It seems that the alert signal could be used to signal the braking system as well with modification.

But what you are thinking of is a system that doesn't just apply brakes.
The adaptive cruise control modification seems like a good idea to start with.

This "long range" IR detector is only good up to 18 feet.

https://acroname.com/store/long-rang...16-gp2y0a710yk

Also, this could be modified :
https://youtu.be/qHYPG6x6Yqo

Seems like if 3 seconds is safe for humans, 2 seconds should be sufficient for a machine.

This question reminds me of discussions on the Chevy Bolt (EV) forum of how to add a gas generator to extend range. I tell them you buy a plug-in hybrid which comes with a purpose-built range extending generator.

Lol - or an excercise bike for the kids in back.
Trickle charge it, kids !

Thank you all forthe feedback :)

Indeed I had in mind an aftermarket sensor (radar on a chip? I read in PopSci decades ago that those will be common soon) and how to adapt it for safe and/or legal distance drafting.

A new, advanced car is not an option for me. Not to mention that their distance sensors must be soooo integrated into other electronics and features that it would be impossible to hack to our preferences.

In general I do not expect to make and use such a sensor, only wanted to open discussion in case it may inspire someone. Unless such a sensor would be exceptionally easy to concoct, then I might...

This takes you way down the wrong rabbit hole, but maybe you can get the idea:

www.tomshardware.com/how-to/raspberry-pi-facial-recognition

But if it can recognize faces it has to separate them from the surroundings, and if t can discriminate friends from random strangers it should be able to discern relative velocities.

Might not be a completely wrong rabbit hole...
If it could recognise license plates, then from the plate's apparent width you could calculate the distance.
Also, knowing your road speed it could calculate that license plate's speed relative to you, which would allow much smoother and safer control of your car.

I figured manufacturers were using radar for distance calcs, not vision? I'd certainly be more inclined to use radar since that's simpler.

This is a relatively simple arduino project, but something outside the range of the standard hobby sensors (Sharp IR and HC 10x ultrasonic?) - 60cm and 4m respectively.

Maybe some kind of inexpensive laser time of flight sensor could be hooked up to a speed sensor.

So are there any radar sensors with 100m range available in the amateur hobbyist price range?
Or at all?

Looks like $400 used on Ebay. You need 2. Then you need vehicle speed sensor, a controller to make sense of all that and output a throttle control signal.

The three-second rule is a good one for safety, flexibility and legality. It's easy to employ without having to take your eyes off the road. We do it in my area of the world by saying "one Mississippi" for each second of time being gauged.

I used to use a vacuum gauge installed on the intake manifold to see the beneficial effects of following a big truck etc. Nowadays, I have a ScanGauge with instantaneous MPG readings to do the same.

One of the big things I keep in mind when following a vehicle in traffic is that rear-end accidents can be expensive and even lethal, and that the guy who does the rear-ending is almost invariably at fault.

I use the 3 sec. rule as reaction time is critical. I have no way of knowing what the vehicle and its driver will do next. I would not want someone drafting me with out radio contact to coordinate actions. Just how close is close enough to gain any advantage?

According to aerohead:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...6245-gaps2.jpg