At least, that's how the cruise control in your average vehicle works. But there is something new on the horizon, and believe me, it's not the same thing at all. Currently available on just small handful of high end models from the likes of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus, it may not be rocket science, exactly, but it does owe a lot to technology developed for military applications, most notably radar. Give Me a Brake With adaptive cruise control, you set not just your speed but also the distance you want to maintain between your car and the cars in front of you. The version available from Mercedes sends out radar pulses every 60 milliseconds in a series of beams that cover the width of one lane of traffic.
Sensors pick up radar reflections and an onboard computer processes the information.
Not only will the system make adjustments to your throttle to maintain the desired distance between you and that car ahead, but it will also step lightly on the brakes, to slow the car down, without turning the system off. These systems are probably just the harbinger of a whole slew of new sensing devices that will make their way into our cars in the coming decade or two. In addition to adaptive cruise control, you can expect things like lane-change alarms that will let you know if there is someone in your blind spot, and collision warning sensors that will sound the alarm if you are about to run into a stationary object. Automatic braking systems that pull you up short before you actually plow into said object will follow soon after. Still, it will be at least a few more years before radar-equipped cruise control is standard equipment on the typical family sedan.