Ralph Teetor
Car And Us.com found the amazing story of the modern cruise control. Modern Cruise Control, also known as a speedostat
or tempomat, was invented in 1948 by Ralph Teetor, an inventor and mechanical engineer. His idea came out of the frustration of being in a car driven by his lawyer, who kept speeding up and slowing down as he talked.
Cruise Control is a system that automatically controls the speed of the vehicle. It takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a steady speed as set by the driver. The first car with Teetor’s system was the 1958 Imperial (called “Auto-pilot”) using a speed dial on the dashboard. This system calculated ground speed based on driveshaft rotations off the rotating speedometer-cable, and used a bi-directional screw-drive electric motor to change control position as needed.
Imperial 1958
Nowadays some modern vehicles have Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems. These systems can be automatic braking or dynamic set-speed type controls. The automatic braking type use either a radar or a laser setup to allow the vehicle to keep pace with the car it is following. Dynamic set-speed type uses the GPS position of speed limit signs, from a database.
Cruise Control Icon
Cruise Control brings advantages such as:
- Reducing drivers fatigue in long drives;
- Improving comfort by allowing positioning changes more safely;
- Avoid subconsciously violating speed limits.
However it can be used incorrectly and so it can present some dangers, such as:
- Speeding around curves that require less speed;
- Rainy or wet weather can lose traction;
- Movable land that can negatively affect the cruise control controls.
Comments are closed.