Rearview Mirror Research Articles

NHTSA Up in the Clouds: The Formal Recall Process & Over-the-Air Software Updates

Software updates are pushed to vehicles “over-the-air” (OTA) with increasing frequency as they reduce costs of visiting dealerships and auto shops to receive maintenance. These updates, pushed from the cloud, have been used to remedy safety defects in vehicles and improve software controlling all aspects of vehicles from steering to rearview mirrors. Remedies of vehicle safety defects are overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); however, because many OTA software updates do not remedy issues officially deemed safety defects, they are pushed straight from the manufacturer to drivers with little government oversight or transparency. NHTSA’s recall process was designed in 1966 to remedy safety defects in vehicles, resulting in a process which is now outdated for modern vehicles running on software. NHTSA has acknowledged the increased use of OTA software updates and prescribed OTA remedies for safety defects, but the current framework leaves NHTSA unable to oversee the rapid output of OTA software updates pushed by auto manufacturers. Without updating the current recall process for software related updates to vehicles, and specifically over-the-air software updates, NHTSA’s ability to oversee vehicle safety may decrease and the recall process may grow obsolete as the issues facing vehicles today have changed since Congress defined what constitutes a safety defect.

A New Start down An Old Road toward Substantive Voter Equality for People with Disabilities

As the June 2020 state primary election in Pennsylvania approached, Joseph Drenth, who is legally blind, faced an untenable choice: vote by mail and sacrifice the ability to cast a private and independent vote, or continue to vote privately and independently at a polling location and sacrifice the health and safety of himself and his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Fortunately, a preliminary injunction ordering the state to implement a remote accessible vote-by-mail system ultimately made such a choice unnecessary for Mr. Drenth. Unfortunately, voters with disabilities in many other jurisdictions throughout the country were not so lucky. Even as the threat of COVID-19 hopefully moves to our rearview mirrors in the coming year, Mr. Drenth’s successful lawsuit highlights a critical but underutilized legal tool for ensuring that voters with disabilities are afforded an equal voting experience—including the ability to cast a private and independent ballot—as compared to other voters.This article proceeds in three parts. Part I summarizes the history and current state of voting with a disability in the United States. In doing so, it outlines the main federal statutory provisions related to voting rights for individuals with disabilities. Part II explains how federal courts initially narrowed the guarantee of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act to mere technical equality in voting in a way that denied equal dignity and treatment when voting with a disability. It then analyzes a more recent line of cases that backs away from this early case law to expand the reach of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act to also ensure substantive equality and a fuller, more robust right to vote with a disability. Part III then speculates about broader adherence to a mandate of substantive equality throughout the federal judiciary.

Manoel de Oliveira: a inevitabilidade da memória

In Cinematographic Poem (29/11/1986), Manoel de Oliveira claims:” We are left with the memory/Of the life we lived/which becomes the food/ Life itself feeds on/The possibility of art itself.” The filmmaker-poet defines memory as the creative impulse behind filmmaking. Visit or Memories and Confessions (1982/2015), Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1997) and Porto of My Childhood (2001) are but examples of how art can build the memory. In these films, Oliveira’s camera becomes what he calls the” memory reservoir” where objectivity and subjectivity meet. In the words of João Bénard da Costa, referring to Voyage to the Beginning of the World, it is the vision you get through the rear-view mirror. The going back of time to time, the time labyrinth of spaces and objects, redemption or the refusal of a Proustian look, they all allow one a journey beyond time that only memory can undertake. In these films, Manoel de Oliveira recalls spaces and times. The memory of photos and objects, homemade films, archive footage, ethereal characters, real spaces and acting spaces become the inevitable lever of cinematic creation. Intertextual games and time collages help build the memory path in filmmaking. With Oliveira, memory, captured between fiction and documentary, defines the inevitability of art. Is it the recovery of lost time or the total awareness of the filmic nature of time? Memory is just something inevitable and urgent.

Numerical and experimental research on flow and aerodynamic noise characteristics of coach

The researches on flow and aerodynamic noise characteristics of coaches are urgently needed to improve with the rapid development of new energy coaches. In this paper, tests in model wind tunnel and numerical calculations were carried out to study the phenomenon of flow and aero-noise on 1:25 scale model coach. Based on large eddy simulation (LES) and detached eddy simulation (DES), reliable numerical calculation method of flow and aero-noise on coach was established and verified. It is found that the maximum difference on turbulent pressure between test and LES is less than 10 dB(A) while that of DES is about 20 dB(A). Due to the results got from 1:25 scale model, the W_LES_HOA model is used to obtain the flow field and sound field information outside the coach. To find out the different propagation characteristics of turbulent pressure pulsation and acoustic pressure, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and band-pass filter analysis are used for further analysis. For rearview mirror, the energy of first mode is 6.1%, and only the first nine modes have an energy for more than 3.0%. By the reconstruction of first four modes, it can be seen that the complicated transverse vortex shedding couples with A pillar vortex and reaches the body surface. However, the coupling of turbulent pressure can only be seen clearly under low frequency around 250 Hz while the coupling of acoustic pressure can be seen under 750 Hz. Meanwhile, with the analysis of low frequency round 250 Hz and 500 Hz, the change of flow field generated by airflow impingement on the windward surface and A pillar makes the front of the coach becomes the main sources of aerodynamic sound sources.

Effect of Electrolyte Concentration on the Electrochromic Properties of Tungsten Oxide Thin Films

The worldwide energy crisis has drawn the attention of researchers to energy saving, energy-storing, and energy converting devices. Among them, electrochromic devices (ECDs) are being extensively studied to reduce energy consumption. Electrochromism refers to the persistent and reversible change of optical properties by an applied voltage pulse. Electrochromism has been proposed for many applications such as smart windows, rear-view mirrors, electrochromic displays, sensors, etc. The electrolyte is an indispensable component in the ECDs which strongly affects the electrochromic performance. The transport mechanism for the ions depends on the type and components of the electrolyte. Liquid electrolyte has been the electrolyte of choice owing to its high ionic conductivity. However, due to leakage issues, other alternatives such as gel-polymer electrolytes and solid electrolytes are being employed.In this study, we evaluate the effect of LiClO4 in PC having different concentrations on the electrochromic performance of RF sputtered tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films. The effect of the electrolyte concentration was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry, potentiostatic measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and transmittance measurements. In addition, mathematical modeling and simulation is adopted to enhance the understanding of the different salt concentration on the electrochemical performance. The model predictions are in good agreement with experimental cyclic voltammogram and transmittance data obtained from a three-electrode cell with WO3, Pt, and Ag/AgCl as the working, counter, and reference electrode, respectively. From the model predictions, the electrolyte with lower salt concentration exhibits higher coloring efficiency while the electrolyte with higher salt concentration exhibits higher switching speed.

Enhanced Electrochromic Performances of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) Modified Viologen Derivatives

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is an inorganic silica nanocage surrounded by organic functional groups. Due to the presence of organic peripheries around the rigid case, functionalized POSS has often exhibited outstanding properties, thus finding useful for constructing porous inorganic-organic hybrid networks.The electrochromic devices (ECDs) offer noticeable color changes due to the electron transfer and redox reaction. The electrochromic materials play a critical role in determining the optical response and absorption intensity of the ECDs. Various electrochromic materials have been investigated, including inorganic metal oxides, viologens, and conducting polymers. Among these, viologen derivatives have been studied in depth owing to high electron-accepting capability and facile synthetic routes. Besides, viologen based ECDs have found various applications, such as smart windows, electronic paper, and the famous antiglare rearview mirrors developed by Gentex. However, critical weaknesses of viologens include low coloration efficiency, slow switching speed, and reduced long-term stability. Furthermore, the durability in the repeated operation of ECDs is limited in non-complementary device structures.Herein, we present the modification of viologen derivatives with the incorporation of POSS, in which the structural rigidity of POSS fillers and the synthetic versatility of viologen compounds are combined to ensure improved electrochromic performances. The solid-state ECDs are fabricated by sandwiching the single-layered ion gel containing POSS-modified viologens between two transparent electrodes. The resulting electrochromic behaviors are compared with those of conventional viologens, in terms of cyclic voltammetry, spectroelectrochemistry, and kinetic stability. Furthermore, the preparation of flexible ECDs using silver nanowire-PEDOT:PSS composite electrode is presented, and stable electrochromic operation in the repeated redox transitions is demonstrated on various plastic substrates.

Bidding Farewell to 2020

AbstractWe're nearing the end of 2020, and I think many people will be happy to see it in the rearview mirror. While the actual boundaries of years do not enforce control over nature's events, they provide a framework to organize our past and imagine our future as we turn the calendar page. Indeed, it's understandable that most new year celebrations focus on spiritual renewal—building hope for comfort, health, and prosperity in the year ahead.

The Radicalization of a White Psychiatrist.

The Radicalization of a White Psychiatrist.

Ionic additive in an ionogel for a large area long lived high contrast electrochromic device

Heptyl viologen (HV) based electrochromic devices (ECD) suffer from poor write-erase efficiencies and become permanently colored after a few redox switches, thus limiting their use as electrochromic windows or mirrors. This formidable issue is addressed by incorporating an ionic additive: a disodium salt of ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), in the ionogel electrolyte. EDTA, via electrostatic interactions, binds to the HV+• radical cation and prevents its' further reduction to the undesirable pale colored neutral HV0, by wedging in-between the moieties and inhibiting their undesirable stacking. A large area HV/EDTA in gel/Prussian blue (PB) ECDs of ~8 cm × 6 cm dimensions outperforms the HV/gel/PB ECD which is evidenced in the enhanced transmission modulation (ΔTmax: 73.1% at 606 nm), coloration efficiency (η: 346.2 cm2 C−1) and superior chromaticity coordinates (colored: L*,a,b: 40, 10, −65) compared to lower magnitudes of 69.2%, 270.3 cm2 C−1 and (L*,a,b: 50.3, 8, −48.5) respectively. When evaluated as a mirror, HV/EDTA in gel/PB ECD shows a reflectance modulation of ~65% which does not alter significantly, even at −10 °C or at +60 °C, ratifying its thermal robustness. The HV/EDTA in gel/PB ECD shows color and bleach times of 16 and 35 s, retains ~93% of its’ initial contrast after 104 cycles and after aging for 2 years, continues to deliver a transmission modulation of 68%. This study successfully demonstrates a cost effective, easily implementable, scaled-up HV/EDTA in gel/PB based long-lived durable ECD for energy efficient smart window and rearview mirror applications.

Ireland, Reading and Cultural Nationalism, 1790–1930, Bringing the Nation to Book

Ireland, Reading and Cultural Nationalism, 1790–1930, Bringing the Nation to Book

Contemporary look at performance evaluation

One of my favorite mentors would frequently tell me to look through the windshield, not in the rear-view mirror. He liked to focus his team on what was in front of us and where we were heading, rather than spending time rehashing where we had already been. I think that is a great metaphor for the career dialogue that tends to look at employee performance with an eye on the future, rather than an anchor to the past.
 Around 2015, cutting-edge businesses began ditching their annual performance reviews in favor of continuous performance dialogues. Within just a few short years, almost every Fortune 500 company adopted this new approach to performance management.
 How did this new trend take over so quickly? The easy answer is that everyone hated the old process! Managers invested a lot of time in a process that yielded very little positive return. Employees felt undervalued and demotivated. Thus, a process that was supposed to improve employee performance, productivity and engagement was having exactly the opposite impact on your practice team. Learn how transitioning to an easier, more enjoyable process can yield more positive results for everyone and tips for implementing it in your practice.

Prediction and Aerodynamic Analysis of Interior Noise and Wind Drag Generated by the Outside Rear-View Mirror for Commercial Vehicles

The outside rear-view mirror (OSRVM) is installed on the vehicle’s surface, which causes unwanted aerodynamic noise and wind drag during driving. It is important to use simulation methods to predict the performance of aerodynamic noise and wind drag of commercial vehicles due to the OSRVM. Considering the wind drag of the OSRVM, a combinational simulation strategy is employed to calculate external flow and interior acoustic fields of commercial vehicles, respectively. The flow field is computed a priori with an incompressible flow solver. The acoustic field was then computed based on the information extracted from the CFD solver. To obtain the interior noise level at the driver’s ears, a vibroacoustic model is used to calculate the response of the window glass structure and interior cavities, where the unsteady aerodynamic pressure loading on the two side windows’ surface is treated as the acoustic source field. The paper provides flow field and acoustic simulations for three OSRVM configuration models. The results are compared to data obtained in road sliding test measurement on the commercial vehicle. The accuracy of the hybrid simulation method is proved, and the comparative analyses verify that the OSRVM B model dramatically reduces the interior noise and wind drag of commercial vehicles.

An all-solid-state polymeric electrochromic device based on two well-matched electrodes with fast switching time and excellent cycling stability

All-solid-state polymeric electrochromic devices (ECDs) were fabricated based on anodic poly(4,4′,4″-tris[4-(2-bithienyl)phenyl]amine) (PTBTPA) and cathodic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). PEDOT:PSS films with various thicknesses were obtained to control their charge capacities and neutral transmittances. It is found that the compatibility between PTBTPA and PEDOT:PSS has an important influence on the driving potential and electrochromic properties of ECDs. Therefore, an ECD with well-matched color and charge capacity between PTBTPA and PEDOT:PSS exhibits excellent electrochromic properties under low driving potential ranges (0–1.4 V) with high optical contrast of 54.3%, fast switching time of 1.02 s (colored time) and 0.51 s (bleached time), large coloration efficiency of 812.1 cm2‧C−1 and good cycling stability (which retains 70.2% of its original optical contrast after 10,000 cycles). The optimized all-solid-state polymeric ECD has potential applications in smart windows, electronic-tags and rearview mirrors.

Consistency of neuropsychological and driving simulator assessment after neurological impairment

Deficits in attentional and executive functioning may interfere with driving ability and result in a lower level of fitness to drive. Studies show mixed results in relation to the consistency of neuropsychological and driving simulator assessment. The objective of this study was to investigate the consistency of both types of assessment. Ninety-nine patients with various neurological impairments (72 males; M = 48.98 years; SD = 17.27) performed a 30-minute drive in a driving simulation in three different road settings; a (non-)residential rural area, a highway and an urban area. They also underwent neuropsychological assessment of attention and executive function. An exploratory correlational analysis was conducted. We found weak, but significant correlations between attention and executive function measures and more efficient driving in the driving simulator. Distractibility was associated with the most simulator variables in all three simulated road settings. Participants who were better at maintaining attention, eliminating irrelevant information and suppressing inappropriate responses, were less likely to drive above the speed limit, produced a less jerky ride, and used the rearview mirror more regularly. A lack of moderate or strong significant correlations (inconsistency) between traditional neuropsychological and simulator assessment variables may indicate that they don’t evaluate the same cognitive processes.

COVID-19 and the Law of Unforeseen Consequences.

* Abbreviations: COVID-19 — : coronavirus disease 2019 SARS-CoV-2 — : severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 On January 29, 1964, Stanley Kubrick released to the world one of his most brilliant films, Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. America was at the height of the Cold War. Children were sheltering under school desks in drills preparing for nuclear annihilation. The last influenza pandemic was 7 years in the rearview mirror, and the next one to come was 4 years in the future. The film viciously satirized world leaders and foretold an era of dark pessimism that defines the world and America to this day. On January 29, 2020, Peter Navarro, trade advisor to President Donald Trump, wrote an internal memo warning of the threat to the United States of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak that had been recognized in China in late December. On that day, the World Health Organization reported that there were 6065 confirmed cases worldwide, 68 of which were in 15 countries outside of China.1 According to the New York Times , Mr Navarro wrote that, “The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil…This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans.”2 A worst-case scenario of more than half a million American deaths was cited in the memo. By June 29, … Address correspondence to David W. Kimberlin, MD, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1600 Seventh Ave South, CHB 303, Birmingham, AL 35233. E-mail: dkimberlin{at}peds.uab.edu

The International Society for the Systems Sciences: Contributions to the Future World

The International Society for the System Sciences (ISSS) is a microcosm model of the global human social system (HSS, our species). The unprecedented crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic is causing major disruptions to the ‘normal’ processes and has triggered a spasm of self-reflection and self-realization that what had been thought of as “the normal” was not sustainable, both for the larger HSS and for the ISSS. Both the greater HSS and the ISSS have had their capacity for resilience in the face of the crisis challenged. Under the proposition that complex adaptive systems are resilient, and evolvable systems are sustainable, members of the ISSS have set out to use our knowledge of systems theory and practice to renew the society, to make it more systemic in structure and function. We are proposing to create a new core working group that will find purpose in doing a dual level deep systems analysis of the ISSS itself and then, using the insights gained in that process, turn to doing the same for the HSS. Deep systems analysis can expose the dysfunctions in subsystems as well as identify missing subsystems and requisite communications. All societies share certain systemic properties since all involve the interactions among groups of human actors. And all long-term sustainable systems have been shown to operate in specific fashions to be self-sustaining (autopoietic) and produce products or services to the larger embedding supra-system. For the HSS this is the Earth as a whole. For the ISSS this is the HSS. Key questions that the ISSS needs to consider as context for its place in the HSS: What product(s)/service(s) should the HSS produce that would benefit the rest of our planet? How should the HSS be structured/organized? The turning that question on the ISSS, what products/services should the ISSS produce that would benefit the HSS. Since the knowledge that is represented within the ISSS pool of expertise is system knowledge, if follows that how the HSS should be structured/organized after the pandemic crisis is in the rearview mirror could be answered by deep systems analysis of what the HSS should be in the future. Key questions to be addressed in this report: With all humbleness how should the ISSS and system societies in general come together to effectively meet the purpose of system science? Indeed, should they and to what purpose? What product(s)/service(s) would the enterprise of system science produce that would benefit the HSS and broader, life on this planet? We report on the plan and the effort undertaken to find answers to these and related questions. This is part of our mission to bring greater unity to the field of systems science and reach out to the wider field of systems thinkers; it is an invitation to participate.

Elaboración de la fibra de cabuya en tejido plano como matriz de refuerzo para la construcción de un retrovisor

Las fibras naturales se han convirtiendo en una excelente alternativa para usos industriales. Esto se debe a su fácil accesibilidad en el mercado y por ser una materia prima renovable. El presente trabajo busca usar la cabuya como material de refuerzo con matriz poliéster para aplicaciones automotrices con bajo costo y peso. Este es el caso de los retrovisores de un vehículo, para el cual se fabricó un molde base. Sobre el molde se realizará el aplicado y moldeado del retrovisor utilizando la fibra de cabuya y una resina poliéster. Las mezclas de octoato de cobalto y peróxido de metil-etilcetona (MEKP) con la fibra natural reducen considerablemente el peso; el costo de manufactura se ve reducido aproximadamente en un 40 % debido a la facilidad de manejo de la fibra y la adquisición de este material. Se recomienda la utilización de la cabuya para aplicaciones automotrices (espejo retrovisor) ya que presenta una reducción considerable en su peso y costo relativamente bajo en comparación con el componente original.

Take over! A video-clip study measuring attention, situation awareness, and decision-making in the face of an impending hazard

In highly automated driving, drivers occasionally need to take over control of the car due to limitations of the automated driving system. Research has shown that visually distracted drivers need about 7 s to regain situation awareness (SA). However, it is unknown whether the presence of a hazard affects SA. In the present experiment, 32 participants watched animated video clips from a driver’s perspective while their eyes were recorded using eye-tracking equipment. The videos had lengths between 1 and 20 s and contained either no hazard or an impending crash in the form of a stationary car in the ego lane. After each video, participants had to (1) decide (no need to take over, evade left, evade right, brake only), (2) rate the danger of the situation, (3) rebuild the situation from a top-down perspective, and (4) rate the difficulty of the rebuilding task. The results showed that the hazard situations were experienced as more dangerous than the non-hazard situations, as inferred from self-reported danger and pupil diameter. However, there were no major differences in SA: hazard and non-hazard situations yielded equivalent speed and distance errors in the rebuilding task and equivalent self-reported difficulty scores. An exception occurred for the shortest time budget (1 s) videos, where participants showed impaired SA in the hazard condition, presumably because the threat inhibited participants from looking into the rear-view mirror. Correlations between measures of SA and decision-making accuracy were low to moderate. It is concluded that hazards do not substantially affect the global awareness of the traffic situation, except for short time budgets.

A Death, A Funeral, A Repast.

A Death, A Funeral, A Repast.

Review: John McAndrew's Modernist Vision: From the Vassar College Art Library to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, by Mardges Bacon, and Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art: The Arthur Drexler Years, 1951–1986, by Thomas S. Hines

Review: <i>John McAndrew's Modernist Vision: From the Vassar College Art Library to the Museum of Modern Art in New York</i>, by Mardges Bacon, and <i>Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art: The Arthur Drexler Years</i>, 1951–1986, by Thomas S. Hines