More than phone calls and games
a driver if the car comes too close to the vehicle in front. A mechanism within the car will then automatically apply the brakes should the driver ignore the initial warning. There is also a system that gives the driver a warning signal if the vehicle is veering off its lane,” he says.
Ng and his team are developing a mobile application that will serve as a real-time safety system for drivers on the road, given the fact that cars fitted with the advanced sensors mentioned earlier are still not affordable for most of the general public.
Most people, however, do own smartphones and this is where he sees the potential of this mobile application.
“The possibilities of using mobile computing are endless, especially with the smartphone technology evolving as rapidly as it is,” he says.
The downside to this mobile technology is the battery life of smartphones, which tends to deplete very quickly. However, Ng says that researchers and technology companies worldwide are already finding ways to create longer lasting batteries and he believes that the smartphone industry will benefit from this in the near future.
Smartphones are essentially mini computers and can be used for a range of intelligent engineering and technical applications. As smartphone technology continues to evolve, the devices can take up significantly more processing loads, thus enabling the systems that they control to perform more complicated functions.
Ng, who teaches electrical systems and electronic systems and control at the School of Engineering, says the potential of utilising smartphones to control a growing number of engineering systems is still largely untapped. He adds that many of his students have shown keen interest in pursuing this area of research.
All Monash University Malaysia engineering programmes are accredited by Engineers Australia and have been approved by the Engineering Accreditation Council Malaysia.
For more information, visit www.eng.monash.edu.my