The Way Computers Could Help Auto Industry

There's no secret that computers play a very important role in the development of new cars, no matter if we're talking about engine performance, bodywork or aerodynamics. But even so, designing a generic algorithm that could help carmakers in this vital task could prove to be extremely difficult, with high costs and major investment usually the main attributes. Although he admits the project it's not yet finished, a Flash developer designed a simple program which tracks the evolution of a car by aiming to configure the most efficient car on certain terrain depending on various parameters.

In other words, the vehicle (represented in the Flash animation by the two blue circles) automatically adjust its configuration depending on the terrain. Things are basically simple: in case the car encounters difficulties on the said terrain, it changes the configuration in order to be able to bypass the obstacle. By tracking all these adjustments, the computer could help developers design the most efficient car on a certain terrain, with configuration provided by the application.

“This is a GA (genetic algorithm) I wrote to design a little car for a specific terrain. It runs in real-time in Flash. The fitness function is the distance traveled before the red circles hit the ground, or time runs out. The degrees of freedom are the size and initial positions of the four circles, and length, spring constant and damping of the eight springs. The graph shows the ‘mean’ and ‘best’ fitness,” Matthew, the developer of the Flash application, said about his project according to Ridelust.

As mentioned, this is only the first version of the application but the developer promises an upgraded version will be launched in the near future, with the source code to be publicly available.