Latest news with #UniversityofWindsor
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Volvo smart seatbelt adjusts itself based on your weight and position for increased safety
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN—Canadian safety researcher Peter Frise agrees that the three-point seatbelt that Volvo patented and brought to market in 1959 has likely saved more lives than any other automotive safety feature. So when Volvo upgrades this vital feature next year by introducing a new smart seatbelt, it's potentially major vehicle safety news. Volvo plans to introduce what it calls its 'multi-adaptive safety belt' next year, which will debut in its all-electric 2026 EX60 SUV. Volvo didn't yet confirm its plans for its futuristic seatbelt beyond the EX60 at the tech's debut at Volvo's Safety Centre in Gothenburg, although officials were very clear that throughout its history, new safety features were quickly spread throughout its lineup. Frise, a University of Windsor professor of mechanical engineering, who specializes in automotive safety research, says that the company has always had an impressive safety focus, being key in side and curtain airbag development as well. So how exactly does Volvo's new high-tech smart seatbelt work? It starts by pulling in data from sensors inside and outside the vehicle, including ones that measure passenger weight, size and position on the seat. These inputs are run through a computer, and combined with camera, steering wheel and pedal data. The information comes together to provide a detailed analysis of what the driver is seeing and responding to, and compares it with the potential dangers it sees approaching. Once a collision occurs, modern seatbelts use what's called 'load limiters' to cap the amount of force the belts put on the body, which, after their initial tightening, then release slightly on each torso to help prevent injuries. Volvo's current seatbelts offer two or three possible 'profiles' or degrees of load-limiting, based on the basic parameters it can currently read and adapt to in a split second. The upcoming smart belt will raise that to 11 different load-limiting profiles, taking more interior and exterior data into account, and fine-tuning its response to account for different physical characteristics. So a larger and heavier occupant will receive a higher belt-load setting in a serious crash to increase head protection, while a lower speed crash with a smaller person can reduce that belt load setting to minimize the risk to the passenger's ribs. 'We see data as the new safety belt,' said Aders Bell, Volvo's chief engineering and technology officer. 'We've gone from a place where we were in a data desert, to now we're in a data Niagara Falls.' The adaptive belt provides more tailored protection to the seat occupant, with a wider scale of load-limiting variations — and these can be expanded later or fine-tuned via over-the-air updates. This will make Volvo's upcoming vehicles, which are capable of more computations and more comprehensive over-the-air updates, even safer, whether through updates to the adaptive belts or with tweaked active crash-prevention features, said Bell. 'This is how we level up on saving lives.' Volvo arranged a demonstration crash test at the Safety Centre here. It was one of roughly 150 to 200 crashes planned at the facility each year. Digitally, of course, there are many more, with Volvo staff estimating that the latest EX90 was crashed more than 80,000 times virtually. The two-part crash test demonstrated an EX90 SUV that used its active safety system to brake in time to just kiss (perhaps unexpectedly) the orange nose of another one pointed in the opposite direction. After that, the target car was violently T-boned in the side by a third EX90 at 55 km/h, sending it leaping into the air, and roughly two lanes over. But the most harrowing part of the tour of Volvo's safety facility was one I couldn't photograph. It's where the company keeps some Volvos involved in severe crashes. The carmaker reports all the drivers survived, and provided the company details of the crashes, all in Sweden, so that the carmaker could study the vehicles and their safety. The safety systems have been reducing injury rates for decades. The percentage of Volvo owners injured in crashes is down from 10 per cent in the 1970s to just over two per cent between 2010 and 2019. The injury risk for men and women is now evening out. It used to be much higher for women, but an expanding family of crash test dummies and more diverse research has helped change the technologies leading to the improvement, said Åsa Hagland, head of Volvo's Safety Centre. It's too early to tell if Volvo's adaptive seatbelt, set to arrive in 2026, will become a safety system that is mandated within a decade as the original safety belt was. 'There's no way that other companies are not looking at this,' said Frise. 'So it's very likely that these will start in higher-end vehicles and then gravitate to lower models, and then someone in the regulatory framework will say 'Hey, this is a really good thing,' and make it mandatory.'
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Zoom-bombing concerns prompt Ontario to halt full public access to virtual court
An increasing number of Zoom bombings infiltrating Ontario courtrooms now means the public is banned from attending proceedings virtually. On Wednesday, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Katie Wood sent a memo to court staff across the province saying "the public will not be permitted to observe proceedings virtually." "If the public would like to attend, they will be required to do so in person," the memo said. Virtual court hearings became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic that set in over five years ago, and since then, more concerns have been raised about Zoom bombings. Typically, it's when participants in a video conferencing meeting have had their screens hijacked by someone who's placed words and images on the screen or disrupted the call's audio. Wood's memo noted there's been a notable rise in "Zoom-bombing incidents ... involving offensive content and targeted behaviour that have disrupted court proceedings." Gytis Pabedinskas, a Windsor defence lawyer, has been in court on two occasions when Zoom bombers appeared. "When the account went in, it started playing a pornographic [video] as well as had some audio playing where it was calling the judge an N-word," said Pabedinskas. Even though these incidents are disturbing, local defence lawyer Laura Joy said the courts could have better utilized technology to prevent interruptions instead of instituting a virtual ban for the public. "I understand why they're doing it, but I'm very hopeful that everybody will keep in mind the fundamental cornerstone of Canadian justice is transparency and open courts to the public," said Joy. Concerns over removing public virtual access Noel Semple, an associate professor in the University of Windsor's faculty of law, also said removing the public's virtual access to courtrooms is problematic. "The open court principle is quite foundational in the Canadian legal system. Justice is not supposed to be in private, in darkened back rooms. It's supposed to be done in public. We should be doing everything we can to honour that principle." Victims or complainants who want to appear virtually for their court matters must seek prior approval, Wood's memo says. The media also must get permission before observing court virtually. The memo goes on to warn court staff about "Zoom bomber tactics," such as them posing as correctional institutions, interpreters or even police departments. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General noted the observer policy is available online and members of the public are permitted to attend court, in person. 'Come on down to the courthouse' Defence lawyer Linda McCurdy applauds Zoom access being removed for observers. McCurdy has been practising law for nearly 30 years, while virtual court only materialized in recent years. "I don't view it at all as restricting or taking away something," she said about Wood's announcement. "It's making sure that the court process is protecting from the kind of stuff that's going on. "If you want to participate, if you want to view, come on down to the courthouse," she added. Since the pandemic, she's seen formalities slip. McCurdy said she's been in court when witnesses attending virtually are laying in bed or walking their dog, or an observer was heard going to the bathroom. "They don't really take it seriously."
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This mini of the Gordie Howe International Bridge celebrates the contributions of UWindsor students
It's a big project, but now it's preserved forever in miniature with a model at the University of Windsor Faculty of Engineering. The model celebrates the contributions of engineering students to the bridge through co-op placements.
CBC
18-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
This mini of the Gordie Howe International Bridge celebrates the contributions of UWindsor students
It's a big project, but now it's preserved forever in miniature with a model at the University of Windsor Faculty of Engineering. The model celebrates the contributions of engineering students to the bridge through co-op placements.
CBC
09-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
'Astonishing' increase in Lake Erie surface temperature this summer, scientist says
Social Sharing The surface temperature in the western basin of Lake Erie is currently 26 C, and in some places, it's more than 30 C, according to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). The average temperature for the lake on July 31 is around 24 C, according to data on NOAA's website. "It's not record-breaking but certainly impressive, especially considering the cool spring we had," said Mike McKay, the director of the University of Windsor's Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research. Temperatures on the lake were 2 C below the 30-year average just three weeks ago in mid-June, McKay said, so it's astonishing to see it heat up so quickly, especially considering how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of water. Sustained hot weather in the region is the culprit, he added. Monitoring the temperature in Lake Erie is important, McKay said, because water temperature is a contributor to the formation of blue-green algae, which can produce toxins that cause itchy, irritated eyes and skin and flu-like symptoms, such as headaches, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. "One of my colleagues published an article in ... Science a few years ago called 'Blooms Like it Hot,'" he said. "And it's true — cyanobacteria, blue-green algae … often prefer temperatures above 25 C." But temperature isn't the only contributor to the blooms, he said. Nutrient loads in the water are a more important factor. "We had a relatively dry spring, which meant fewer nutrients washing into the western basin, meaning less fuel for these algal blooms," McKay said. A forecast released by the Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science on May 8 predicted only mild to moderate blue-green algae blooms for 2025. Temperatures across the lake vary considerably, McKay added. It's typically warmer in the western basin, cooler in the centre and quite a bit cooler in the eastern basin. Even within those areas the temperatures fluctuate. "As of this morning, about an hour ago, temperatures off Sturgeon Creek were 25 C and off of Hillman Marsh 24.4," he said.
