Saturday, July 13, 2024: 4:00 pm (Tobin 201/202): Modern vehicles use a concept called "drive-by-wire" (DBW) to control almost every aspect of a car from human-controlled basics (of acceleration, steering, and brakes). The vehicle's local communications network for DBW is known as CanBus, which simply reports status and delivers commands between the various vehicles' electronic sensors and physical actuators. DBW/CanBus has received a bad rap because of security vulnerabilities, but has also allowed for more advanced safety features (such as lane change indicators, "lane keep assist," and front crash detection). As a first responder for over 40 years, John has been involved in hundreds of vehicle extrication calls, and he remembers and recalls the especially difficult ones. As vehicles get more advanced, they also get more difficult to perform rescue operations with. This talk will explain how vehicle manufacturers can do more to increase passenger survivability in the event of a serious accident. Using similar concepts as those already in place for high-rise buildings, DBW/CanBus could automate and standardize rescue stabilization and accessibility operations, reduce the chances of injury to rescuers, decrease time for EMS access and patient egress, and increase passenger survivability.

John C. Checco