Assisting the driver

Driver assistance systems are good idea and manufacturers should strive towards reducing car accidents

Your article in the August 2012 issue, which is all about driver assistance systems, takes me back to my second year project whilst studying for my engineering OND at West Suffolk College in 1994.

My project involved designing and developing an electrical braking system for commercial use on cars. Originally it was supposed to be a three man project. However my two colleagues left the course - one through personal reasons and the other one through family reasons.

The idea was to rotate a brake disc and stop the disc by creating a current field using magnets and this process was proved in my presentation. There were a few late nights of producing parts for my test rig using my father's rather old Drummond lathe, but it was worth it. I admit that suppliers of my parts did let me down but I learned that as a prospective engineer, that one works within certain parameters.

So I say that the work with the driver assistance systems are good idea and Aria Etemad should be commended on the work he and his team have been doing, as car manufacturers should strive towards reducing car accidents. I am also intrigued in the work TRW and VW have been doing with regards to radar technology. The radar technology was something I did recommend in my project report.

Nathan Ollett, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

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