A Century of Experiments or the History of Car Electronics
Is there a lot of electronics in a modern car? After getting acquainted with the presentations of the CES-2015 exhibition, where automotive concepts (for example, the Golf R Touch) are filled with electronics even more than Tesla electric cars, this question can only be answered in the affirmative. Of all the possible electronic systems of the car (from the elements of the engine and ending with the security systems), today we learn a little more about the history of infotainment electronics.
Today, IT giants like Google (Android Auto), Apple (CarPlay) and many others are joining the battle for a place in the dashboard. However, this should not surprise us at all! The history of the “friendship” of brands of automakers and representatives of the electronics market begins in the 20s of the twentieth century.
')
It is difficult to say with certainty who was more interested in the appearance of the first radio stations in cars, but automakers themselves, to increase the number of sales of their own cars, began to equip their most popular models with receivers. For the first time, experiments on the installation of a tube radio in a car were conducted in Canada in 1912, the first "conditionally car" radio in the United States was installed on Ford cars in 1914, but it only worked ... at parking lots.
In 1919, the most amazing example of automotive electronics was the invention of Alfred Grebe. A six-wire antenna was deployed on his T-rack car. On the "Buick" was installed not only the receiver, but also the transmitter, capable of 150-meter wave, confidently work within a radius of 250 kilometers. He called his invention a car radio telephone. All equipment was manufactured in England at the Marconi plant.
The real demand for receivers appeared simultaneously with the proposal, after regular broadcasting began - from November 1921, the American Radio Center began broadcasting in Pittsburgh, and by the end of 1924 more than three million radio receivers were operating in the United States. Europe was a little behind, where in 1922 broadcasting began in England.
The first receivers appeared in England on cars of the Austin brand, 1922 of release. The receiver received its own name "Brilliant" and worked on the lamps. It is curious that this model was very popular not at all because of the radio. The high market demand for this model was provided by the tax code. In 1930, every English car was taxed depending on the engine size, which was $ 2.55 per cubic inch. The owner of the compact model Austin 7 in England had to pay annually a tax three times smaller than the owner of the Ford Model-A. The functionality of the receiver was limited to reception on long and medium waves (LW and SW), and it was possible to listen to it through the speaker in front of the car.
Not lagged behind the French automakers. Starting with the Citroen 5 CV model, the cars were equipped with relatively “miniature” receivers “Seine” (Sen) with headphones. All subsequent Citroen models were equipped with receivers, and the first receiver was eventually replaced by “Seine-2”, and then “Seine-3”, which learned to accept the FM band in May 1940, on the eve of the German occupation.
Another way to approach the issue of placing the receiver in the car designers Bentley. In 1924, massive tube radios were located at the rear of the cabin and gave powerful, high-quality sound. It cannot be said that this solution is very convenient, because in order to tune in to your favorite radio station, the driver had to stop and, turning, rotate several verniers. For the development and manufacture of 100 receivers for their cars, the owner of the brand "Bentley" in 1923 paid the plant "Legion" 42,800 francs. They were installed on Bentley racing cars, which in 1924, 1928-1930 confidently led the championships.
Perhaps the most curious story about the first car radio receivers is the story of the Galvin brothers, then still the owners of the company Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, who presented the first car radio on the market, which was a full-fledged commercial product.
The product was released under the name ... "Motorola" is a mixture of the words "motor" and "ola", the first of which meant the car, and the second - the sound. There is also a second variant of decoding the word “Motorola” - “Moto” is borrowed from the word motion - movement, “rola” - from “Victrola”, a popular brand of radio receivers. In 1936, a special version of this device was produced, designed for installation on police cars, which is now widely known Motorola mentions on its website. The “5T71” receiver model cost from $ 110 to 130 - an impressive amount for those times when the brand new “Cadillac” cost $ 1500. However, it was Motorola products that became one of the most popular car radio brands of those years. The rebranding of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Motorola took place after the war, in 1947.
The first car radio with a remote control called Blaupunkt Autosuper 5, or AS5B for short, was introduced in 1932 by Blaupunkt. The receiver was controlled using a special remote switch on the steering column, and it cost approximately as much as a third of the car - 465 marks. "AS5B" weighed about 12 kg, and mounted under the dashboard of the car.
Interestingly, since 1926, the record of the “first in the history of the DVR” has been preserved - in 1926, the firefighters of New York, who left for the call, took everything that was happening to the movie camera. The record allows you to evaluate all the benefits of the current rules of the road:
TV cameras that appeared afterwards were too cumbersome for a long time to allow installation in a car. Until the advent of VCRs in 1956, the video signal from the camera could not be saved and transmitted directly to the air. After the emergence of NTSC color television, the second obstacle to “mobilizing” cameras was weight: even though there were no electronic signal processing units, the 1954 camera head weighed more than 140 kilograms, and with a tripod, a viewfinder and lenses — almost half a ton. Only the widespread introduction of semiconductor devices, replacing vacuum tubes, coincided with the development of color television and made it possible to reduce the mass of television cameras. The only thing that united at that time was video recording and video broadcasting with automobiles - the existence of a PTS (mobile television station), for the implementation of field shooting.
Before the camcorders found their place in the salons of ordinary cars, they appeared in much more exotic places. In 1971, during the fourth landing of people on the Moon, in the Apollo 15 mission, a video camera, a 16-mm movie camera, as well as a 70-mm camera were used simultaneously on the Lunar Roving Vehicle. Astronauts took with them a stock of films for photo and movie cameras. The most technologically advanced was the camera Apollo TV camera, the development of which lasted almost ten years. In each of the three missions of Apollo 15, 16 and 17, such a camera was installed on the moon buggy.
A color television camera with a 6x zoom lens was equipped with an electric drive for turning in horizontal and vertical planes and changing the focal length, so that it could be controlled not only by astronauts, but also by an operator from the Earth. Although the start time was known to within seconds, due to the noticeably long signal passing through the Moon-Earth-Moon chain, the operator had to work ahead of schedule. Thus, vertical panning had to start when the module was still standing on the ground on the operator’s TV picture. This prevented the shooting, only the start of the Apollo 17 was successfully removed.
In 1930, for the place on the dashboard of “earthly” cars, the first conditionally “automatic” navigation system was activated. Iter-Auto was a fairly simple device - a paper map with graphic objects printed on it was scrolling on the screen. And it was set in motion by a cable similar to that used in mechanical speedometers. Of course, this device cannot be attributed to real “car electronics”, but the very concept of a navigation device located in the middle of the dashboard was clearly ahead of its time.
In 1946, the first car phone appeared. Designed by Bell System, the first version weighed 36 kg. Test operation was started in St. Louis, the phone was originally a three-channel. The ability to use the "car phone" existed right up to the beginning of the 80s. In Chicago, Motorola provided a radiotelephone service. However, due to the small numbering capacity of frequencies, the maximum number of subscribers quickly reached a maximum. In Finland, a car service called Autoradiopuhelin or Car Radiophone has been available since 1971. Over time, the existing subscribers of car radio telephones in the United States were transferred to CDMA, GSM, and even Iridium satellite communications. In the US, car telephone service has not been provided since 2008.
In 1957, there was a prototype of "auto phone" in the USSR. Thus, in the magazine “At the wheel” in 1957, the inventor Kupriyanovich proposed to introduce the introduction of “mobile” phones in two stages. “At the beginning, while there are few radio telephones, an additional radio device is usually installed near the motorist’s home phone. But later, when there are thousands of such devices, the ATP will already work for hundreds and thousands, not just for one radio telephone. And all of them do not interfere with each other, since each of them will have its own tonal frequency, which makes its relay work. ”
In the same 1957 L.I. Kupriyanovich received a copyright certificate for his "Radiofon" and created the first operating set of equipment, demonstrating the principle of the "Radiofon", named by the inventor of the LC-1 (Leonid Kupriyanovich, the first sample).
Then, at the end of the 50s of the last century, the development of the Altai mobile automatic radio communication system began in the USSR. One of the main requirements was that its use hardly differed from the use of a conventional telephone network, i.e. manual channel switching and the need to call the dispatcher were excluded.
In 1963, an experimental zone of the Altai system was launched in Moscow. The developers tried to make it as similar as possible to the usual devices: the Altai had a handset, and in some models even a dial for dialing. They soon refused the disc and replaced it with buttons, as it turned out to be inconvenient to turn the disc in the car.
By the mid-70s, the geography of distribution of the “Altai” system expanded to 114 cities of the USSR. Automobile telephones soon appeared in the “ZILs” and “Seagulls” of the upper echelons of the Soviet leadership. They were followed by the Volga directors of the most important enterprises.
The main "trend" of the 60s in automotive electronics was the transition to transistors and avoiding the use of lamps. There were compact radios, a variety of stereos, noise reduction functions, sound amplifiers. In the United States in 1956, the Highway Hi-Fi record player from Motorola was offered as an alternative to radio on Chrysler cars. Highway Hi-Fi for its time was a very high-tech development: a sapphire pickup and a tonearm suspension were used to minimize the vibration produced by the car while driving, which ensured continuous playback. In the case of the player there was also a section for storing 6 records. Record players in cars were located in the same "classic" places in the middle of the dashboard.
In the early 60s, record players migrated to other manufacturers' cars, but not for long: they were more prone to malfunctions than the Chrysler model, and the plates, despite all the efforts of engineers, were often scratched.
In the late 1970s, the RaceCam concept was developed - television cameras for racing cars.
It was developed in Australia, but gained popularity already in the United States, when in 1979, at NASCAR competitions, the American television channel CBS presented live video broadcasting from a car.
The first two years the cameras were fixed for translation were fixed, but already in 1981 they were equipped with a turning mechanism and a remote control. Two years later, at the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, a reduced camera was installed inside the car and broadcast the image from the race winner’s car. This broadcast was such a resounding success that the CBS channel subsequently received an Emmy Award for using cameras leading from racing cars.
Why is this story so important? In fact, the use of television broadcasts from the car pushed the entire advertising industry to the concept of “branding” the teams themselves and placing advertisements both on the form of racers and on the cars themselves - both inside and outside.
Sports channels have tried to continue to not miss the initiative in this niche. An average of eight cameras are installed on a modern racing car. For Formula 1 racing, the requirements are more stringent - only five cameras are allowed in certain places.
In the mid-70s there is a sharp increase in the popularity of cassette format. The first Sony receivers appear, the popularity of which did not decrease even until the 90s. In 1977, Concord produced the first cassette recorder with outputs to the power amplifier, Clarion, a flat speaker for installation on the rear shelf, and Linear Power creates a powerful 250-watt amplifier with a separate power supply.
In 1978, Chrysler launches one of the first receivers with electronic tuning. In 1979, "Sony" released a line of separate components - a cassette deck, tuner, nine-band equalizer. In 1980, Kenwood released its noise canceling car stereo.
However, the radio did not lose ground, and in 1974 the Blaupunkt company released the first ARI decoder, which caught additional signals from stations that transmitted news of the situation on the highways. The system, which operated throughout the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, warned drivers about road difficulties using radio.
In 1984, in the tape recorder firms "Sony" and "Pioneer" instead of the tape appears CD. And already in 1986, "Sony" for the first time in the world produces a drive for ten CDs, installed in the trunk. The drive is quickly gaining popularity, leaving far behind all competitors. Ford, in an effort to gain popularity in the automotive market, is starting to install Sony radios directly from the conveyor into their cars.
In 1989, Alpine launches the new 7909 car radio with special anti-theft measures - a detachable front panel. This invention remains popular today. In 1992, the Alpine 7980 became the first CD player installed directly into the dashboard.
In the 1970s, prototypes of modern video recorders were already used by the US Army for their own needs - as tracking systems. Unfortunately, apart from information about the large dimensions of these systems and their inaccessibility to the civilian population, there is no longer any. Since the 90s, DVRs are increasingly used by police in different countries, primarily for fixing offenses.
Early stationary video surveillance systems only allowed to view the image from the cameras, and recording was possible only in manual mode by the operator’s command. Continuous recording appeared only in the 1970s with the development of video technology. However, although cameras were not installed on cars in the 60s, video surveillance helped regulate traffic flows.
For example, since 1959, a video surveillance system has been operating in Munich to monitor increased street traffic. In 1960, the Frankfurt-am-Main police commissioned the first automatic system for photographing traffic violations at traffic lights. In 1965, the Munich traffic surveillance system was expanded to 14 cameras, each of which had the function of panning, turning and approaching.
In the USA in the late 80s, police used video recorders to record video on VHS tapes. They were placed on tripods in the car. Regardless of the difference in technology, the approach to recording was not too different from recording on film in 1926. Cassettes were often reused, which also did not improve the recording quality. However, in different countries different approaches regarding the legality of the use of DVRs. So, they are banned in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
The next breakthrough in the development of automobile navigation systems was obtained only in the 1980s. In 1980, the model Toyota Crown S110 was equipped with an electronic compass.
In 1981, Alpina and Honda developed the Electro Gyro-Cator, the first car navigation system.
Unlike modern satellite navigation systems, the location of the Electro Gyro-Cator was determined by the use of inertial navigation. This is a method of navigation based on the properties of the inertia of bodies, which is autonomous, that is, not requiring the presence of external landmarks or signals coming from outside. With the help of a helium gyroscope, which determined the movement and turns of the car, as well as a servo drive attached to the car's chassis, the Gyro-Cator determined the location, speed and distance traveled. When working, the system used external transparent maps on film, illuminated by a monochrome six-inch monitor. The monitor displayed on the screen a line further route and circles with the current location. As for the filling, inside the Gyro-Cator worked 16-bit microprocessor (ROM 10 KB, SRAM 1 KB, DRAM 16 KB), weight - 9 kg. The cost of the system reached $ 2,746 USD - about a quarter of the cost of the entire Honda Accord and Honda Vigor car, where this system was offered as optional.
Already in 1984, the first commercial version of satellite navigation for cars was developed; in 1987, Toyota introduced the first CR-ROM-equipped navigation system. Honda, after relatively modest successes, the dear Gyro-Cator returned to work on digitizing maps for inertial navigation in the same 1987.
In 1990, Mitsubishi Electric and Pioneer immediately announced the readiness to release satellite navigation systems for cars. The first car with integrated satellite navigation system was the Mazda Eunos Cosmo. The presentation of this model with the proud inscription GPSS on the roof can be viewed here:
In May 1991, Toyota introduced the first GPS navigation system with an optional touchscreen. At the same time, the screen could be used to watch TV, which can also be called a rather important milestone in the development of car entertainment systems. In 1992, Toyota introduced the same navigation with voice prompts. And finally, in 1995, a “prototype” of modern navigation systems “Mobile Assistant”, also known as MASS, appeared, providing for both wireless Internet access and at the same time satellite turn-by-turn navigation using a car's speedometer.
We will stop our historical excursion into the unexpectedly diverse world of infotainment auto electronics at the beginning of the 90s. The fact that what trends prevail in the modern "stuffing" of a modern car reader is likely familiar from their own experience.
Subscribe to our blog on Geektimes not to miss the new publication about what kind of electronics should be expected in cars in the near future.
Today, IT giants like Google (Android Auto), Apple (CarPlay) and many others are joining the battle for a place in the dashboard. However, this should not surprise us at all! The history of the “friendship” of brands of automakers and representatives of the electronics market begins in the 20s of the twentieth century.
')
It is difficult to say with certainty who was more interested in the appearance of the first radio stations in cars, but automakers themselves, to increase the number of sales of their own cars, began to equip their most popular models with receivers. For the first time, experiments on the installation of a tube radio in a car were conducted in Canada in 1912, the first "conditionally car" radio in the United States was installed on Ford cars in 1914, but it only worked ... at parking lots.
In 1919, the most amazing example of automotive electronics was the invention of Alfred Grebe. A six-wire antenna was deployed on his T-rack car. On the "Buick" was installed not only the receiver, but also the transmitter, capable of 150-meter wave, confidently work within a radius of 250 kilometers. He called his invention a car radio telephone. All equipment was manufactured in England at the Marconi plant.
The real demand for receivers appeared simultaneously with the proposal, after regular broadcasting began - from November 1921, the American Radio Center began broadcasting in Pittsburgh, and by the end of 1924 more than three million radio receivers were operating in the United States. Europe was a little behind, where in 1922 broadcasting began in England.
The first receivers appeared in England on cars of the Austin brand, 1922 of release. The receiver received its own name "Brilliant" and worked on the lamps. It is curious that this model was very popular not at all because of the radio. The high market demand for this model was provided by the tax code. In 1930, every English car was taxed depending on the engine size, which was $ 2.55 per cubic inch. The owner of the compact model Austin 7 in England had to pay annually a tax three times smaller than the owner of the Ford Model-A. The functionality of the receiver was limited to reception on long and medium waves (LW and SW), and it was possible to listen to it through the speaker in front of the car.
Not lagged behind the French automakers. Starting with the Citroen 5 CV model, the cars were equipped with relatively “miniature” receivers “Seine” (Sen) with headphones. All subsequent Citroen models were equipped with receivers, and the first receiver was eventually replaced by “Seine-2”, and then “Seine-3”, which learned to accept the FM band in May 1940, on the eve of the German occupation.
Another way to approach the issue of placing the receiver in the car designers Bentley. In 1924, massive tube radios were located at the rear of the cabin and gave powerful, high-quality sound. It cannot be said that this solution is very convenient, because in order to tune in to your favorite radio station, the driver had to stop and, turning, rotate several verniers. For the development and manufacture of 100 receivers for their cars, the owner of the brand "Bentley" in 1923 paid the plant "Legion" 42,800 francs. They were installed on Bentley racing cars, which in 1924, 1928-1930 confidently led the championships.
Perhaps the most curious story about the first car radio receivers is the story of the Galvin brothers, then still the owners of the company Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, who presented the first car radio on the market, which was a full-fledged commercial product.
The product was released under the name ... "Motorola" is a mixture of the words "motor" and "ola", the first of which meant the car, and the second - the sound. There is also a second variant of decoding the word “Motorola” - “Moto” is borrowed from the word motion - movement, “rola” - from “Victrola”, a popular brand of radio receivers. In 1936, a special version of this device was produced, designed for installation on police cars, which is now widely known Motorola mentions on its website. The “5T71” receiver model cost from $ 110 to 130 - an impressive amount for those times when the brand new “Cadillac” cost $ 1500. However, it was Motorola products that became one of the most popular car radio brands of those years. The rebranding of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Motorola took place after the war, in 1947.
The first car radio with a remote control called Blaupunkt Autosuper 5, or AS5B for short, was introduced in 1932 by Blaupunkt. The receiver was controlled using a special remote switch on the steering column, and it cost approximately as much as a third of the car - 465 marks. "AS5B" weighed about 12 kg, and mounted under the dashboard of the car.
Interestingly, since 1926, the record of the “first in the history of the DVR” has been preserved - in 1926, the firefighters of New York, who left for the call, took everything that was happening to the movie camera. The record allows you to evaluate all the benefits of the current rules of the road:
TV cameras that appeared afterwards were too cumbersome for a long time to allow installation in a car. Until the advent of VCRs in 1956, the video signal from the camera could not be saved and transmitted directly to the air. After the emergence of NTSC color television, the second obstacle to “mobilizing” cameras was weight: even though there were no electronic signal processing units, the 1954 camera head weighed more than 140 kilograms, and with a tripod, a viewfinder and lenses — almost half a ton. Only the widespread introduction of semiconductor devices, replacing vacuum tubes, coincided with the development of color television and made it possible to reduce the mass of television cameras. The only thing that united at that time was video recording and video broadcasting with automobiles - the existence of a PTS (mobile television station), for the implementation of field shooting.
Before the camcorders found their place in the salons of ordinary cars, they appeared in much more exotic places. In 1971, during the fourth landing of people on the Moon, in the Apollo 15 mission, a video camera, a 16-mm movie camera, as well as a 70-mm camera were used simultaneously on the Lunar Roving Vehicle. Astronauts took with them a stock of films for photo and movie cameras. The most technologically advanced was the camera Apollo TV camera, the development of which lasted almost ten years. In each of the three missions of Apollo 15, 16 and 17, such a camera was installed on the moon buggy.
A color television camera with a 6x zoom lens was equipped with an electric drive for turning in horizontal and vertical planes and changing the focal length, so that it could be controlled not only by astronauts, but also by an operator from the Earth. Although the start time was known to within seconds, due to the noticeably long signal passing through the Moon-Earth-Moon chain, the operator had to work ahead of schedule. Thus, vertical panning had to start when the module was still standing on the ground on the operator’s TV picture. This prevented the shooting, only the start of the Apollo 17 was successfully removed.
In 1930, for the place on the dashboard of “earthly” cars, the first conditionally “automatic” navigation system was activated. Iter-Auto was a fairly simple device - a paper map with graphic objects printed on it was scrolling on the screen. And it was set in motion by a cable similar to that used in mechanical speedometers. Of course, this device cannot be attributed to real “car electronics”, but the very concept of a navigation device located in the middle of the dashboard was clearly ahead of its time.
In 1946, the first car phone appeared. Designed by Bell System, the first version weighed 36 kg. Test operation was started in St. Louis, the phone was originally a three-channel. The ability to use the "car phone" existed right up to the beginning of the 80s. In Chicago, Motorola provided a radiotelephone service. However, due to the small numbering capacity of frequencies, the maximum number of subscribers quickly reached a maximum. In Finland, a car service called Autoradiopuhelin or Car Radiophone has been available since 1971. Over time, the existing subscribers of car radio telephones in the United States were transferred to CDMA, GSM, and even Iridium satellite communications. In the US, car telephone service has not been provided since 2008.
In 1957, there was a prototype of "auto phone" in the USSR. Thus, in the magazine “At the wheel” in 1957, the inventor Kupriyanovich proposed to introduce the introduction of “mobile” phones in two stages. “At the beginning, while there are few radio telephones, an additional radio device is usually installed near the motorist’s home phone. But later, when there are thousands of such devices, the ATP will already work for hundreds and thousands, not just for one radio telephone. And all of them do not interfere with each other, since each of them will have its own tonal frequency, which makes its relay work. ”
In the same 1957 L.I. Kupriyanovich received a copyright certificate for his "Radiofon" and created the first operating set of equipment, demonstrating the principle of the "Radiofon", named by the inventor of the LC-1 (Leonid Kupriyanovich, the first sample).
Then, at the end of the 50s of the last century, the development of the Altai mobile automatic radio communication system began in the USSR. One of the main requirements was that its use hardly differed from the use of a conventional telephone network, i.e. manual channel switching and the need to call the dispatcher were excluded.
In 1963, an experimental zone of the Altai system was launched in Moscow. The developers tried to make it as similar as possible to the usual devices: the Altai had a handset, and in some models even a dial for dialing. They soon refused the disc and replaced it with buttons, as it turned out to be inconvenient to turn the disc in the car.
By the mid-70s, the geography of distribution of the “Altai” system expanded to 114 cities of the USSR. Automobile telephones soon appeared in the “ZILs” and “Seagulls” of the upper echelons of the Soviet leadership. They were followed by the Volga directors of the most important enterprises.
The main "trend" of the 60s in automotive electronics was the transition to transistors and avoiding the use of lamps. There were compact radios, a variety of stereos, noise reduction functions, sound amplifiers. In the United States in 1956, the Highway Hi-Fi record player from Motorola was offered as an alternative to radio on Chrysler cars. Highway Hi-Fi for its time was a very high-tech development: a sapphire pickup and a tonearm suspension were used to minimize the vibration produced by the car while driving, which ensured continuous playback. In the case of the player there was also a section for storing 6 records. Record players in cars were located in the same "classic" places in the middle of the dashboard.
In the early 60s, record players migrated to other manufacturers' cars, but not for long: they were more prone to malfunctions than the Chrysler model, and the plates, despite all the efforts of engineers, were often scratched.
In the late 1970s, the RaceCam concept was developed - television cameras for racing cars.
It was developed in Australia, but gained popularity already in the United States, when in 1979, at NASCAR competitions, the American television channel CBS presented live video broadcasting from a car.
The first two years the cameras were fixed for translation were fixed, but already in 1981 they were equipped with a turning mechanism and a remote control. Two years later, at the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, a reduced camera was installed inside the car and broadcast the image from the race winner’s car. This broadcast was such a resounding success that the CBS channel subsequently received an Emmy Award for using cameras leading from racing cars.
Why is this story so important? In fact, the use of television broadcasts from the car pushed the entire advertising industry to the concept of “branding” the teams themselves and placing advertisements both on the form of racers and on the cars themselves - both inside and outside.
Sports channels have tried to continue to not miss the initiative in this niche. An average of eight cameras are installed on a modern racing car. For Formula 1 racing, the requirements are more stringent - only five cameras are allowed in certain places.
In the mid-70s there is a sharp increase in the popularity of cassette format. The first Sony receivers appear, the popularity of which did not decrease even until the 90s. In 1977, Concord produced the first cassette recorder with outputs to the power amplifier, Clarion, a flat speaker for installation on the rear shelf, and Linear Power creates a powerful 250-watt amplifier with a separate power supply.
In 1978, Chrysler launches one of the first receivers with electronic tuning. In 1979, "Sony" released a line of separate components - a cassette deck, tuner, nine-band equalizer. In 1980, Kenwood released its noise canceling car stereo.
However, the radio did not lose ground, and in 1974 the Blaupunkt company released the first ARI decoder, which caught additional signals from stations that transmitted news of the situation on the highways. The system, which operated throughout the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, warned drivers about road difficulties using radio.
In 1984, in the tape recorder firms "Sony" and "Pioneer" instead of the tape appears CD. And already in 1986, "Sony" for the first time in the world produces a drive for ten CDs, installed in the trunk. The drive is quickly gaining popularity, leaving far behind all competitors. Ford, in an effort to gain popularity in the automotive market, is starting to install Sony radios directly from the conveyor into their cars.
In 1989, Alpine launches the new 7909 car radio with special anti-theft measures - a detachable front panel. This invention remains popular today. In 1992, the Alpine 7980 became the first CD player installed directly into the dashboard.
In the 1970s, prototypes of modern video recorders were already used by the US Army for their own needs - as tracking systems. Unfortunately, apart from information about the large dimensions of these systems and their inaccessibility to the civilian population, there is no longer any. Since the 90s, DVRs are increasingly used by police in different countries, primarily for fixing offenses.
Early stationary video surveillance systems only allowed to view the image from the cameras, and recording was possible only in manual mode by the operator’s command. Continuous recording appeared only in the 1970s with the development of video technology. However, although cameras were not installed on cars in the 60s, video surveillance helped regulate traffic flows.
For example, since 1959, a video surveillance system has been operating in Munich to monitor increased street traffic. In 1960, the Frankfurt-am-Main police commissioned the first automatic system for photographing traffic violations at traffic lights. In 1965, the Munich traffic surveillance system was expanded to 14 cameras, each of which had the function of panning, turning and approaching.
In the USA in the late 80s, police used video recorders to record video on VHS tapes. They were placed on tripods in the car. Regardless of the difference in technology, the approach to recording was not too different from recording on film in 1926. Cassettes were often reused, which also did not improve the recording quality. However, in different countries different approaches regarding the legality of the use of DVRs. So, they are banned in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
The next breakthrough in the development of automobile navigation systems was obtained only in the 1980s. In 1980, the model Toyota Crown S110 was equipped with an electronic compass.
In 1981, Alpina and Honda developed the Electro Gyro-Cator, the first car navigation system.
Unlike modern satellite navigation systems, the location of the Electro Gyro-Cator was determined by the use of inertial navigation. This is a method of navigation based on the properties of the inertia of bodies, which is autonomous, that is, not requiring the presence of external landmarks or signals coming from outside. With the help of a helium gyroscope, which determined the movement and turns of the car, as well as a servo drive attached to the car's chassis, the Gyro-Cator determined the location, speed and distance traveled. When working, the system used external transparent maps on film, illuminated by a monochrome six-inch monitor. The monitor displayed on the screen a line further route and circles with the current location. As for the filling, inside the Gyro-Cator worked 16-bit microprocessor (ROM 10 KB, SRAM 1 KB, DRAM 16 KB), weight - 9 kg. The cost of the system reached $ 2,746 USD - about a quarter of the cost of the entire Honda Accord and Honda Vigor car, where this system was offered as optional.
Already in 1984, the first commercial version of satellite navigation for cars was developed; in 1987, Toyota introduced the first CR-ROM-equipped navigation system. Honda, after relatively modest successes, the dear Gyro-Cator returned to work on digitizing maps for inertial navigation in the same 1987.
In 1990, Mitsubishi Electric and Pioneer immediately announced the readiness to release satellite navigation systems for cars. The first car with integrated satellite navigation system was the Mazda Eunos Cosmo. The presentation of this model with the proud inscription GPSS on the roof can be viewed here:
In May 1991, Toyota introduced the first GPS navigation system with an optional touchscreen. At the same time, the screen could be used to watch TV, which can also be called a rather important milestone in the development of car entertainment systems. In 1992, Toyota introduced the same navigation with voice prompts. And finally, in 1995, a “prototype” of modern navigation systems “Mobile Assistant”, also known as MASS, appeared, providing for both wireless Internet access and at the same time satellite turn-by-turn navigation using a car's speedometer.
We will stop our historical excursion into the unexpectedly diverse world of infotainment auto electronics at the beginning of the 90s. The fact that what trends prevail in the modern "stuffing" of a modern car reader is likely familiar from their own experience.
Subscribe to our blog on Geektimes not to miss the new publication about what kind of electronics should be expected in cars in the near future.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/376125/
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