Automotive Body Styles and Designs

Part One
Automotive Body Styles

SUV- A Sports Utility Vehicle, is similar to an estate, but usually bigger and higher off the ground. SUVs are often offered with four-wheel-drive and are designed for both on- and off-road use. Some have the towing capacity of a pickup, and offer the passenger carrying capacity of a minivan or large sedan. 

Crossover- is a vehicle built on a car platform but often with features of an SUV like increased ground clearance and a higher seating position. Crossovers are typically designed only for light off-roading. 

Coupes- are often the sporty variants of saloon cars, with doors reduced from 4 to 2. However, the coupe body style varies from carmaker to carmaker, and now there are even four-door coupes like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. The name ‘coupe' comes from the French verb ‘couper', which means ‘to cut'.

Sedan-also called a saloon, is a passenger car with a bonnet covering the engine and a separate boot for luggage at the rear. This is one of the most popular body styles of cars today, with seating for at least four people. A sedan design is also known as a ‘three-box' design.

Hatchback- a car with a sloping back and a hinged back door that opens upwards. These cars differ from SUVs, MPVs because they are usually much more compact. Hatchbacks usually have seating for four-five people in a tight squeeze.

Part Two

Automotive Design

1. It takes approximately ten years to design a automobile.  The first stage they start of with is sketching the car.

2. Design is called problem solving because they need to design a automobile that pleases everyone and they must design until all the flaws and problems are out.

3. The feasibility stage is when the sketches are taken in to be negotiated to see if it can be done.

4. I do think designing an automotive would interest me because I think it would be cool and very interesting to make something others would use. 

Careers and Certification in the Automotive Industry

Part One

Careers in the Automotive Industry 

1. High-tech systems unheard of 30 years ago are now standard equipment on much of the nation’s fleet of vehicles. stability and traction control systems, adaptive cruise control and variable valve timing, and that is just a few. 

2. Given the advance of technology and a richly varied automotive industry that offers an array of positions and career paths, the future is bright for talented young persons who are confident with their math, science, communications and technical skills. 

3.  Some advantages in obtaining an education as an automotive technician versus other high tech educational options are many require four, six, or even eight years of college, automotive technology careers can begin after just two years of education.

4. The U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts automotive repair and maintenance industry is expected to add 237,500 new jobs and have a 30 percent growth rate through 2020, making technicians one of the top 20 jobs with relatively high median earnings and the potential for significant job openings over the next decade.

5. One thing that the automotive technician career is immune to that has threatened other careers is the outsourcing of jobs picking up steam, now computer programming, customer call-center work, and accounting services all going overseas – it should be comforting to know that automotive service and repair.

6. Four other positions that an automotive technician can do in the automotive industry is moving into sales, marketing, and business management.

7. So many people have started their careers in the automotive aftermarket as an auto technician that it is viewed as something of a portal career.

Video Reflection

Some things I would enjoy about being an Automotive technician would be learning new things about cars everyday.  New technologies are being developed everyday and you would be constantly be doing something different and learning new techniques.  Some things I found interesting about the video is that there is a lot of new technology to help the process of fixing cars.  Also, there are many apprenticeships to getting into that certain workforce.  This notion of life long learning is important and necessary because workers need to be constantly learning and working hard to do their job.  If the workers aren't willing to learn and keep up with the advancing technology than they will fall behind and not be and not be able to get their job down.  Some characteristics and skills I think someone working as an Automotive Technician should have are being familiar with constant change of cars and parts because there is always new technology being developed. 

Part Two

Certification in the Automotive Industry 

NATEF- The mission of the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) is to improve the quality of automotive technician training programs nationwide at secondary, also post-secondary, public and proprietary schools.

SGS- Their purpose is to help every player in the automotive industry improve performance and reduce risk, they focus on the design, construction and operation of motor vehicle inspection solutions all over the world.

ASE- Is an independent non-profit organization has worked to improve the quality of vehicle repair and service by testing and certifying automotive professionals.  ASE promotes excellence in automotive repair and service

Part Three 

 Jobs in the Automotive Industry

I think the job that would best suit me would be the "Classic Car Restorer".  I think I would like this job the best because I would enjoy the feeling of restoring an old treasured car back to it's original state.  It would be a very rewarding feeling to see your final work.  I really enjoy hands on learning and getting the work done myself by getting close to the objects. 

 

Emerging Technologies and Automobiles

Technologies in Development 

Out of the six emerging technologies discussed in the article I read the one that seems the least likely would be flying cars.  I think it is less likely to happen than all the other ones because it seems kind of pointless when we already have planes, it seems like a lot of unnecessary work.
Out of the six emerging technologies discussed  in the article I think "EV Extravaganza" would have the biggest impact on society.  I think this because in the long run it would be cheaper and would decrease the amount of gas being used with would be a better choice.
Out of the six emerging technologies "Car-to-Car Communication" and "Car-to-Object Communication" is the first that will be used in automobiles.  My reasons for thinking this is because they've already developed other things like this such as blue tooth speakers and phones connected to cars.
 I think "Driver Workload Estimator" would be very helpful to the driver and their passengers because it would ensure safety.  It will help you because it can detect what you're feeling and help you through situations that you feel you don't have any control over.
My thoughts on the technology revolving around the flying car is that I think it is pointless because it will take a long time to get it up and running and even when it is, we still have cars and planes, so why would you bother paying a lot of money for something that you don't really need.  One the other hand there would be no traffic jams and little complication.
My opinion on the self driving topic is I think it should be optional.  For example, I think old people should be able to get a self driving car because they are getting old and slow.  But, I think if you are capable then you should be able to choose which you want.

Tech For the Sake of Tech 

It did not surprise me that younger people cared very little about having their smart phone connected to their automobiles.  It didn't surprise me because they have everything they need already on their phone and they just use it in their car even though they're not supposed to.  Like they have  music they listen too anyway.
I think the new technology being introduced such as "cruise control" and "blind spot warning" will make it easier for drivers to take more risks on the road.  They will be able to look away longer without running of the road and so on.
When considering the purchase of a new automobile, new technological features are very important to people because if they're paying for a new car they want all the newest and coolest things that come along with it.  A new technological feature I would want would be the blind spot warning because I feel like it would benefit me most because I get very distracted.
One new feature I think was introduced in older automobiles that people may have thought was useless at first is the traffic lights.  People probably thought there was no point because they didn't have to have it before, but automobiles came a long way since traffic rules were set.

Digital Literacy

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1plGkLXl6WtGdXRXn3G6Cfm-jFQjxLP7eOlm7BZkp8IU/edit

Looking at the History of the Automobile

Carl Benz

 1. Automobiles have been around since 1885.

2. A patent government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period.

3. "A Vehicle with a gas Engine" is the title he uses to describe the automobile.

4. On August 1888 his wife Bertha drove the invention.  From this drive the first Petra Station was born.

5. The axial pivot steering system helps the problem of not being able to steer both wheels.

6. Mercedes Benz was the name of the merged company. 

7. Carl Benz lived to see his dream come true. 

Henry Ford and the Model T

1. The assembly line used to have the employees move from place to place.
2. Everyone working stayed longer and more committed to the Ford because Henry was fair and made sure everyone was paid  fairly.
3. The first Model T cost a little over 1000 dollars.  It was made for the common man.
4. The Model T price dropped so dramatically dropped 365 dollars.  It dropped so dramatically because they made too many and needed to get rid of them fast, and they just wanted them gone.
5. As the Model T became the main mode of transportation which offered people a chance to go where they wanted to go anytime, it was their freedom.

My Video Selection

The Ford Edsel
This automobile was named after Ford's son
Was known as having a "toilet seat grill"
Pulled from line up after three years
People referred to this car as funny looking or odd

The Rise of Henry Ford
Came from an agricultural background (hated horses)
He did not actually create the first combustion engine
First company fails after about a year and a half
It was only in 1903 with the Ford Motor Company that started his work up and got his company off the ground

Automobile Timeline  

1908 Model T Introduced: 

• Henry Ford begins making the Model T. First-year production is 10,660 cars. Cadillac is awarded the Dewar Trophy by Britain’s Royal Automobile Club for a demonstration of the precision and interchangeability of the parts from which the car is assembled. Mass production thus makes more headway in the industry.

I choose this point because it shows how successful the mass production was and how the company took off.

1914 First car body made entirely of steel

• Dodge introduces the first car body made entirely of steel, fabricated by the Budd Company. The Dodge touring car is made in Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

I choose this point because it is an important time in history and marks a big step for automobiles.

1926 First power steering system

• Francis Wright Davis uses a Pierce-Arrow to introduce the first power steering system. It works by integrating the steering linkage with a hydraulics system

I choose this point because this was a problem that was fixed for the better.

1935 Flashing turn signals introduced

• A Delaware company uses a thermal interrupter switch to create flashing turn signals. Electricity flowing through a wire expands it, completing a circuit and allowing current to reach the lightbulb. This short-circuits the wire, which then shrinks and terminates contact with the bulb but is then ready for another cycle. Transistor circuits begin taking over the task of thermal interrupters in the 1960s.

I choose this point because it is a big step towards the rules of the road and creating a new and convenient way to drive safely.   

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