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Vol: 54(68) No: 1 / March 2009      

Society, Environment and Technology: the Boundary Conditions for Intelligent Vehicles
László Nádai
Computer and Automation Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Kende street 13–17., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary, phone: (361) 279-6278, e-mail: nadai@sztaki.hu, web: http://www.sztaki.hu/scl/nadai.htm
Roland Kovács
ABS Systems, Knorr-Bremse Fékrendszerek Ltd., Szegedi út 49., H-6000 Kecskemét, Hungary, phone: (361) 382-9966, e-mail: roland.kovacs@knorr-bremse.com


Keywords: transportation, vehicle, infrastructure, society

Abstract
Development of large systems are motivated by the needs of the society. The society is a heterogonous structure incorporating groups with diverse interests and participating in different processes. However, transportation systems have direct or less direct influence on most processes that take place in a society, thus have strong impact on the live of individuals that form the society. Many intelligent transportation systems have been developed in the last two decades. These systems target both infrastructure and vehicles. The primary moving factors of these developments were and are financial and legal nature. The society uses these factors to express its needs and to control the trends. Trends need to be controlled for several reasons: as vehicle manufacturing is much more agile than the development of the infrastructure, a balance has to be ensured; the priority of long term goals like safety or the protection of the environment has to be increased. The paper discusses how the stakeholders society, economy and environment interact with commercial and legal instruments to achieve technologies that satisfy their needs.

References
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[2] L. Palkovics, “Automobility and science”, 2006. (manuscript).
[3] I. Lepsényi, “Structural changes in domestic and international vehicle manufacture”, Gépipar, Vol. 36, No. 11, pp. 1–4, 2005.
[4] http://www.its.dot.gov.