From d874dfbd7039f974949185f92fa55f9a1ac41fa4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Anthony <sam@samanthony.xyz>
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2025 18:30:55 -0500
Subject: report: start introduction

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 \end{abstract}
 
 \tableofcontents
-\newpage
 
 
 \section{Introduction}
 
+Combustion engines, such as those used to power passenger cars, require precise control over their operation in order to run efficiently and reliably.
+Since the early 1970s, car engines have been electronically controlled by an EMS (engine management system) \cite{JapanSemi}.
+An EMS is an embedded system consisting of an ECU (electronic control unit), sensors, and actuators.
+The actuators include fuel injectors and spark plugs.
+The sensors measure things such as crankshaft angle, intake manifold pressure, coolant temperature, and so on.
+The ECU features a microcontroller that uses feedback from these sensor data to operate the actuators, thus allowing the engine to run.
+
+Sensor data are sent not only to the ECU, but also to a display system mounted in the cabin so that the driver may monitor the engine's health.
+The display system is typically a set of gauges showing, for instance, engine speed, oil pressure, oil pressure, and coolant temperature, among other things.
+
+The sensor data are transported about the car via a network; CAN (controller area network) \cite{can20b} is ubiquitous.
+Introduced by Bosch in the early 1990s and standardized by ISO 11898 \cite{CanHistory}, all cars sold in the United States are required to be equiped with a CAN bus \cite{CFR40.86.1806-05}.
+
+The display system in the cabin must convey sensor data to the driver.
+Each datum represents the instantaneous value of a continuous quantity---speed, temperature, pressure, etc.
+These data are visually encoded by the display system and shown to the driver.
+Each datum is most effectively encoded as a graduated radial analog scale with the instantaneous value marked on said scale \cite{Panchal2025}.
+The graduated scale takes advantage of vernier acuity: our ability to discern slight misalignment between line segments \cite{Strasburger2018}, while the radial marker leverages the hypercolumnar acuity of vision: our ability to detect minute changes in angle of a line segment \cite{Hubel1962}.
+Put simply, an analog needle gauge is the best way to display information to the driver.
+It is the reason why even modern digital display systems are often just skeuomorphs of analog gauges \cite{LifeRacingDisplays}.
+
+
+
 TODO
 
 
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