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Critics say the automotive industry is solely obsessed with high performance, power and glitzy television commercials portraying high speed; Volkswagen begs to differ.
At Head Office in Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen's Group Research Department is developing and refining innovative driver-assistance technologies that will revolutionize active vehicle safety.
Historically, these sorts of new technologies have been kept under wraps
until ready for market introduction but in an unprecedented move, Volkswagen has
presented nine future systems now under development.
These new technologies have the potential to enhance road safety in much the
same way as electronic stabilization programs (ESP) have most recently shown.
According to Mr Matthias Rabe, Head of Research at Volkswagen AG, tests
conducted by his unit have shown that ESP can reduce the risk of a driver losing
control by as much as 80 per-cent.
Systems currently being developed by Volkswagen include:
1. Automatic Emergency Brake Assist (ANB)
Work is ongoing to
refine the automatic emergency brake assist on the basis of engineering
solutions already being applied in series production. Vehicles featuring this
system will be equipped with the radar sensor used in automatic distance
control systems. This sensor provides information on the distance to the
vehicle ahead or to any obstacles. If the ANB concludes that a braking
manoeuvre could reduce the impact of an impending accident, it will initiate a
hard stop in order to keep the severity of the accident to a minimum.
2. Lane Departure Warning System (LDW)
According to analysis
undertaken by the Volkswagen Accident Research Unit, 18 per cent of all
accidents are attributable to drivers veering off the road. To counteract this
phenomenon, Volkswagen is close to completing a system called lane departure
warning system (LDW). This system uses in-car cameras to identify a
vehicle's position in relation to lane boundary markings. If the vehicle
deviates too strongly from its ideal course of travel, the system sends an
audible alarm to the driver.
3. Attention Control System
As 25 per cent of road deaths
can be attributed to the sleepiness of drivers, Volkswagen's attention
control system will certainly save lives. This system uses an in-car camera
to eliminate the risk of driver inattentiveness by monitoring the driver's
blinking movements. If the system perceives the driver to be at risk of
sleepiness, it sounds an audible alarm - alerting the driver to take a rest or
other measures (such as swapping drivers) to maintain safe travel.
4. Traffic Signs Recognition System
Prescribed speed limits
and other Government warning signs can often change during travel along any
road. The traffic signs recognition system being developed by Volkswagen
Group Research will offer a new quality of comfort and safety in this area. The
system receives a signal from each applicable road sign and sends an audible or
digital message to the driver.
5. Automatic Distance Control (ADC)
Already used in
Volkswagen's super-luxury Phaeton model, the system is activated when it detects
the need for driver response (following the vehicle in front too closely). The
next generation ADC+F2S (F2S = follow to stop) will, if necessary,
automatically bring the vehicle to a full stop behind the vehicle ahead. It will
also be possible to generate a collision warning, to brake ahead of a stationary
obstacle, to identify bends in the road and to perform light braking manoeuvres
ahead of curves.
6. Integral Handling Control
The job of the integral
handling control system is to integrally regulate all active components
(drive, brakes, steering, running gear) in any given situation. What makes this
system so revolutionary in comparison to today's active vehicle stability
control systems - primarily in borderline situations - is the continued
optimization of vehicle handling (for example in an emergency situation, it
automatically swaps the suspension from 'comfort' to 'sports' setting for
sharper response).
7. Assisted/Automatic Parking
A system developed by
Volkswagen Group Research allows the driver to choose between the
assisted or automatic parking features. As the vehicle passes a
parking spot, the system ascertains the dimensions of the available space and of
any obstacles. Once it has evaluated this sensory data, it automatically
calculates the ideal parking manoeuvre. The driver then presses the button which
activates the parking assistant and the car steers itself into the space in
reverse gear.
8. Perception Of Vehicle Surroundings
This system provides a
holistic model of the vehicle environment using all available sensory data to
record a complete take of all surroundings (360 degrees). The data generated
provides a picture of the ambient setting and the given situation in such a way
that the driver assistance systems will be able to identify any risks (eg blind
spots before a lane change).
9. Enhanced Night Vision
A part of the perception of
vehicle surroundings system is the enhanced night vision system that
uses a infa-red unit to identify pedestrians or any other possible sources of
hazard and informs the driver of their position, distance from the vehicle and
potential risk of a collision.
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