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Mercedes-Benz is laying the groundwork for a new, forward-looking safety
concept. Following its impressive success in the area of occupant protection,
the Stuttgart-based brand will focus more strongly in the future on anticipatory
recognition and the prevention of accidents. To this end, Mercedes-Benz is
developing intelligent driver assistance systems that utilize stereo cameras and
radar sensors to monitor the area surrounding the vehicle. These systems also
have the ability to make predictive interpretations of critical driving
situations and then issue timely warnings to drivers - or even intervene
autono-mously if there is imminent danger.
“Several years ago, we introduced PRE-SAFE®, which gave the vehicle
certain ‘reflexes,’ so to speak,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, Daim-lerChrysler Board
of Management member responsible for Group Re-search and Mercedes Car Group
Development.
“In the future, we will also give cars the ability to ‘see’ and ‘think.’
It’s always been a matter of policy for us to develop vehicles capable of
withstanding the most severe crash tests. However, it makes much more sense to
prevent accidents from occurring in the first place - which is exactly what
we’re working on in the interest of all traffic par-ticipants.”
In the future, Mercedes-Benz will continue to base the development of its
safety systems on real-life accident statistics and data from its own accident
research activities. The focus here will be on intersections, sharp
curves, and construction sites, as these locations are the site of
approximately one-third of all serious accidents that occur in Germany. Other
issues to be addressed in the development of new driver assistance systems
include driver fatigue, speed, and lane departure, all of
which are also among the most frequent causes of accidents. Mercedes-Benz will
also further improve occupant pro-tection through preventive measures and by
networking active and passive safety systems.
Systems developed by Mercedes-Benz have been helping to improve road safety
for many years now. The invention of ESP ® alone (which reduces the
danger of skidding and makes it easier for drivers to handle critical
situations) has led to a sustained improvement in traffic safety. The most
recent German accident statistics confirm that since ESP® was intro-duced as
standard equipment, Mercedes passenger cars have been in-volved in accidents
much less frequently than models of other brands. Since 1999, the share of
driver-related collisions in all accidents involv-ing newly registered
Mercedes models has declined by more than 42 per-cent. Studies show that more
than 20,000 accidents could be prevented each year in if all passenger cars were
equipped with ESP®. The Electronic Stability Program has now therefore joined
seatbelts, airbags, and ABS as one of the most important safety systems in
modern passenger cars. Still, only around 40 percent of all new cars in are
currently equipped with this technology.
The Brake Assist (BAS) system, which Mercedes-Benz began offering in 1996
(the world’s first brand to do so), has also proved to be a very effective
technology for preventing accidents. Following the introduction of BAS as
standard equipment, the share of total accidents accounted for by rear-end
collisions fell by eight percent for Mercedes vehicles, but re-mained nearly
unchanged for all other brands. Brake Assist also led to a 13 percent reduction
in the proportion of serious accidents involving pe-destrians.
PRE-SAFE® Brake proves itself as an “electronic crumple zone”
Mercedes-Benz will continue to base the development of its driver assis-tance
systems on real-life accident statistics, and will utilize new technolo-gies to
focus more strongly on the phase immediately preceding an acci-dent. The brand’s
engineers are developing systems that monitor the area around the vehicle, warn
drivers of potential dangers, and then support them if necessary. Such systems
will also activate preventive occupant protection systems in critical
situations.
The era of the “seeing” car began in 2005 with the introduction of
Mercedes-Benz’ BRAKE ASSIST PLUS (BAS PLUS)system, which was fol-lowed by
the PRE-SAFE® Brake in 2006. Both systems utilize radar sensors that
measure the distance to the vehicle ahead, and are thus able to recognize an
impending rear-end collision. BAS PLUS warns drivers of the danger and then
immediately makes available the braking pressure required for the situation at
hand. The PRE-SAFE® Brake intervenes if an accident is imminent by autonomously
braking the vehicle if the driver has not reacted to the prior warning issued by
the system. This autono-mous partial braking manoeuvre significantly
reduces the impact speed should a collision still occur, whereby the system acts
as an “elec-tronic crumple zone” that offers vehicle occupants additional
protection. A test conducted by the German Automobile Club (ADAC) shows that the
PRE-SAFE® Brake reduces the stresses vehicle occupants are exposed to in
accidents by up to 45 percent.
Mercedes engineers are currently testing the second stage of the PRE-SAFE®
Brake, which involves initiating an automatic emergency brak-ing
manoeuvre if a collision becomes unavoidable. This will lead to a further
substantial reduction of impact energy.
Intersection assistant calculates danger of an accident in advance
Video-based assistance functions will also become more common in future
Mercedes passenger cars. Here, cameras mounted on the inside of the windshield
will monitor the road in front of the vehicle, recognize pedestrians and
cyclists up ahead or crossing the street, and “read” traffic signs. Power-ful
computers will evaluate the images in real-time and warn drivers of im-pending
dangers before they occur.
This technology is designed with a particularly accident-prone area in mind -
the four-way intersection, which accounts for around one-third of all
serious traffic accidents in Germany. A new system already developed by Mercedes
as a prototype utilizes a stereo camera that recognizes cars, cyclists
and pedestrians approaching the vehicle from the side. By monitoring the
movement, distance, and speed of the object in question, the system is able to
predict its probable direction of motion and calculate the likelihood of an
accident in advance. Tests have shown that this forward-looking technology
is able to recognize the danger of a collision with a cyclist rapidly
approaching the vehicle from the side two to three seconds before impact. This
allows the system to gain valuable time to warn the driver and prevent the
accident.
Another video-based Mercedes assistance system will remind drivers in the
future to obey speed limits by “reading” traffic signs and transmit-ting
their images to a cockpit display in the vehicle. This technology will be used
further down the line to also register stop signs, yield signs, and traffic
lights.
Lane departure prevention assistant steers vehicle by means of targeted
braking impulses
Approximately one out of every six major accident in Germany occurs be-cause
a vehicle inadvertently moves out of the lane it’s travelling in. More than
one-third of all traffic fatalities also result from such accidents.
Mer-cedes-Benz is therefore developing a lane assistant that warns
drivers when they inadvertently drift out of the lane they’re travelling in, and
autonomously puts the vehicle back on course if an accident appears immi-nent.
The system uses a camera to detect lane markings, while simultane-ously
monitoring the vehicle’s movements within the lane, as well as the driver’s
activities. In the system’s initial phase, vibrations in the steer-ing wheel let drivers know that they have moved out of the lane and should take
corrective action. Should the driver fail to react to this subtle but effective
warning, the system will put the vehicle back on the proper course by initiating
a targeted braking manoeuvre on one of the wheels.
This braking action automatically disengages if the driver begins steering
back to the proper position.
Blind Spot Assist makes lane changes safer
Another newly developed Mercedes assistance system provides for even more
safety when changing lanes. The system works with six close-proximity
radar sensors that monitor the area behind both sides of the vehicle, thereby
enabling them to register whether another vehicle is moving through the blind
spot in an adjacent lane. If this is the case, the system will inform the
driver by means of a red warning light in the side-mirror glass. The system will
then sound an alarm if the driver fails to notice the warning and hits the
blinker as a prelude to changing lanes.
Fatigue detection warns drivers of dangerous microsleep
Fatigue detection is the designation for a new field in which
Mer-cedes safety engineers are continuing their practically-focused development
of systems for accident prevention. Various scientific studies estimate that
between 10 and 20 percent of serious traffic accidents can be attributed to
fatigue. According to an investigation carried out by insurance companies in
Germany, fatigue is responsible for one in four fatal motorway accidents.
The goal of the Mercedes engineers is to develop an assistance system that
can recognize fatigue before it becomes a danger, and then warn the driver. A
team of Mercedes experts has therefore been studying various ap-proaches for
reliably recognizing early signs of driver fatigue. More than 250 drivers have
participated in the associated tests, travelling around 400,000 kilometres in
the process.
Radio system sends danger warnings from vehicle to vehicle
Mercedes-Benz expects road safety to also be enhanced even further in the
future by car-to-car communication systems, which are now un-dergoing a
major testing campaign in Germany. Mercedes is contributing its more than six
years of practical experience in this area to the test series, which is being
conducted jointly by several German automakers and indus-trial companies.
Car-to-car communication systems utilize WLAN (Wireless Local Area
Network) radio technology, which enables them to rapidly transmit
warnings in time to prevent accidents. Among other things, such systems can be
used to warn drivers of fog, black ice, and other dangers right around the next
bend. The vehicles serve as transmitters or receivers of information, which they
can also forward to other vehicles like a relay run-ner passing a baton. The
critical situations themselves are registered by existing onboard safety systems
such as ABS and ESP®. In the future, it may also be possible to have vehicles
communicate with roadside beacons in order to optimize traffic flows and
prevent the formation of traf-fic jams.
Radar sensors analyse the size and weight of a potential accident partner
Car-to-car communication systems can improve occupant protection as well by
exchanging data between vehicles when a collision has be-come
unavoidable. Seatbelt tensioners, airbags and other safety features could then
be adjusted in accordance with the data obtained on the counter-part vehicle,
whereby at close ranges (immediately before an impending accident), the
automobiles of tomorrow could exchange data on vehicle type, mass, rigidity or
geometry. As a result, the activation of occupant pro-tection systems could be
tailored even more closely to the requirements of the circumstances.
Radar sensor systems that are already available in various Mercedes mod-els
could be utilized in the future for anticipatory crash analyses. Here,
the system would “see,” for example, whether the vehicle approaching on a
collision course is a truck, a bus or a car, allowing it to calculate the
severity of the impending impact and the settings required for safety sys-tems.
Every fraction of a second before an accident counts when it comes to properly
preparing vehicle occupants for an impending impact. Pre-emptive crash analysis
therefore represents a crucial further step toward enhancing occupant safety -
and an important supplement to the proven PRE-SAFE® system.
By working on these and other such innovations, Mercedes-Benz is continu-ing
its long-term commitment to improving road safety. As ever, this ap-proach is
based on the prime principle of the Mercedes safety philosophy, as formulated
by Béla Barényi: To make an important contribution to improving safety on
our roads and, with each new invention, to move a little closer to the vision
of accident-free driving.
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