Abstract
Automotive safety has gained an increasing amount of interest from the general public, governments and the car industry. Traffic accident statistics more than justify this focus on automotive safety, as each year around 1.2 million people die and as many as 50 million people are injured due to road traffic accidents (1). For these reasons safety remains a core value of Volvo Car Corporation. This paper presents the latest active safety developments within Volvo Car Corporation that will be introduced in the coming years.
Rear-end collisions are common accident scenarios which are generally estimated to account for approximately 30% of all police-reported accidents and about 5% of all fatalities. A common cause of these accidents is driver distraction and thus not reacting in time. No vehicle system is a substitute for the most important safety feature in any vehicle: the driver. However, Volvo is harnessing innovative technologies to help alert drivers to avoid potential collisions and reduce the potential impact speed when a collision cannot be avoided.
Collision Warning with Brake Support - The area in front of the car is continuously monitored with the help of a long-range radar. If the car approaches a moving vehicle and the driver needs to undertake an action to avoid an accident, a warning is provided by a head-up display and an audible buzzer. This warning is intended to increase the driver´s attention in such a way that he or she can avoid or mitigate the accident. In case the driver does not intervene and the possible collision is about 1.5 seconds ahead, i.e. the collision threat becomes credible, the brake system is prepared for shorter response time through a pre-charge and brake assist.
Collision Warning with Auto Brake - The area in front of the car is continuously monitored with the help of a long-range radar and a forward-sensing wide-angle camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror. A warning and brake support will be provided as above, both for moving and stationary vehicles. Additionally, if the driver does not intervene in spite of the warning and the possible collision is about 0.7 seconds ahead, i.e. the collision threat becomes imminent, intervention braking is automatically applied to slow down the car. In this way it may not be possible to avoid a collision, but the main purpose here is to reduce impact speed and the risk of consequences.
These systems have been verified using innovative CAE methods and practical tests. Collision Warning with Brake Support has recently been introduced in the new Volvo S80 and also Collision Warning with Auto Brake will be launched in the near future.
Keywords: Active Safety, Collision Warning, Collision Mitigation, Pre-Crash Braking, Intelligent Transportation Systems.