Abstract
This presentation will deal with the development of Driver Assistance Systems in Road Vehicles, and will provide an outlook for future potential, with some emphasis on Commercial Vehicles. An analysis of basic data on accidents in Europe will be presented, highlighting the need for Driver Assistance Systems, together with current and future requirements and status of the 2001 European Union Traffic Safety White Paper.
The evolution of Driver Assistance Systems will be shown, with its early stages in the late 80´s of last Century. Those initial developments form the platform of today´s systems and it is important to understand the rational for some of those developments like Electronically Networked Vehicle to Road Systems or the basic Electronic Braking System.
Integration of Retarders, Coupling Force Control, Tractor/Trailer Compatibility or Braking Assistant Functions will be touched on, which have served as important safety improvements for Commercial Vehicles. Dynamic Vehicle Stability Control has been a further vital safety feature, already widely in use in modern vehicles. Various features of Driver Assistance Systems already in series production will be shown, like Intelligent Cruise Control, Lane Assistant, Emergency Braking Control, Tire Control or Wireless Warning through Navigation Systems. Short and medium term development objectives for Future Driver Assistance Systems will be highlighted and discussed. Some of those subjects are Pedestrian,-Cyclist- and Traffic Sign Detection, Lost Cargo Detection, Communication between Approaching Vehicles, initial combination of Active and Passive Safety Features, Control of Driver Drowsiness and Physical Capabilities, just to name a few. Longer term objectives will include Vehicle Dynamics Control with Smart Lane Assistance, Intelligent Surveillance of the Vehicles Vicinity, and Autonomous Braking/Steering Intervention for Accident Mitigation.
Finally some advanced development activities will be shown on the subject of X-by-Wire Systems, which will include various important facets of Predictive Driver Assistance with Combined Active and Passive Safety Features and impact on increased future traffic density and mobility.