5 Future Technologies That Improve Automotive Safety
The global automotive industry has been pushing boundaries to develop sophisticated technology that makes driving safe, reliable, and self-sufficient. Now emphasizing on the road safety aspect, the industry is collectively focused on creating a future with zero crashes and incidents, under the shared vision, Vision Zero.
The latest technological advancements have transformed the way people imagined safety technologies. From indicating alerts about the speed levels to advanced braking capabilities, technologies have made the vehicles around much safer, smart, and reliable.
Below are the five technologies that improve safety
Transparent Hood
The “transparent hood” function is one of its first kind to hit the market. It makes the area under the hood visible and allows the driver to see terrain and obstacles that would otherwise not be visible. The transparent hood is based on Continental’s Surround View system, which consists of four satellite cameras and an electronic control unit.
An intelligent image processing algorithm reconstructs the image below the vehicle and inserts this image exactly into the surround-view displayed to the driver. Continental received the CES 2020 Innovation Award in the product category Vehicle Intelligence and Transportation for this innovative technology.
Contact Sensor System (CoSSy)
The new CoSSy detects contact between a vehicle and a person or object at cutting speed. CoSSy helps to make applications like automated parking safer. The recording of sound signals by CoSSy can be used to detect collision impact at low speed so that the vehicle can be stopped immediately.
Once installed, the CoSSy sensor signals can support many other applications, such as detection of vandalism (scratching), slow parking knocks, recognition of the road condition, driver identification by voice, or detection of approaching emergency vehicles.
Occupant Safety Monitoring (OcSM)
OcSM acts as a permanent monitor of the environment in the vehicle in terms of safety. This innovative technology estimates the pose of the occupants inside the car to dynamically adapt airbag deployment strategies. This is done based on the different sitting postures of the vehicle occupants. The safety during such a crash can be enhanced via an appropriate airbag deployment strategy.
For example, if the driver is seated too close to the steering wheel (airbag deployment point), in case of a crash, the passenger may hit the steering wheel before the airbag is deployed correctly. The innovative OcSM solution provides real-time information about the occupant pose to the safety control units so that airbag deployment can be optimized.
Intelligent Intersection
Continental’s Intelligent Intersection is a real-world, end-to-end solution comprising a sensor set, powerful sensor fusion algorithms to generate a comprehensive environmental model, and Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) to transfer valuable information between the intersection and the connected vehicles. The solution makes it possible to warn an oncoming driver about a crossing pedestrian outside the driver’s line of sight. Its data can also be used to control signal changes, streamlining traffic, and reducing emissions and idling time at intersections.
The concept is integral to protecting vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians and cyclists and support drivers in complex intersection traffic scenarios, like preventing left-turning cars (left-hand driving) from running head-on into traffic that approaches from behind an obstacle. It can also inform drivers turning right about traffic approaching from the left.
Additionally, Continental’s Intelligent Intersection enables the collection of information and statistics from intersections – often congested, high-incidence zones – which can then be used for traffic flow, safety, and environmental improvements.
Safety Domain Control Unit (SDCU)
The SDCU is mainly for high-end applications and has several additional functions specifically designed to reduce the risk of an accident and limit the damage in the first and later phases of an accident. One attribute that makes it so effective is that it integrates information from forward-looking environment sensors.
This makes it possible to estimate the severity of an accident before it occurs and to condition the restraint systems accordingly. The system can react more quickly, therefore protecting the vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users in a better way. The SDCU can serve as a fallback level so that the vehicle can be brought into a safe state if the main automated functions fail.
Apart from these five technologies, EBA/EAB is the enhancement of ABS Technology. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems like Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) compensate for insufficient driver action on brakes. There are many other ADAS technologies that increase safety while driving and parking of a vehicle.
