Continental Automotive System's System Networking to Achieve Vision Zero

Driving safety: safety systems in the vehicle help to prevent accidents

Frankfurt, September 10, 2007. New high-performance brakes, innovative technologies to stabi-lize the vehicle, driver assistance systems and telematics solutions to warn the driver of impend-ing danger: Continental Automotive Systems will present a number of new components for in-creased road safety at this year's Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA). The Division of the international automotive supplier, Continental AG, highlights its expertise in system networking: bringing together intelligent technologies from the areas of brakes, chassis, occupant protection, driver assistance systems and telematics systems enhances the overall impact on accident pre-vention. The company has brought together its many years of development work to create Con-tiGuard® in a significant step towards achieving Vision Zero - a road safety philosophy in which people are so well protected that the number of fatalities or serious injuries is reduced to zero.

New brakes: better performance, measured response, more stability
When braking, every meter counts so a quick response with the maximum available brake pres-sure is vital. Continental Automotive Systems is expanding its range of high-performance wheel brakes. Following the launch of the twin sliding caliper brake last year, the company has now added a fixed caliper alternative to its range. It has two divided pairs of brake pads that are ar-ranged in a V shape. The pads are perfectly aligned with the disk at all times and are larger in sum than those on standard designed brakes. This improves stopping as well as thermal re-serves.

Continental Automotive Systems has developed the electric-hydraulic combi brake (EHC) - an innovative brake system combining hydraulic wheel brakes on the front axle with electrome-chanical wheel brakes on the rear axle. The fast actuation of the rear wheel brakes makes it possible to dynamically vary the brake force between the axles. This optimizes the brake force distribution during all kinds of braking maneuvers, whether with a low or high load or when pull-ing a trailer, and further improves the directional stability and road adhesion.

From ESC to Global Chassis Control: combining driving pleasure with driving safety
It is vital that the driver is able to maintain control of the vehicle even in critical situations. Before it can start to skid, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) generates a precisely calculated brak-ing torque on one or more wheels. This steers the vehicle back in the direction indicated by the driver at the steering wheel. ESC can therefore be thought of as a brake that steers. ESC II steers by actuating the brakes, but also uses electronic steering for control strategy.
Optimum handling and stability is achieved when the vehicle can be steered at all four wheels. This is where active rear axle kinematics (ARK) comes in. On vehicles with multilink rear axles, it controls the rear wheels individually. Under normal driving conditions, the driver has less work to do in steering the vehicle with ARK. The stability advantages of using the ESC II are really noticeable in hazardous situations. When braking on a road surface that is slippery on one side, ARK can help to reduce the braking distance.

A huge amount of sensor data is collected in the chassis controller. Continental Automotive Sys-tems uses an integrated approach known as Global Chassis Control to coordinate the various subsystems such as air suspension, steering, brakes and active stabilizers. “Under this ap-proach, the subsystems primarily fulfill their respective role in providing comfort, safety and dy-namics“, said Dr. Peter Rieth, Vice President Technology and Advanced Engineering at Conti-nental Automotive Systems. “The systems are constantly exchanging information with a central vehicle control unit. As well as all of the sensor data, they also transmit their current control ac-tions and reserves. The vehicle control unit receives information from all of the active systems and is thus able to enhance the efficiency of the network of chassis systems centrally.“

Assistance systems: from Adaptive Cruise Control to Full Beam Assistant
In-vehicle assistance systems are no longer something to dream about, they are an everyday aspect of the motorist's driving experience. The first luxury vehicles were equipped with a dis-tance warning radar back in 1999, and the market is set to boom over the next few years. Stud-ies show that we will be spending around three billion dollars on assistance systems to prevent collisions or lane departure by 2013, compared with a figure of just 150 million dollars today (Studies of Strategy Analytics, 2007). The number of new cars with driver assistance systems will increase by a factor of almost six to more than 60 million worldwide.

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) relieves the driver to a large extent from the tiresome task of maintaining the correct distance from the vehicle ahead. A radar sensor and high-performance computer in the front of the car measure the distance from the vehicle in front and the relative speed of the two vehicles. If the vehicle in front brakes or a vehicle suddenly cuts in front, ACC reduces the speed or applies the brakes. The driver is also prompted to apply the brakes if the system's initial intervention is insufficient. The enhanced ACC with Full Speed Range function controls the distance and speed until the vehicle comes to a complete standstill and then con-trols the speed again as the vehicle pulls away.

Many serious accidents happen at night, often caused by overtiredness. The Lane Departure Warning (LDW) support system ensures that the vehicle does not leave the road. The forward-facing LDW camera transfers image processing algorithms to establish the position of the vehi-cle in the lane. If the vehicle threatens to leave its lane, the LDW issues a warning signal - either a gentle vibration of the steering wheel or a directional pulse.

The camera offer additional safety features. In combination with high-performance software, it can recognize road signs and speed limits. The sensors in the High Beam light Assistant, which will go into series production in 2009, automatically adapt the beam when there is oncoming traffic or there are vehicles in front.

The Lane Change Assist system uses two sensors looking around the rear of the vehicle. The system monitors the traffic situation behind the vehicle and uses optical signals and resistance in the steering wheel to warn the driver when he starts to overtake but a vehicle is approaching from behind. Continental Automotive Systems has developed an anti-collision system Closing Velocity Sensor to assist the driver when braking. It aims to prevent or at least reduce rear-end collisions, in hazardous urban traffic areas. The optical sensor is located near the rear-view mir-ror and uses infrared to monitor the area up to ten meters in front of the vehicle.

Telematics: the vehicle can virtually see around corners and call for help
A broken down vehicle hidden around a corner and suddenly a stretch of slippery road; if other road users were given advance warning, many dangerous situations could be defused. Conti-nental Automotive Systems is introducing innovative telematics solutions to communicate poten-tial hazards to vehicles in the immediate vicinity (car to car) or to a traffic control center (car to infrastructure).

The E-flare function is activated by the hazard warning lights of a broken down vehicle. An auto-motive variant of wireless communication technology (WLAN) issues a warning signal to all ve-hicles within a 300 to 500 meter range. The driver is warned about a potential hazard by coun-terpressure in the accelerator pedal and a flashing hazard warning triangle symbol on the dashboard. In a similar way, drivers are also informed about slippery road surfaces by a warning signal from the ESC. The e-horn telematics function warns of approaching emergency vehicles such as police cars or ambulances.

Every minute counts when it comes to helping people with injuries by severe accidentals for example. E-call accelerates the rescue process. If an airbag has been triggered, the telematics unit automatically places an emergency call to a rescue-services control center, to inform them of the location, time and severity of the accident.

Achieving Vision Zero with ContiGuard®
Continental Automotive Systems brings together all active and passive safety components in ContiGuard®. It took two years of development work under the project name “APIA�? (Active Passive Integration Approach) to prepare this system for production readiness. “ContiGuard® is our contribution to providing the best possible protection for people in road traffic�?, emphasized Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, President Continental Automotive Systems and member of the Ex-ecutive Board, Continental AG, explaining the significance of this ground-breaking system. Con-tiGuard® is a significant step en route to Vision Zero. Vision Zero outlines a road safety philoso-phy with a target of zero for deaths or serious injuries as a result of traffic accidents.

The Continental Corporation is a leading automotive supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers. In 2006 the corporation realized sales of EUR14.9 billion. At present it has a worldwide workforce of around 89,000.

As a worldwide leading technology and systems partner to the automotive industry, the Automotive Sys-tems Division of Continental AG integrates extensive know-how and uncompromising quality in the fields of active and passive driving safety, embedded telematics and hands-free communication systems, pow-ertrain and comfort. In 2006 the Division achieved sales of approx. Euro 6 billion with a workforce of more than 30,000. Continental Automotive Systems develops and produces electronic and hydraulic brake, stability and chassis control systems, electronic air suspension systems, sensors, engine management and transmission control systems, hybrid drives, cooling fan modules, body and security electronics and also is the industry leader of embedded telematics and communication systems in vehicles.

Source: Continental

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