Open road trial for Conti automated driving system

When not producing tyres, Germany’s Continental AG spends its time developing automotive and mobility technologies. This requires the company to concentrate heavily on research and development, and a current focus is on technology that eliminates the greatest risk factor on our roads – human error.

Continental shares that Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) identified driver error as the cause of more than 80 per cent of all injury accidents in the company’s home country in 2010. One means of reducing this high incidence of driver-related accidents is through the application of advanced driver assistance systems; Continental is confident they can support the driver in demanding and difficult situations while also addressing the dangers posed by the monotony of particular driving conditions, such as start-stop traffic.

Combating monotony is described by Continental as “a potential field of application for highly-automated driving.” The automotive supplier reports it has completed a two-week endurance test in the US state of Nevada, in which more than 6,000 miles of highly-automated driving was carried out on public roads. The aim of the testing was to show that, in particular circumstances, it is possible to free the driver from tasks not related to primary vehicle control, and through this provide the driver with much-needed variation in routine. Safety issues were particularly under the magnifying glass during the test. Nevada, incidentally, is the first US state to explicitly permit automated driving on public roads.

The automated driving concept tested in Nevada is largely based on the knowledge and experience acquired both through the winning car of the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 and the EU funded research HAVEit project. The Volkswagen Passat used in the test was equipped with close-to-production technologies that monitor a vehicle’s immediate surroundings and responds accordingly. Installed equipment included a MFC 300 stereo camera, whose sensors can measure the distance and size of potential obstacles, a MK 100 electronically controllable braking system and an electric power steering (EPS) system. The test also served to investigate possible applications and determine the safety-related acceptable operating range for when a vehicle is driving in fully automated mode.

Notable differences exist between the equipment fitted in the research vehicle and the laser sensors and tailor-made actuators in other highly-automated or autonomous vehicles, says Continental. “The vehicle is able to use close-to-production sensors and logic to detect more complex scenarios and, consequently, is able to relieve drivers of the tedium of monotonous activities, such as driving in traffic jams, by automating,” explained Matthias Strauß, project engineer for advanced driver assistance systems at the Advanced Engineering department in Continental’s Chassis & Safety Division.

Start-stop driving was evaluated during the two-week test. Continental reports that in situations where the current capabilities of its automated driving technology were exceeded, such as if road markings could not be detected or bends were too tight, the system switched itself off and control of the vehicle was returned to the driver. If the driver failed to respond, the vehicle’s speed was gradually reduced until it came to a stop.

Continental’s facilities in Frankfurt, Germany, and Auburn Hills in Michigan, USA are collaborating to further develop and test the system. Their combined experiences will aid the next developmental stage, which will further the availability of the advanced driver assistance system.