Self Driving Cars  

With its S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle, Mercedes-Benz became the world's first automobile manufacturer (that is if Google doesn't start making cars) to demonstrate that autonomous driving in rural and urban traffic is possible.

Mercedes-Benz has successfully completed the first autonomous cross country and inner city drive, using near-production-standard sensor systems.

The Mercedes-Benz S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle covered 100 Kilometer from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, under real traffic conditions and complex situations including traffic lights, roundabouts, pedestrians, cyclists and trams.

Mercedes-Benz revealed the full details of the first autonomous long distance drive at the Mercedes-Benz Media Night, last week at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show.

While other companies have shown self driving cars either on closed roads or using complex technologies, Mercedes-Benz achieved this goal with the aid of near-production-standard technologies, very similar to those already available in the new E and S-Class.

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The route was not arbitrary chosen but retraced that taken by motoring pioneer Bertha Benz exactly 125 years ago when she boldly set off on the very first long-distance automobile drive.

For Mercedes-Benz the autonomously driving car is not the attempt to ban the driver from the driver seat. While self driving cars will be a reality of future mobility, it is first and foremost the next logical step on the way to accident free driving.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, Mercedes-Benz has presented 14 research vehicles - from the Auto 2000 of 1981 through to the F 125! of 2011. Many of the systems presented in these research vehicles, which were still considered a utopian ideal in those days, are now standard features in Mercedes-Benz production cars.



SOURCE  CCM World News

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 Smart Cars  

Automaker Honda has demonstrated two experimental safety technologies aimed at reducing the potential for collisions between automobiles and pedestrians and between automobiles and motorcycles. These advanced Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) and Vehicle-to-Motorcycle (V2M) technologies, while still in the research and testing phase, demonstrate essential technologies for safety now, and for the development of more autonomous driving systems.

The Honda Motor Company Ltd has posted a video on its website demonstrating new technology it's developing to help prevent cars from hitting pedestrians. Based on Honda's vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network technology, the system called by Honda an advanced vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) safety system aims to warn both drivers and pedestrians carrying smartphones of a possible collision.

V2P, like V2V uses the Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) protocol as a means of communication. It's implemented in hardware being developed by Honda. V2V is an automatic system of broadcast and receiving of information pertinent to drivers and pedestrians.

DSRC is not a Wi-Fi system, rather it is a wireless communication bandwidth specifically designed for future vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and related communications, says Jim Keller, chief engineer for Honda R&D Americas.

“While these are still experimental technologies, they provide a strong indication of the future potential for the kinds of advanced collision-sensing and predictive technologies Honda is developing to further reduce the potential for serious accidents, injuries and even fatalities,” Keller says.

The mobile devices carried by the pedestrian is embedded in a smartphone and constantly monitors the position of the person holding the phone (using already embedded GPS and accelerometer) and the direction they are heading. At the same time, technology embedded in a car notes the location of the car, its direction and speed—all while continuously listening for broadcast information from devices held by pedestrians.

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Computer systems in the car constantly analyses all of the available information and builds virtual scenarios in real-time. When the system projects that a pedestrian is about to cross the path of the moving vehicle, a warning is flashed on a heads-up display device in the vehicle—a message is also sent to the pedestrian—that message information is converted to a sound similar to the noise a truck makes when backing up and a warning message that is displayed on the phone's screen.

Honda says that the technology can also let drivers know if the pedestrian is listening to music, talking on their phone or texting—all indications that the person is likely not paying full attention to his or her real-world surroundings. Also, they say the technology can be useful in multiple scenarios such as when an approaching pedestrian is hidden by other vehicles or when a car is backing up. They also report that they are developing similar technology for cars and motorcycles, warning both of the possibility of a collision.

Other companies such as General Motors have also announced plans for implementing such systems in cars in the near future. Most such ventures are a part of single initiative being driven by the U.S. Department of Transportation. If the technology proves capable of saving lives, the DoT might insist that all cars sold in this country be equipped with such a system, provided they can get smartphone makers to opt in as well.

Moreover, for self-driving cars, the development of such pedestrian avoidance systems is paramount.

SOURCE  Honda

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