This paper highlights the obstacle detection system developed by the Daimler Benz group to assist the driver, particularly in dangerous traffic situations and in case of bad weather.
The area in front of the vehicle is scanned by a radar beam, and the actual traffic is analysed by signal processing software. Safety distance is calculated and displayed, and a warning is given to the driver whenever necessary. With this information, driving safety and comfort is increased while all actions to be taken still remain under driver control. Cruise control applications can be regarded as a natural system extension.
A special chapter is dedicated to vehicle test data evaluation based on a mobile video system operating in the traffic environment and data post-processing in the lab.
Effective synergy and a close co-operation of various companies resources made it possible to push this challenging project rapidly through different development stages to reach the volume pre-production phase in the near future.