“Approximately 95% of all road accidents involve some human error.”
An automated driving vehicle from Continental now has 360° radar and vision sensing, integrated active safety and a completely redundant system. Automated driving systems help the driver with many safety features, can remove human error, and – it is hoped – reduce vehicle accidents and personal injuries.
In 2012, Continental was the first automotive supplier licensed to test automated vehicles in the state of Nevada.
The company began working on automated driving in 2006 and is now applying knowledge from more than 45,000 miles of testing on public highways. This latest version of the automated driving vehicle can monitor blind spots, keep a safe distance from the vehicle ahead, control speed going around a corner and react to other cars moving into its lane, as well as monitoring the driver’s level of alertness.
“Approximately 95% of all road accidents involve some human error,” said Samir Salman, Chief Executive Officer for Continental in North America.
The second-generation Continental vehicle is based on lessons learned from countless hours spent testing on Continental’s Proving Grounds and on-the-road experience. It builds on the earlier vehicle by using new components and advanced technologies to provide a higher level automated driving experience.
The new vehicle benefits from:
• Experience gained from the company’s first generation vehicle over the course of multiple cross-country development trips.
• A new architecture concept that considers redundancies in sensing, actuation, vehicle communication and even the power distribution, assuring a safe backup for any possible situation.
• An advanced driver analyzer camera, combined with other vehicle information, can be used to determine the driver’s focus and attention level.
• A simple but effective HMI concept, derived from Continental’s Driver Focus demonstrator vehicle shown at this event in 2013, to keep the driver informed of the vehicle’s automated status.
