ACDIS informs and warns the driver with clearsignals via active force feedback gas pedal

Nuremberg, November 2004. Active Distance Support (ACDIS) is a new driver assistance system from Continental Temic which combines an Adaptive Cruise Control function with the ability to maintain mandatory or freely selectable speeds. The driver receives clear, direct feedback on all system activities via intuitively interpreted movements of the active gas pedal. Even with the system deactivated, the force feedback gas pedal still warns the driver when the vehicle in front is no longer at a safe distance. In its most sophisticated form, ACDIS can actively shorten stopping distances and recommend safe speeds for the prevailing weather conditions. ACDIS systems will be making their first appearance in production models at theend of 2005.

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Take your foot off the gas and get ready to brake. That's the automatic reaction of any driver when the distance to the vehicle in front suddenly drops. And it is precisely this acquired behavior that is exploited and supported by ACDIS, a new development based on Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) from Continental Temic. ACDIS is the first system of its kind to network the distance sensors at the front of the vehicle with a force feedback gas pedal which was developed in collaboration with partner company AB Elektronik.

ACDIS provides enhanced protection against nose-to-tail accidents. And as the distance measurement function remains active even when the Adaptive Cruise Control function is deselected, this new development from Continental Temic is always on hand to help the driver avoid such accidents. Sometimes the distance to the vehicle in front falls so slowly that the driver can fail to notice. So when a critical parameter is reached, an electromechanical actuator in the force feedback gas pedal generates a measured amount of counterpressure which encourages the driver to ease off the throttle. As a result, the driver adapts his speed to the current distance from the vehicle ahead. If that distance changes abruptly, either because the vehicle in front brakes sharply or because another vehicle cuts into the gap, the gas pedal starts to vibrate. This haptic alarm motivates the driver to do more than just lift off the gas. In response, he moves his foot onto the brake pedal and is thus ready to brake much sooner than without ACDIS.  

If the driver chooses to leave it to ACDIS to adapt the speed of the vehicle to the current state of the traffic, the gas pedal is locked in place and serves as a comfortable footrest. Gentle pedal motion informs the driver of system activities, such as throttling the engine output and automatic braking at up to approximately 0.3 g (prebrake). If the system needs to tell the driver to increase the brake force by depressing the brake pedal, it does so once again by making the gas pedal vibrate. Compared with previous ACC systems which send out optical or acoustic signals in such situations, this haptic signal at the classic man-machine interface - the gas pedal - makes for a substantial increase in the reliability of the driver's response. Bells or buzzers can be overheard or misinterpreted. Visual displays on the instrument panel can be overlooked. A vibrating gas pedal, on the other hand, provides a clear signal that the driver cannot fail to notice.

In its most sophisticated form, ACDIS can be networked with the vehicle's electronic braking system, leading to a significant drop in stopping distances. If a hazardous situation is identified, the brake system is prefilled so that the wheel brakes take effect without delay when the driver depresses the brake pedal. In addition, ACDIS can also recommend suitable speeds for the prevailing visibility conditions: If the front-mounted infrared sensors identify rain or mist, the driver will clearly feel counterpressure in the gas pedal when he tries to drive faster than advisable in these conditions.

The driver can, however, overrule ACDIS at any time by overcoming a distinct pressure point as the pedal is depressed. This also applies when ACDIS is set to maintain a speed limit. If the driver wants to exceed the pre-set limit, all he has to do is hit the gas hard. So the driver always retains full control over the speed of the vehicle.

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Continental Temic is part of the Continental Automotive Systems division of Continental AG, Hannover, Germany. The Continental Corporation is a leading supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires, and technical elastomers. The company posted sales of €11.5 bn in 2003. It currently has a workforce of around 73,000.