Using innovative technologies, we have managed to gain control over a very dangerous cause of accidents: unintentionally leaving the driving lane!

Lane Departure Warning System (LDW)

LDW wil warn the driver if he or she is on the verge of inadvertently drifting out of the lane. Using a CMOS Camera and an image processing algorithm, this driver assistance system registers the course of the lane in relation to the vehicle. The system "sees", as it were, the course of the road and where the car is going. If the warning algorithm detects an imminent leaving of the current driving lane, the system warns the driver with haptic, kinestatic, or acoustical feedback. Possible warning alerts can be a trembling in the steering wheel, a vibrating seat or a virtual washboard sound (a noise people recognize as generated by driving over a lane marker at highway construction sites). Series production is planned for 2005.

Lane Keeping System (LKS)

As a next step, the system becomes an active lane keeping assistant as LKS, through an intervention in the steering. Just like LDW, the LKS measures the vehicle position relative to the lane, but offers active support in keeping the vehicle to the lane. However, the driver always retains the driving initiative, meaning that although he can feel the recommended steering reaction as a gentle movement of the steering wheel, his own decision takes priority at all times.

Lane Changing Assistant (LCA)

This function as a combination of longitudinal vehicle guidance and steering control, therefore ACC and LKS, supports the driver when intentionally changing lanes by alerting him or her in the case of danger and/or intervening in driving dynamics.

Expanded functions and tasks

In association with other corporate divisions the profit center driver assistance systems will increasingly expand today´s comfort-oriented driver assistance functions into comprehensive safety systems. Sensors and electronics will be structurally integrated and thus easier to assemble and more cost-effective. Networking the most diverse sensors with and without image processing results in a vehicle technology that provides numerous new perspectives for safer and at the same time more comfortable individual mobility than that of today. The intelligent car of the future will be able to measure parking spaces and park automatically, recognize traffic signs and warn about vehicles in the blind spot when changing lanes. In addition, the enhanced vehicle environment sensor system can be used for early recognition of a pending accident, to assess the magnitude of an impact and to condition the passive vehicle safety equipment. This way, seat belts and airbags will better protect both driver and passengers.