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At
the 2005 Geneva Auto Show, Volvo Cars will be displaying new safety
features that contribute to safer and more relaxed driving. With these
latest developments, Volvo is cementing its leading position among
safety-conscious car manufacturers.
For
Volvo Cars, the aim is always to lead the way in protective safety. The
intention is that every new Volvo model should represent clear progress
in protecting the car’s occupants – and this has been demonstrated
consistently in recent years with innovative solutions that enhance
safety in a collision, for instance in the Volvo XC90, Volvo S40 and
Volvo V50.
However,
in order to retain its lead in car safety from a holistic perspective,
Volvo Cars has also intensified its focus on systems that predict and
prevent accidents.
Personal
safety, that is to say the protection of people and property, is another
prioritised area since it also reinforces the sense of security and
perceived safety that is an important part of a comprehensive approach
to safety.
"Preventing
accidents and reducing the number of injuries and fatalities in traffic
are both high on the agenda of an increasing number of countries. We see
everything from so-called zero-limits in Sweden and the Netherlands to
national goals of between 30 and 50 percent fewer accidents over the
coming ten-year period. As a leading company in the field of car safety,
Volvo must naturally play an active part in working toward these
goals", says Ingrid Skogsmo, Director Volvo Cars Safety.
"However, the car is only one of many factors. Making traffic even
safer requires an over-riding grasp of the infrastructure and research
into driver behaviour. There are many of us who share responsibility
here and who must work together on these issues."
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Features
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Focus
not just on the car but also on the traffic and the driver
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IDIS
– an important component in future information systems
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BLIS
– camera-based system that monitors the blind spot
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Cruise
control with distance monitoring
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Warning
and braking assistance if there is a risk of a collision
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Warning
and assistance system for safer lane-changing – featuring
a world breakthrough
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Volvo
CoDriver – an intelligent assistant
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More
intensive traffic environments
A
lot has happened since the car was born more than a century ago. Traffic
is heavier, speeds are far higher and the car has become far more
technically advanced. Man, on the other hand, has not changed at the
same fast rate.
The
swift pace of development in IT technology and the emergence of highly
efficient and compact electronics have opened the door to entirely new
opportunities in preventive safety.
The
basic idea is to create a car that helps the driver notice potentially
dangerous situations and that both thinks and responds faster than the
driver does in critical situations.
In
recent years, Volvo Cars has presented a number of systems for this
purpose, not least in the advanced Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) that
was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 2001.
Today,
more than half of the 50 or so safety solutions displayed in the Volvo
SCC are already integrated into existing cars or planned for inclusion
in forthcoming models.
Man’s
ability in focus
One
of the greatest challenges is to coordinate all these sophisticated
systems so that they offer the greatest possible total benefit. The
driver must receive the right information at the right time – without
being distracted by irrelevant information in stressful situations.
Most
of the functions in today’s Volvo cars are already controlled
electronically, and the various systems communicate with each other via
a sophisticated network.
Volvo
has developed IDIS – Intelligent Driver Information System –
which was introduced as a world-first in the new Volvo S40 in 2003.
IDIS
continuously monitors certain functions in the car, such as steering
wheel movement, the action of the accelerator pedal, the use of the turn
signal indicator and the degree of braking. This information is
processed and at a given level of activity, information that is not
crucial to safety – such as an incoming phone call or an SMS text
message – is delayed until the situation is calmer. Any activity that
the system interprets as overtaking or braking will cause IDIS to step
in, this way.
The
focus on the car is only the first stage
In
the future, IDIS will be incorporated into a more comprehensive
information system that can take account of a greater number of factors
in the car. The aim is to further reduce the driver’s stress and to
make driving easier.
The
systems and functions currently being developed and presented focus on
the driver’s situation based on three main perspectives: the car, the
traffic situation and the human being.
Focus
on the traffic situation
For
more comprehensive assessment of the driving situation and in order to
provide the driver with assistance in certain cases, Volvo Cars has
developed a number of advanced functions that monitor the traffic
outside the car.
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Large
windows and effective rear-view mirrors generally provide good
all-round vision. Back in 1979, Volvo was the first car maker to
fit a wide-angle mirror on the driver’s side to further
improve offset rear visibility. BLIS goes one step further by
using a camera in each rear-view mirror to monitor the area
alongside and offset behind the car.
When
another vehicle enters the monitored zone, a lamp comes on in
the relevant mirror. The driver gets a clear indication that
there is another vehicle in the risk zone and can keep away. The
system provides information about cars approaching from the rear
and also vehicles in front that the driver is currently
overtaking. This information gives the driver added scope for
taking the right decision in such situations. Both sides are
monitored in the same way.
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Today’s
cruise control system contributes to calm, relaxed motorway
cruising under favourable conditions. However, the rhythm of
modern traffic does not always allow use of the cruise control.
In
order to contribute to increased comfort and driver control in
uneven traffic flow and in traffic queues, Volvo has developed a
system called Adaptive Cruise Control. Using a radar
sensor, the system continuously monitors the distance to the
vehicle in front and automatically adjusts the car’s speed to
maintain a safe distance.
The
driver activates Adaptive Cruise Control by keying in the
required maximum speed and selecting the minimum time gap to the
vehicle in front. This time gap can be varied from one to three
seconds. A gap of two seconds, for instance, means a safety
distance of about 200 feet at 60 mph. This distance shrinks as
speed decreases, and is about 130 feet at 43 mph.
The
system takes direct account of any vehicle that overtakes and
enters the queue and thus breaks its pattern. In a car with
automatic transmission, Adaptive Cruise Control can keep pace
with the flow of traffic all the way to a complete standstill.
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Rear-end
impacts and collisions involving stationary vehicles are both
common accident scenarios. In many such cases, the cause of the
accident is driver distraction and failure to react in time.
Volvo
has developed an advanced system of auxiliary functions that
help the driver avoid such accidents or minimise the effects of
a collision should one occur. This is done by reducing the total
stopping distance.
The
area in front of the car is continuously monitored with the help
of a radar sensor. The system is activated in different ways at
different stages of the sequence:
If
the car approaches an obstacle (stationary or moving) and the
driver does not react, a warning lamp comes on and is reflected
in the windscreen. At the same time, an audible buzzer sounds.
In certain situations, this is sufficient to catch the
driver’s attention and avoid the hazard.
When
the driver brakes, the system monitors the pedal pressure. If
the pressure is assessed as being too light for the car to be
able to stop in time, the system steps in and amplifies the
braking power. If the speed is not too high, this brake boosting
function can help avoid a collision.
If,
on the other hand, the driver does not react at all, a brake
function is automatically activated to build up higher braking
pressure and slow down the car. It may not be possible to avoid
a collision, but the main purpose here is to reduce speed and
the risk of severe consequences.
To
provide this automatic braking function, the radar system is
supplemented with a forward-sensing wide-angle camera fitted in
front of the interior rear-view mirror.
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Many
accidents in which cars drive off the road take place in
relatively good traffic and weather conditions, often because
the driver loses concentration for one reason or another. Volvo
Cars is developing a series of functions that help the driver in
such situations.
1.
Lane Departure Warning uses a camera in the rear-view
mirror to continuously monitor the road and keep track of where
the car is in relation to the lane markings. If the driver loses
concentration and the wheels move outside the lane markings, a
warning buzzer alerts the driver, and this is often sufficient
to get him or her to react.
2.
Lane Keeping Aid goes one step further. In addition to
the audible signal, the system actually steps in and helps steer
the car back on course. This steering capability is relatively
limited. The aim is not to take over the steering. Instead, the
manoeuvre is usually sufficient to help the driver take action
to keep the vehicle within the current lane.
Lane
Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Aid are switched off when
speed is below 43 mph so they do not interfere in urban
conditions when deliberate lane changes take place all the time.
The functions can also be switched off manually.
3.
The third function, Emergency Lane Assist, is a world
breakthrough.
Using
both camera and radar, Emergency Lane Assist can also monitor
oncoming vehicles. If the driver crosses the lane markers and
does not respond to the buzzer, the system reacts by applying
additional steering force to help steer back into the intended
lane.
Emergency
Lane Assist is active at all speeds.
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Focus
on the human being
No
matter how safe the car is and how well the traffic situation can be
controlled, safety is still always dependent on the human being – the
driver – staying alert and taking the right decision at all times. And
nobody is perfect.
That
is why Volvo Cars has developed an advanced assistant for the driver –
the Volvo CoDriver.
Volvo
CoDriver is an intelligent assistant that coordinates information from
the car’s various systems and functions, studies the traffic situation
and assists the driver in a number of ways.
What
is more, Volvo CoDriver will attempt to sense if the driver is not at
his or her best owing to tiredness or stress, for instance, and can
alert him or her to this fact. If necessary, the system also steps in
and reduces the burden on the driver by tailoring incoming information
and activating the relevant help functions. Volvo CoDriver thus helps
give the driver added margins and makes driving that much safer.
Source:
Volvo Car Corporation
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