Automobile collision avoidance system

Automobile Collision Avoidance Systems – A Life Saver


Scope e-Knowledge Center Pvt Ltd

May 2014


Table of Contents

1. Collision Avoidance System ................................................................... 1

2. Traffic Collision – A Statistical Analysis ................................................ 2

3. The Prevailing Technologies ................................................................... 4

4. The Growth in Car Crash Avoidance System ........................................ 5

5. Technology Trend in the Automobile Collision Avoidance System .... 6

6. A Glance at the R&D ................................................................................ 9

7. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 12


Page # 1

1. Collision Avoidance System

Since the emergence of mechanized vehicles, road safety has been a major concern and had called for

attention. The automobile safety system gained increasing attention in the last three years with increasing

road accidents across the world. As a result, various crash avoidance systems have originated each

assuring better safety than the existing systems.

The collision avoidance system, the technology a majority of cars boast today, evolved to reiterate

automobile safety. It is ideal to be called a life saver as it reduces the severity of an accident, which

otherwise would cost one or more lives and/or severe property damages.

Estimates by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads have revealed that installation of

collision avoidance technology could reduce 20 to 40 per cent in terms of number and severity of fatal

crashes and 30 to 50 per cent of all injuries. Thus, with an aim to ensure the safety of a driver during the

crash/collision, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to make the pre-

crash system a mandate. In a similar move, all new vehicles in Europe will have Advanced Emergency

Braking Systems installed by November 2015.

Today, a collision avoidance system generally has camera sensors and radars or laser to detect and

warn the drivers of any danger lie ahead on the road, it could be a car, a pedestrian, a stationary object

such as a pole or tree etc. Over the years, the technology has evolved with most car manufacturers

focusing on the safety of their customers. Today, there are several advanced features the system

accompanies, such as audio warning the driver, pre-charging of brakes, automatic partial or full braking

etc, to avoid any fatalities.


Page # 2

2. Traffic Collision – A Statistical Analysis

Traffic collision, known by different terms in various parts of the world, is an incidence of a vehicle

collision, which may result in an injury and death in fatalities, with further cause to the vehicle and

property.

According to the “Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013” by World health Organization (WHO), more

than 1.24 million people die every year due to road traffic injuries, and is the eighth leading cause of

death globally. Given the current trends, it is projected to be the fifth leading cause of death globally by

2030, necessitating the law makers to implement precautionary measures to reduce the number of

deaths on road.

WHO-suggested five pillars that guide national road safety plans and activities:

Pillar 1

Road safety management

Pillar 2

Safer roads and mobility

Pillar 3

Safer vehicles

Pillar 4

Safer road users

Pillar 5

Post-crash response

Various factors contribute to the risk of collision, such as vehicle design, speed of operation, road design

& environment, driver skill & behavior etc. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation has revealed

that there were 34,080 fatalities on U.S. highways and roads in 2012, a 5.3% increase from the year

2011. In addition to disability or death, vehicle collisions incur huge costs to both society and the

individuals involved. In the US, the Center for Disease Control estimates the annual cost of traffic

fatalities and injuries to be $99 billion.

Traffic collisions can be classified by general types as

Head-on

Road departure

Rear end

Side collision

Rollovers

The WHO report on road safety has revealed that of all the road user types, the maximum fatalities are

among car occupants.


Page # 3

Road traffic deaths by type of road user (World) (Courtesy WHO)

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a non-profit scientific and educational

organization based in USA, 1 in 3 fatal crashes can be avoided or mitigated if all passenger vehicles are

equipped with a crash avoidance system.


Page # 4

3. The Prevailing Technologies

Safer vehicles, one of the five pillers suggested by WHO, has a key role in controlling/avoiding road

accidents. Earlier, the crash avoidance system was an option for luxurious cars, but today, it has become

a common feature in the fleets. Crash avoidance technologies used in cars are built to operate vehicles

safety. To ensure a vehicle is safer, various crash avoidance technologies have evolved; though they

don’t operate or function similarly, the sole aim of their existence is to avoid or mitigate a crash. Below

briefed are the most promiment among the today’s crash avoidance technology:

Forward collision warning system – in builds an electronic system (with sensors such as such

as cameras, radar or light detection and ranging (LIDAR)) to detect a vehicle or object infront and

warn the driver of potential collision. This system has proved to avoid most crashes than the other

technologies

Lane departure warning system – features a camera that tracks the vehicle's position on the

lane and alerts the driver via haptic warning signals, such as steering wheel or seat vibration,

when the vehicle steers off its lane

Adaptive cruise control – an in-vehicle electronic system that lets drivers specify the desired

speed, based on which the sysem will control the speed of the vehicle in heavy traffic,

maintaining a safe distance with the lead vehicle

Automatic braking system – avoids collision by automatically applying a brake on sensing an

immediate collision with a nearby vehicle

Electronic stability control system (electronic stability program (ESP)/dynamic stability

control (DSC)) – featuring sensors and a microcomputer, it detects and reduces the loss of

traction (skidding) of a vehicle; it also applies brake automatically to stabilize the vehicle and help

steer the vehicle back onto the path

Blind spot monitor system – integrating sensors that monitors vehicle sides for approaching

blind spots and warns the driver of any hazardous during lane changes or turning

Automotive night vision system – uses infrared imaging for enhanced vision in dim lighting or

poor weather conditions when headlights fail to reach drivers’ viewing distance


Page # 5

4. The Growth in Car Crash Avoidance System

Automobile collision avoidance and safety system technology innovations started in 1960’s in the form of

airbag for automobiles by General Motors. The statistics for the past six years shows that the year 2012

has recorded the maximum growth of 23%; the growth rate till April 2013 was 4%. Further, there are

possibilities of publication of few more interesting innovations in the forthcoming years.

Figure 1: Technology trend of automobile collision avoidance system

The below table has the annual patent publication count since 2008:

Publication year Patent count

2008 34

2009 35

2010 31

2011 29

2012 41

2013 (till April) 7


Page # 6

5. Technology Trend in the Automobile Collision Avoidance System

An inhouse research was performed on April 2013 regarding “Automobile collision avoidance system”

technology innovations based on the patent families published during the last five years (i.e. 2008 –

2013), wherein the first filings of those patent families were witnessed across 2001 – 2012.

The research has revealed that the “forward collision warning system” technology has much scope for

growth in future as the patent families first filed under this technology has contributed about 34% during

the period 2001 - 2012. The Automatic braking technology is the next major focus for automobile

manufacturers, with 18% of patent families first filed during 2001 – 2012, while the other prevailing

technologies account for remaining 48%.

Figure 2: Technology spread across eight major technologies


Page # 7

Technology

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Adaptive cruise control

1 1 3 2 5 6 5 3 3

Automatic braking

1 3 4 2 4 5 4 2 6 1

Automotive night vision

3 1

1

1

Electronic stability control

2 3 2

Forward collision warning system

1

4 2 3 4 8 9 12 8 8 1

Lane departure warning

2 1 2

2 2

2

Others 1 1

2 1 2 2 3 1 2

Blind spot monitor

1

1 1 4 2 4 1 3

Table 2: Technology spread across eight major technologies

While the patenting activity pertaning to the collision avoidance technology is concerned, General Motors

tops the list with 18 patent families out of total 177 patent families. General Motors has published seven

patent families on the automatic braking system for automobiles. Toyota holds 12 patent families under

this technology with its main focus on the forward collision avoidance system.

Following Toyoto, Denso corp has 11 patent families, of which five patent families are on the forward

collision avoidance system technology, the company’s key focus. Below is the list of few other automobile

manufacturing companies that have recorded less than 10 patent families in the collision avoidance

technology.

Ford Global Tech LLC

Fuji Heavy Ind Ltd

Hitachi Ltd

Nissan Motor

Honda Motor Co Ltd

Volvo Car Corp

Robert Bosch GMBH

Caterpillar Inc

Continental Teves AG & CO OHG

Korea Electronics Telecomm

ADC Automotive Dist Control


Page # 8

Daimler Chrysler AG

Inst Information Industry

Lucas Automotive GMBH

Sarnoff Corp and

Volkswagen AG

An in-house statistical analysis conducted on patent publications concerning the technology has shown

that all the automobile companies focus mainly on the forward collision avoidance technology, which is

evident with 60 patent families contributing nearly 40% of the overall technology. The other vital

technology is automatic braking with 32 patent families.

Figure:3 Patenting activity of the above list of companies


Page # 9

6. A Glance at the R&D

A number of innovations are patented under the automobile collision avoidance system; however the

automobile manufacturing companies are interested in incorporating the collision avoidance technology

mainly in their high-end car models. In few cases, the safety system is used as an optional for their car

models as the installation costs are huge.

A large number of players have their automobile collision avoidance technology in R & D phase and few

others in their prototype stage. Their major focus is on cost-effective installation of these safety

components in their automobile models.

Below is a technology comparison of products and brands of few major players in the market working on

automobile collision avoidance system.

List of Car Manufactur

ers

Collision Avoidance Technology

Lane departure warning system

(brands)


Adaptive cruise control (ACC)

Automatic braking (brands)

Electronic stability control (ESP)

Blind spot

monitor (brands)


(brands)

Nissan Motors

CIMA Iteris Valeo

X

Cima Primera T-

Spec Models (partial cruise

control)

X

Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC)

Fuga Infiniti M

NA

Toyota

Cardina Alphard Crown Majesta

X

Celsior Sienna Avalon

Sequoia Avensis Corolla Prius

(partial cruise

control)

X

Vehicle Stability Control

(VSC) or Vehicle

Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM)

Camry Landcruiser

Cygnus

Honda Inspire X

Inspire Legend Accord

CR-V series III (partial

cruise control)

Fit/Jazz

Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA)

Accord Legend

Citroën C4 C5 C6

NA NA X Electronic Stability Program

C4 NA


Page # 10


ers



(brands)





Blind spot

monitor (brands)


(brands)

Audi Q7 X

A8 A7 A6 Q7 A3 Q5

A6

Electronic Stability Program

(ESP)

X Audi A8

General Motors

Cadillac STS

DTS and Buick

Lucerne

NA Chevrolet-

Impala NA StabiliTrak

Chevrolet-Equinox

Cadillac Deville

BMW 5 series 6 series

NA 5-series X

Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)

3-series 7-series

Volvo

S80 V70 & XC70

executive cars

X

V40 S60 S80

XC60 XC70

Volvo SUVs

Dynamic Stability

and Traction Control (DSTC)

Volvo S80

NA

Mercedes-Benz

E-class X

S B E

CLS CL A M G

GL

NA


(ES

C350 S-class E-class

Kia Motors Cadenza premium

sedan NA Cadenza NA

Electronic Stability Control

(ESC) and Electronic Stability Program

(ESP)

Cadenza NA

Fiat Lancia

Delt NA NA NA


(ESP) and Vehicle

Dynamic Control (VDC)

NA NA

Peugeot Citroën NA NA NA


(ESP)

NA NA


Page # 11


ers



(brands)





Blind spot

monitor (brands)


(brands)

Lexus LS 460 NA

2006 LS 460

2013 GS hybrid

X

Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM)

with Vehicle Stability Control (VSC)

ES LX 470

Ford X NA NA NA Lincoln

Mercury NA

Note: X - System installed in the vehicles but model of the vehicle not mentioned NA – Not Available


Page # 12

7. Conclusion

Though vehicle safety systems were introduced in early 1960s, an alraming increase in the ratio of

accidents has made auto companies to emphasize on the systems. Further, government organizations

have also made a lot of study on ways to prevent road accidents or reduce fatalities. In 2010, with

supports from the member state, WHO has declared 2011 - 2020 as the “Decade of Action for Road

Safety”. Governments are encouraged to implement vehicle safety standards and work in collaboration

with vehicle manufacturing companies to ensure that a larger proportion of fleets comply the standards.

In addition, various independent assessments on the safety performance have encouraged car

companies, mainly in high-income countries, to manufacture safer vehicles exceeding the standards set

by the law. According to the Latin New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) results released in

November 2012, there are positive developments in the vehicle safety across the region. Hence, with the

crash avoidance system becoming a common feature in all passenger vehicles not just the people inside

the vehicle but those outside too will be protected.


Page # 13

Reference

1. http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/transportation/road-safety-motor-vehicle-

accidents-surveying-global-us-data#

2. http://www.answers.com/topic/collision-avoidance-systems

3. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/04/study-reveals-which-car-crash-avoidance-

technology-can-be-a-proven-lifesaver/index.htm

4. http://phys.org/news/2012-07-crash-avoidance.html

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/transportation/road-safety-motor-vehicle-accidents-surveying-global-us-data

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/transportation/road-safety-motor-vehicle-accidents-surveying-global-us-data

http://www.answers.com/topic/collision-avoidance-systems

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/04/study-reveals-which-car-crash-avoidance-technology-can-be-a-proven-lifesaver/index.htm

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/04/study-reveals-which-car-crash-avoidance-technology-can-be-a-proven-lifesaver/index.htm

http://phys.org/news/2012-07-crash-avoidance.html

Automobile collision avoidance system

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