Assistance systems make driving safer by giving warnings and support in critical situations. They also look after humdrum, repetitive tasks. As one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, Bosch is actively engaged in further developing these systems. It has all the necessary technologies in its portfolio and is working intensively on networking them, so that it can offer even more powerful functions for increased safety and comfort. Ever more automated driving functions will be stepping stones on the way to “vision zero,” the goal of eradicating road fatalities.
For greater safety, there are predictive emergency braking, lane assistance, and drowsiness detection systems. In the future, these will be joined by predictive pedestrian protection and a construction-zone assistant. For greater comfort, there are parking assistance and night vision systems, road sign recognition, and, in the future, a traffic-jam assist function. In 2012, Bosch generated sales of more than 5 billion euros from assistance and safety systems. Some 5,000 engineers across the globe are working on developing these systems.
Driver assistance is booming – and Bosch along with it
In the future, Euro NCAP will award its top rating of five stars only to vehicles with driver assistance functions: from 2014, vehicles must have at least one assistance function; from 2016, they must have predictive pedestrian protection. This will trigger an additional burst of growth. Car buyers prize assistance systems whose benefits they feel every time they get behind the wheel. Consequently, automakers market them as a feature to set their vehicles apart from the competition. Between the start of series production in 2000 and mid-2013, Bosch manufactured a total of one million 77-gigahertz radar sensors.
The two million mark will be reached by the end of 2014, and it is estimated that the ten million mark will be passed in 2016. Sales of Bosch video sensors have doubled from 2012 to 2013. Since the start of series production in 1993, Bosch has manufactured around 250 million ultrasound sensors. This is the equivalent of roughly 40 million parking aids.
The goal: to reduce the number of road fatalities worldwide
The UN predicts a global increase in road fatalities from 1.3 to 1.9 million in the decade from 2010 to 2020 – a rise of almost 50 percent.
Well over 100,000 people die on Indian roads every year – and sadly, the trend shows no sign of abating.
In the United States, the number of road accident victims fell from 42,000 in 2000 to 33,000 in 2010.
In Europe, the number of road fatalities decreased from 54,000 in 2001 to 30,500 in 2010.
Bosch driver assistance milestones – a long tradition of expertise
1978: the world’s first commercially viable antilock braking system (ABS)
1980: the world’s first electronic airbag control unit
1984: antilock braking system for motorcycles
1989: Bosch “TravelPilot” – Europe’s first navigation system
1993: ultrasound-based parking aid
1995: the world’s first electronic stability program (ESP®)
2000: radar-based adaptive cruise control (ACC)
2008: semi-automatic ultrasound-based parking assistant
2010: the world’s first ultrasound-based blind-spot detection system
2010: predictive emergency braking system
2010: road sign recognition
2010: lane-departure warning systems
2013: electromechanical brake booster (iBooster)
The Bosch driver assistance portfolio:
Brake control systems: The electronic stability program (ESP®) stabilizes a vehicle when it goes into a skid and can brake the vehicle autonomously in defined situations. The iBooster electromechanical brake booster, which will go into production in late 2013, is the future of brake boosting technology. It works without a vacuum and provides situation-dependent support when the driver initiates braking. Moreover, electric vehicles fitted with the iBooster attain particularly high recuperation levels, while assistance systems benefit from its rapid and quiet response.
Electric steering systems: In these products, which are manufactured by the joint venture ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, the degree of steering support can be varied using the system software. The steering system is capable of making automatic stabilizing interventions, and in this way complements the ESP®. This makes it a further essential building block for future assistance systems.
Sensors: the sensory organs of a vehicle.
Radar sensors measure very precisely the distance and speed of other vehicles up to a range of over 200 meters, making them the ideal basis for adaptive cruise control and predictive emergency braking systems. For its radar sensors, Bosch exclusively uses the high-capacity 77-gigahertz frequency band, which has been permanently allocated to automotive applications worldwide. The year 2013 saw the launch of a new, cost-effective generation of the mid-range radar sensor, which is available for use at the front and rear of vehicles.
Video sensors are capable of recognizing anything from road signs and markings to pedestrians and cyclists. The new Bosch stereo video camera, which will enter series production in 2014, has binocular vision and can therefore measure distances. This single-sensor solution covers all new Euro NCAP requirements. Wide-angle video sensors are being increasingly used for parking and maneuvering assistance functions. Because these sensors permit a 360° view (bird’s eye view), they cover the entire close-range area around the vehicle.
Ultrasound sensors: Based on the way bats find their way in the dark, this technology is cost-effective and has been successfully used in parking assistance systems to measure distances for two decades now.
Networked navigation:
Highly efficient assistance systems and wide-ranging automated driving functions require precise map data that is regularly updated via an online connection. A Bosch iPhone app is already available that can report recorded road signs to the “cloud,” while the “electronic horizon” supplies precise information about the route, including road gradients and bend curvatures. Networked vehicle functions use this data to reduce fuel consumption, while electric vehicles use it to extend their range.
User interfaces:
A key to the success of assistance systems is their user interfaces. If assistance functions are to take over progressively wider-ranging driving tasks, they must be intuitive and easy to operate. Consequently, Bosch studies and weighs up the different possible approaches and uses a variety of solutions, including freely programmable display systems and head-up displays. In the future, new visualization methods based on augmented reality will be used to realistically superimpose information such as driving recommendations and proximity warnings onto the actual current traffic situation. Multimodal concepts are another approach to user-friendliness. These interfaces react to gestures, touch, and voice input.
Quotes on the subject of driver assistance:
“The driver-assistance market will see annual growth of over 20 percent over the next few years,” says Wolf-Henning Scheider, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
“Driver assistance will experience a real boom in the coming years,” says the Bosch board of management member Wolf-Henning Scheider, describing the upward trend in a nutshell.
“Stereo technology allows us to open up new potential for video-based safety systems,” says Gerhard Steiger, president of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division. “A mono video camera requires extensive ‘training’ before it can distinguish between different types of objects – such as pedestrians and cars – in its image field. By contrast, a stereo video camera can measure and detect all obstacles based on their movement and distance alone.”
“Assistance systems make driving safer, more eco-friendly, and more relaxing,” says Gerhard Steiger, president of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division.
“Ultrasound, radar, and video – Bosch has all the sensor technologies needed for driver assistance,” says Steiger, “and together with its braking and steering systems and its core competence in vehicle integration, this gives the company an excellent basis for developing new, even more powerful assistance systems.”
