The system from Bosch detects the position and direction of the pedestrian
project UR:BAN (acronym of the German for ‘space urban: care systems easy-to-use, and management of the network’) has as its objective the development of driver assistance systems in the urban environment, avoiding accidents and violations. The importance of this type of research is seen by realizing that in Spain will produce about 11,000 violations each year, of which the vast majority (93%) take place in urban areas because that is where, obviously, there is a greater presence of pedestrians.
the costs of The UR:BAN is about 80 million euros approximately and is financed with public funds -by the time, half has already been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy – and the collaboration of 31 organisations and companies from different sectors.
The German manufacturer of components for automobiles Bosch is one of them and its researchers, including Dietrich Manstetten, and Lutz Bürkle, have been told which are the key elements of the project submitted this month and how to operate the systems of care that have been developed.
The processors of the study analyzed the data collected by the cameras more than ten times per second
The work of Manstetten, Bürkle and their teams of researchers on the project UR:BAN have resulted in a system that monitors the environment of the vehicle, identifying where are the pedestrians and cyclists. In the case of detecting a potential impact, helping the driver to stop the car and to perform a maneuver to dodge in case it is needed. The system works up to 50 km/h.
Manstetten notes that these security technologies are the step prior to the conduction region. “driving automated, is coming also to the cities. The level of automation is increasing gradually, starting with the driver assistance systems”, explains.
to Detect the pedestrian… and know where you are going
The two key aspects of systems security as it will prevent the majority of accidents is identify the environment and anticipate events. For this reason, the vehicles in the study employ multiple sensors that monitor everything that happens around the car. Bosch has developed a video camera stereo to recognize the environment.
The wizard maneuvers to dodge also detect cyclists in the vicinity of the car
“Only when we know what is happening around the car we can determine the correct strategy for driving”, says Bürkle. A processor is responsible for analyzing the data collected by the camera, and not only detect where there are pedestrians and cyclists, but also to where you are going.
recently, we asked ourselves: can an algorithm predict accidents? Well, Bürkle explains that “by means of intelligent algorithms, we make the computer calculate any change that occurs in the environment and where they are headed objects”. This way you increase the chances to avoid the possible accident. “One of the things that we have taught to the cars, is to to predict what’s going to happen next, and thus help the drivers to make evasive action when there is an imminent risk of impact to a pedestrian”, concludes Bürkle.
in a situation of risk, the system of Bosch can completely stop the car before they can get to cause an accident by helping the driver to apply the brakes with greater intensity. In addition, if the driver gives a swerve to avoid the obstacle, the system to support the maneuver of address to be more accurate and do not lose control of the vehicle.
Other systems investigated are trying to alert distracted drivers to face a situation of risk
initial tests have shown a satisfactory and Bürkle points out that “provided that the driver reacts at least half a second before a possible collision, the system of assistance can help to prevent this finally occurs in 58% of cases”.
This is one of several systems that are being studied. Also interesting is the driving assistance that helps the maneuvering of the vehicle through confined spaces. Through the images taken by the video camera stereo, the processor calculates the trajectory that should bring the car and controls the electric power steering to pass through the narrow gap safely.
Nor should we forget that many of the accidents are the product of the distraction of the conductor so that another line of research points out that, according to Manstetten, “by monitoring of the line of vision of the driver, a tiny camera located in the interior of the vehicle can know if his eyes are looking in the right direction”.
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