BMW Group driver assistance systems. More comfort, greater assurance, improved safety. Pooling strengths: the system proposes the driver decides.

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1 BMW Group driver assistance systems. More comfort, greater assurance, improved safety. Pooling strengths: the system proposes the driver decides. Driver assistance systems are vehicle functions which help the driver to take in information and make the right decisions, and relieve him of awkward driving tasks. In the future, the targeted provision of information will make it even easier for the driver to make the right decisions quickly. The result is assured responses at the wheel, even in complex road situations. To this end, the primary aim is always for man and machine to combine their strengths through an intelligent sharing of tasks.

2 The 3-level model. The driving tasks in a car can be subdivided into three levels: Navigation, Lane-keeping and Vehicle Control. Driver assistance systems provide useful support on all three levels. As the driver we are and will remain the element of the driver-vehicle-environment triangle with the most control. However, despite our strengths we repeatedly come up against our physiological limits. In certain situations, assistance from a technical system where it has definite and clearly recognisable added value is useful and desirable. The 3-level model Navigation. Lane-Keeping. Vehicle Control. Navigation. Navigating around the road network is a multilayered and challenging task, but one which is already made a great deal easier for the driver by a satellite-based navigation system. This technology plans the best route for the journey before the driver sets off, amends the route during the journey in response to the latest traffic information, for example and provides additional information, such as the characteristics of the road ahead, congestion bulletins and detailed information on all kinds of features, landmarks and amenities along the way. Lane-keeping. Driver assistance systems such as the Lane Departure Warning system or Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function make driving easier and help the driver to take the right decisions at the wheel. Vehicle Control. Chassis control systems hugely increase safety in critical driving situations by intervening directly in various elements of the vehicle processes, such as the management of engine output and braking impulses. Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), for example, prevents the vehicle from oversteering and keeps it on track. Out on the road, the latest driver assistance systems often see these three levels overlap. However, all of these systems serve the purpose of relieving the stress on the driver, improving his performance at the wheel and thus enhancing comfort and safety. Driver-vehicle-environment triangle - Flexibility to respond to the situation as required - Rapid decision-making, even in highly complex situations - Forward-thinking responses - Rapid interpretation of situations - Strongly developed ability to improvise - Instantaneous ethical assessment of situations The best of both worlds Human strengths Strengths of technical systems - No susceptibility to fatigue, stress or distraction - Objective measuring and assessment of physical values such as distance and relative speed - Fast pre-programmed reactions with high level of precision - Precise and reliable repetition of pre-defined processes 2 3

3 Benefit to customers is the focal point. The primary concern of the BMW Group in the application of assistance systems is always the benefit to customers. Driver assistance systems need to demonstrate clear added value for the driver; they have to be reliable, user-friendly, practical, safe and functional. This is the exacting standard demanded of all the company s developments. Driver assistance systems of yesterday BMW Group takes on a pioneering role. Systems such as the Head-Up Display, Night Vision and parking systems are underpinned by state-of-the-art, innovative technologies developed since the start of the current millennium. However, driver assistance has been a firm fixture in BMW Group vehicles for over 30 years. Relieving stress through delegation of tasks Aim: Relieving stress. Driver assistance systems relieve the stress on the driver by assuming responsibility for repetitive tasks to a pre-defined degree. High-Beam Assistant is a prime example. This system automatically switches off the full-beam headlights when a vehicle comes into view on either side of the road ahead, or if the road is already sufficiently illuminated e.g. in built-up areas. The switch from low beam to full beam also takes place automatically. The system is based on a camera integrated into the rear-view mirror Everyday driving + + Cutting the driver s workload Extending range of competency Better skills which monitors brightness and other vehicles on the road. This technology significantly reduces the burden on the driver. Aim: Extending range of competency. Driver assistance systems expand the range of the driver s ability by providing him with relevant information on the current driving situation such as the characteristics of the road ahead and difficult-to-spot objects at night. This enables the driver to react with greater assurance and foresight. Leading the way through the decades. How it all began. 1976: Check-Control 1978: Cruise Control, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) 1980: Trip computer 1981: Service interval indicator 1987: ASC (Automatic Stability Control) 1991: Park Distance Control (ultrasoundbased parking aid) 1992: Xenon light 1994: Integrated navigation system 2000: Active Cruise Control 2001: Two-stage brake light 2003: Active Steering Adaptive Headlights Head-up Display World premiere: assistance systems in the 1970s, the radar-equipped BMW Turbo, ABS, the precursor to the trip computer and much more besides. In 1972 BMW presented the world s first safety sports car : the BMW Turbo. This new model was designed as an innovative research laboratory on wheels and saw BMW showcase a range of groundbreaking driver assistance systems: ABS, a radar-controlled distance warning device and a lateral acceleration measuring system were pioneering developments which set the benchmark for driving safety over the years to come. The radar-controlled distance warning device alerted the driver with a buzzing sound if he drew too close to the vehicle in front and reduced the car s speed to avoid a rear-end collision. The BMW Turbo was also fitted with a new system which kept a constant eye on the car s safety status. This was the precursor to Check Control. The BMW Group can look back on more than three decades of development work in which it has taken a leading role with numerous innovations and prepared successful driver assistance systems for introduction into series production. For example: In 1978 BMW launched the BMW 7 Series, the world s first series-produced vehicle fitted with ABS and Cruise Control. In 1987 BMW developed Automatic Stability Control (ASC), which helped to stop the driven wheels from spinning and prevent the resultant under-/oversteer when accelerating out of corners. In 1994 the BMW 750i was fitted with Europe s first integrated navigation system. The process that began as an experiment with the BMW Turbo in 1972 quickly became reality: pioneering driver assistance systems brought successful and groundbreaking active safety measures and enhanced comfort to all BMW Group vehicles. 4 5

4 Driver assistance today. The BMW Group offers its customers a broad spectrum of innovative driver assistance technologies which meet the company s high standards. These include systems that improve visibility, chassis control systems and comfort functions, as well as efficient information management and solutions for the interface between man and machine. Light and sight. Improvements in visibility, in particular at night, allow drivers to respond safely and with great assurance to situations on the road. BMW Group driver assistance systems in this area include Adaptive Headlights, High-Beam Assistant and Night Vision: During the hours of darkness, the thermal imaging camera of the Night Vision system ensures that people and animals on the road are clearly visible. Differences in temperature are detected as much as 300 metres ahead of the car and the area illuminated by the fullbeam headlights is significantly extended. High-Beam Assistant Dynamics and safety. The Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) one of the early groundbreaking driver assistance systems is now an essential feature of all BMW Group vehicles. Today, this system comes as part of a package with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) to facilitate car control and enhance driving safety. DSC detects understeer or oversteer in its early stages. By analysing the car s yaw rate, and at the same time taking into account the steering wheel position, vehicle speed, lateral acceleration and lateral movement, DSC can detect vehicle instability in an instant. Through finely calculated brake impulses and tweaks in the engine management, the system adjusts the forces channelled through the individual wheels and brings the car back onto the course set by the driver through his steering wheel position. ACC Stop & Go Lane Departure Warning system progress between vehicles, free from stress and the danger of accidents. In so doing, the car accelerates, brakes and stops automatically within defined limits according to the traffic situation. The driver receives an audible and visual alert if heavier braking is required. Adaptive Headlights As an extension of conventional headlights, Adaptive Headlights are fitted with horizontally pivoting light modules. Sensors constantly record data such as speed and steering angle. Electromechanical motors adjust the illumination from the xenon headlights to follow the path and characteristics of corners. Night Vision The electronic zoom function, meanwhile, displays an enlarged image of objects located further away. Using thermal radiation to produce a black-and-white image of the scene ahead allows the driver to spot living obstacles on the road that much more quickly. At a speed of 100 km/h, these key attributes give the driver up to five seconds longer to react as required. Road Preview Functions such as Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function (ACC Stop & Go) support the driver in a linear flow of traffic. This system controls the speed of the car and its distance to the vehicle in front. ACC Stop & Go uses radar sensors to calculate the permanent acceleration and braking manoeuvres sometimes to a standstill required in heavy traffic conditions and tailbacks. The system adapts the car s speed in slow-moving traffic according to the progress of the vehicle in front, allowing the driver to maintain safe The Lane Departure Warning system provides assistance for the driver when it comes to lateral manoeuvres. This system uses a camera mounted into the rear-view mirror to recognise lane markings, and warns the driver by sending vibrations through the steering wheel if the car is moving unintentionally towards the lane marking. This feedback through the steering wheel indicates to the driver where he needs to take action, enabling him to respond intuitively as required. Lane Departure Warning system 6 7

5 Comfort and parking. Parking is a manoeuvre which lends itself well to technical assistance. Parking requires manoeuvring skill and is also a process which, from a technical point of view, can be broken down into stages. These stages can then be reconstructed into reliable images by the requisite systems. Active safety. The term Active safety is used to categorise functions which prevent accidents or by optimising braking force, for example reduce the impact energy if an accident cannot be avoided. Systems which protect the driver in an accident, such as airbags, belt tensioners and many more, come under the umbrella term passive safety. Human Interaction Machine Today s driver assistance systems are making an increasingly significant contribution to active safety. Accident assessment statistics show that these measures are continuing to reduce the total number of accidents and thus also the frequency of injuries and fatalities: Differentiation between types of accident resulting in death in 2006 Accident statistics and data on the course of events up to and including accidents serve as the basis for the development of driver assistance systems. Chassis control systems are therefore designed to help prevent the type of accident with the most serious consequences, i.e. singlevehicle accidents. Park Distance Control (PDC) is a popular parking aid. Ultrasound sensors in the front and/or rear bumpers keep the driver updated audibly and visually on the distance to the nearest car, garage wall or other obstacles. This system also enables the accurate judgement of the distance to objects within 1.5 metres of the car which are not in the driver s field of vision. Development of accidents resulting in death from 1953 to Passive and increasingly active safety measures have led to a steady reduction in fatal accidents since Breakdown into accident types fatalities in 2006 (Germany) Proportion [%] 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 42% Singlevehicle accidents 21% 18% Fatalities (Germany) Urban - 27% of all fatalities Extra-urban (excl. motorways) - 60% of all fatalities Motorways - 13% of all fatalities 10% 8% 1% Accidents occurring in Crossing intersection Others In stationary traffic same or opposite direction traffic Human-machine interaction. Today s driver assistance systems have a considerable influence over how we experience mobility. They improve our performance at the wheel, relieve the stress of driving, provide us with relevant information and thus significantly increase road safety. To this end, making the assistance systems as effortless and intuitive to use as possible is of particular importance. The BMW Group therefore focuses special attention on the human-machine interface in the development process. Machine to man displaying information. The design process sees the developers focusing in particular on ensuring that information is presented as clearly as possible to the driver (in terms of audibility, visibility or touch, i.e. the type of sound, colour or size used) while causing the least possible distraction from the road. In addition, the signals should be given in the area where the driver will react to them. For example, steering wheel vibrations enable the driver to respond more quickly and effectively to an alert from the Lane Departure Warning system than a signal light in the display. Here, the driver first has to see and understand the information before translating it into an appropriate response. This would result in the loss of too much valuable time. Man to machine the user-friendliness of functions. Every driver assistance system is developed to be as easy, intuitive and ergonomic to use as possible. Here again, the amount of time the driver has to look away from the road is minimised. Buttons are positioned to deliver a confirmation of activation or deactivation that he can feel by clicking perceptibly into place, for example. This means that the driver does not need to divert his eyes away from the road to use the system. 8 9

6 Head-up Display. Head-up Display, introduced into BMW Group vehicles in 2003, represented a breakthrough in the control and display concept. This system projects dynamic information affecting the driver (speed, navigation instructions and, in the future, data such as the characteristics of the corner) onto the windscreen. The driver perceives this information as floating two metres in front of him. He has all the relevant information directly in his line of vision, meaning that distraction and diversion of his gaze are reduced to a minimum. Where does our journey go from here? What will be the shape of driver assistance in the future? In the future, cars will be able to adapt their driving characteristics with impressive flexibility to either the environmental conditions or the wishes of the driver. For the customer, this means more driving pleasure, improved safety and greater comfort. Classical driver assistance systems will take on new characteristics, e.g. parking aids will be able take over the job of steering into parking spaces from the driver, if desired. Human factor is center stage In addition, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-toinfrastructure communications will grow increasingly in importance. Car2X communications which work using ad-hoc networks and wireless data transfer can be used to bring about further reductions in accident numbers and enhance traffic flow. Data collected by the driver s car and other vehicles can be combined to produce a timely warning for the driver of an obstacle lurking around an upcoming corner, for example, or ice on a motorway exit. In the same way, data concerning vehicle positions and current status can be used to provide the driver with real-time information on traffic tailbacks, roadworks and closed roads, and to recommend an alternative route. The traffic light assistant sees the car communicating not with other vehicles, but with the traffic lights themselves i.e. with the traffic network infrastructure. The system evaluates the latest data collected on tailbacks and the duration of the various traffic light phases, and compares it with the car s current speed. Like an electronic co-pilot, it then recommends to the driver at what speed he should approach the lights in order to arrive at the intersection with the signals still on green, or if he should coast smoothly and economically to a halt at the lights. Car2Car Communication Intersection assistant Head-Up Display The next generation of driver assistance technology will see the systems able to recognise and differentiate between objects on the road. This object recognition will be made possible by a targeted fusion of sensor data. As humans, we benefit from the combined input of our various senses. In the same way, the potential of the driver assistance systems increases when the different vehicle senses the data from the sensors, in other words interlink and overlap to a greater degree. A good example is radar and thermal imaging. When combined, these two sources of data provide more reliable information on the car s environment. However, the driver retains absolute control over the car at all times. Complex decisions are still down to the driver; rapid information processing is the job of the vehicle electronics. The aim is to assist the driver, provide him with information or warn him, thus preventing accidents through the use of preventative technology. After all, 50 per cent of serious accidents can be attributed to the driver not having enough information. Combining onboard electronics and the car s communications with its environment would provide a solution to this problem and open up a whole new range of possibilities for driver assistance and information systems in the future. Vehicle and traffic lights communicate with one another Research projects currently pointing the way into this future include the intersection assistant and traffic light assistant. These systems aid the art of driving with foresight and are based not purely on onboard systems, but communications with the environment around the vehicle. The intersection assistant detects vehicles approaching the intersection motorcycles in particular when they are concealed or still out of the driver s field of vision. The human factor will continue to occupy centre stage in the future and driving will be our job for a long time to come. Only the driver can take responsibility, which is why the BMW Group places commensurately high demands on the systems of the future. Clear benefits for the customer, intuitive usability, enhanced comfort and safety, and impressive reliability are the requirements here. And so we can continue to enjoy the pleasure of driving our cars

7 Information online: BMW Group BMW MINI BMW ScienceClub BMW Forschung und Entwicklung Institut für Mobilitätsforschung BMW Group PressClub BMW Group publications An overview of selected publications in German and English can be obtained from Telefax: +49(0) 89/ Publisher Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft Technology Communication D München BMW AG The content of this brochure was correct at the time of printing. Subject to change. Status 08/08