Volvo Car Corporation tackles changes in driving behaviour with new safety systems
By developing several new high-tech safety solutions, Volvo Car Corporation is taking a major step toward its 2020 goal that nobody should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car.
A lot of intensive development work is under way by Volvo Car Corporation's safety experts to deliver on the vision that no Volvo cars are to be involved in collisions in the future. One step on the way is the 2020 goal is that nobody should be seriously injured in a new Volvo car.
"We are taking clear steps in the right direction. We have a number of research projects with the aim to develop technologies for future Volvo models," says Jan Ivarsson, Senior Manager Safety Strategy & Requirements at Volvo Car Corporation.
Many of the new technologies are tailored to the way drivers behave in the modern traffic environment. Today's drivers differ from yesterday's. For instance, surveys from three different research institutes in the USA reveal that modern drivers spend 25 to 30 percent of their time behind the wheel doing other things, such as focusing on mobile communication.
Drivers who make phone calls and who check their email and text messages are becoming increasingly common - and since these situations affect the driver's attention on the road, they have to be taken into account when developing new technologies.
"In the modern mobile society we bring our social lives with us wherever we go. The car is no exception. For us it's quite simply a matter of creating technology that provides the driver with the right support at all times," relates Jan Ivarsson.
Volvo Car Corporation's research focuses on three main areas: staying safely in the current lane, avoiding accidents at crossroads and junctions, and avoiding collisions with wild animals. The following research projects are currently under way:
Autonomous Driving Support
Intersection Support
Animal Detection
Autonomous driving in traffic queues
Autonomous Driving Support helps the driver stay in his or her lane and follow the rhythm of the traffic if queues build up.
"Driving in slow queues is a monotonous and boring part of many drivers' everyday lives. Thanks to technology for autonomous driving, the car can help the driver comfortably and safely follow the vehicle in front," explains Fredrik Lundholm, Function Developer at the Safety Functions department.
Using data from a camera and radar sensors, the car can follow the vehicle in front (see the graphics and video). The engine, brakes and steering respond automatically. If the vehicle in front is forced to make a quick move because of an obstacle in the road, the driver is assisted by the steering system, which makes the car veer in the same direction.
"This function has considerable scope for making the driver's life easier. Our first generation of advanced technology focuses on driving in queues at low speeds. The car follows the vehicle in front in the same lane. However, it is always the driver who decides. He or she can take control at any time," says Fredrik Lundholm.
Automatic braking at intersections
Crossroads and junctions are the most complex part of the modern traffic environment. When many road-users cross each other's paths simultaneously and from different directions, all that is needed is a small mistake to cause a serious accident.
In the USA, 21.5 percent of all fatal accidents in 2007 occurred in intersections, and in 16 EU countries (excluding Sweden) the corresponding figure was 20.6 percent in 2006.
Mattias Brännström, PhD Active Safety Functions, is responsible for Intersection Support, a research project within Volvo Car Corporation in collaboration with the Department of Signals and Systems at Chalmers University of Technology. The system alerts and automatically brakes for crossing traffic when necessary (see the graphics and video).
"Intersection Support uses sensors to assess the entire traffic scenario. If a critical situation is registered, a decision to intervene is taken at lightning speed," explains Mattias Brännström.
He exemplifies this by drawing a queue of cars turning left at an intersection. When the light turns green one car after another turns left. Suddenly an oncoming car drives through the red light - and creates an immediate danger.
"In this situation, the turning car automatically brakes to avoid a collision. Intersection Support thus serves as a system that not only helps deal with the driver's own mistakes, but those of other road users too," explains Mattias Brännström.
He says Volvo Car Corporation's safety approach is about getting cars to behave like people. The sensors are the eyes, the computers are the brain and the brakes are the muscles.
"With our advanced technology we're trying to do the same thing that people would do in the same situation if they have time to react. We want to provide assistance in as many situations as possible," says Mattias Brännström.
In order to obtain the necessary data for the development of these systems, cars are driven hundreds of thousands of kilometres in various traffic environments the world over. After all, the system has to be equally capable of helping drivers in Bangkok and Vancouver - and in a way that is tailored to local variations in driving style and traffic intensity.
Animal Detection focuses on collisions with wild animals
Of course this collection of data is not restricted to urban environments. Out in the countryside and in more remote areas there are many serious collisions involving wild animals.
Accidents involving wild animals are a major international traffic problem. In Canada, about 40,000 such accidents leading to vehicle damage are reported every year. Sweden reported 47,000 animal collisions in 2010. Of these 7,000 were elk collisions. The conditions in Canada and Sweden are also found in Norway, Finland and Russia. In the USA, about 200 people a year are killed in impacts with wild animals, mostly with deer.
However, these official accident statistics do not reveal the whole truth. For instance, they do not include all those accidents in which a driver swerves to avoid an animal and instead collides with another vehicle or veers off the road. According to a University of Umeå study of accidents between 2003 and 2010, no less than 23 percent of fatalities occurred after drivers swerved to avoid elk in the roadway - and these figures do not show up in the official statistics of collisions with wild animals.
Volvo Car Corporation is now working on Animal Detection, a system that detects and automatically brakes for animals both in daylight and in the dark (see the graphics and video).
"The technology is a further development of our pedestrian protection system. Considerable attention has been focused on ensuring that the system works in the dark since most collisions with wild animals take place at dawn and dusk," explains Andreas Eidehall, Technical Expert Active Safety.
Accidents with wild animals often take place at cruising speeds. The aim is to reduce the speed of impact from about 100-110 km/h to below 80 km/h. Once speed drops below 80 km/h, the car's safety systems are effective and the risk of serious injuries is small. This requires the ability to detect the animal from a distance of about 30 metres.
Another important aspect is response time - the time lapse between object identification and system reaction.
"With advanced technology we can shorten the response time still further in order to enhance the system's effectiveness," says Andreas Eidehall.
The system is trained to recognise the shapes of animals and their movement patterns via a vast amount of collected data. The gathering of images of animals in motion takes place on a continuous basis. But since wild animals have in many respects mastered the art of staying out of sight, this is a complex process.
"There is a huge challenge in collecting data that helps us understand how we can detect what nature has done its best to conceal. The focus is on large animals since they cause the most damage and the most severe injuries. We have worked with elk and large stags, but have now also included horses and cattle. One future step will be the ability to detect smaller animals such as deer and wild boar," says Anders Eidehall.
Success requires cooperation
"Development of these technologies is progressing very quickly," Jan Ivarsson concludes. "And with steadily lower prices for sensors and other electronic components, it is our intention that these advanced solutions will in future be fitted to all our cars. Having said that, close cooperation with the relevant public authorities, insurance companies and other car manufacturers is also vital for achieving the vision of an accident-free traffic environment."