European Market Developments:  'Stop & Go' ACC, Lane Change Support
IVsource.net
6 October 2001

Another form of intelligent vehicle technology is likely to be available to drivers very soon, as a first-order spin-off from the fruitful LACOS project underway in Europe.

Of the many advanced driver assist systems demonstrated by vehicle manufacturers last year at the ITS World Congress in Torino, Italy, the results of the LACOS project were some of the most impressive (see related IVsource article).  LACOS was developed to provide  lane change support to drivers, by monitoring the side and near-rear of the vehicle and also far behind (looking for fast approaching vehicles in an adjacent lane).  In one LACOS system -- demonstrated in a Fiat ridden in by your publisher -- video cameras looked rearward from each side mirror, and a radar mounted on the back bumper provided long range sensing.  Warning icons flashed into view in the side mirrors themselves if an obstacle was present when the turn signal was activated, indicated an impending lane change.

Sources tell IVsource that this type of capability will be introduced on light commercial vehicles next year by a European vehicle manufacturer – but using only the cameras (for a 25-30 m range), and not the radar.  Thus, the system will provide a subset of the LACOS functionality.

“Stop and Go” Adaptive Cruise Control (referred to in shorthand as S&G ACC) may be introduced in the high-end Mercedes Maybach model next year, as well (see past IVsource story on the Maybach).  Other European OEMs are poised to follow their lead within the next two years.  In the overall European Roadmap for Advanced Driver Support Systems, S&G ACC will later evolve into “S&G++” which integrates lateral control (steering) with the ACC for automated car-following operation at low speed (called Low Speed Automation, or LSA).  The Roadmap is a living document that represents a representative consensus among the European vehicle industry.

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