Visteon’s “Smart Radar Cocoon” Hatching Sophisticated Active Safety Capabilities
IVsource.net
19 September 2001

Visteon Corporation recently announced a joint development agreement with Raytheon Company,  through its Commercial Electronics Group, aimed at developing next-generation radar-based sensors for Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Visteon’s advanced safety solutions are intended to improve driver visibility and provide additional reaction time to help drivers avoid collisions.  According to recent press releases, Visteon's systems integration approach aims to integrate several radar technologies to create a "Smart Radar Cocoon."  This cocoon is basically a 360-degree awareness area surrounding the exterior of a vehicle that features programmable sensing zones.

"Safety is a priority of our OEM customers and the consumer.  And we are committed to developing systems that help our OEM customers provide better, safer vehicles for consumers," said Huw Davies, Visteon's Europe-based Customer Business Group Platform Director.  "This technology-driven system is an example of that commitment and Visteon's systems integration expertise."

The system monitors the entire vehicle's surroundings, sensing and alerting drivers to other nearby vehicles or objects.  And unlike many radar systems today that only track moving objects, Visteon's system provides stopped object detection as well.

The technologies that make up Visteon's Smart Radar "Cocoon" include those below.

• Visteon's Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), a cornerstone technology of the company's collision avoidance systems.  Using long-range, forward-looking radar and vehicle dynamics data, ACC can sense traffic and determine which targets are in the vehicle's predicted lane of travel.  Features of Visteon's ACC system include the ability to set predetermined speeds and the ability to maintain a pre-set gap between the driver's vehicle and the vehicle in front – a convenience feature that can reduce driver workload.  ACC automatically reduces the speed of a vehicle when it detects slower moving traffic or stopped objects.  When slower traffic clears, the vehicle automatically returns to its pre-set speed.  Using fixed-beam radar, Visteon's ACC system works under varying traffic and weather conditions, and is effective even when there is poor visibility.

• While the ACC system determines objects in the vehicle's predicted lane of travel, Visteon's Near Object Warning System, another "cocoon" technology, uses near-range, configurable radar sense zones to detect and warn drivers if another vehicle or obstacle enters the detection zone. The system helps improve driver safety, awareness, and confidence by providing a real-time, 360-degree continuous assessment of the driving environment, including traffic conditions and imminent hazards.

• An "electronic bumper" complements the Near Object Warning System by using electronic throttle and braking to maintain a predetermined distance from vehicles in the front and rear.

• Radar-based sensors provide an "advanced back-up aid" with an expanded field-of-view to detect and alert drivers to objects behind the vehicle while backing-up or parking.  This expanded field-of-view, combined with the predicted vehicle trajectory (determined via steering wheel angle input), alerts drivers to objects within its predicted path.

• Visteon's side object warning system also uses short-range radar sensors, located in key areas of the vehicle's exterior, to detect and warn drivers of objects within the detection zone on the side of the vehicle, in an adjacent lane.

• Visteon's lane change aid uses short-range radar to warn the driver if another vehicle or object is in the way during turns and lane changes.

All of Visteon's radars use 24 GHz technology, although the company is separately developing 77 GHz technology for future generations of the system.

The smart radar "cocoon" works well with Visteon's other enabling technologies to further improve driver visibility and provide additional reaction time to help drivers avoid collisions.  

Conceptual illustration of Visteon’s Smart Radar Cocoon system

Visteon expects to bring key enabling technologies -- including ACC with stopped object detection and the 360-degree Near Object Detection System -- to several vehicle manufacturers for the 2004 calendar year.

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For More Information ...

... see www.visteon.com. 

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