Pioneering autonomous driving
Autonomous driving has become a
reality, current series production vehicles, such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class
already control individual elements. Thirty years ago, the European PROMETHEUS
cooperative project established the foundations for the networked mobility of
tomorrow. The findings have long since been integrated into numerous everyday
technologies, such as DISTRONIC PLUS adaptive cruise control or the PRE-SAFE® concept. These and many more developments will lead to the
fully automatic vehicle – it's almost tangible.
Press
Information
20 September 2016
|
Stuttgart.
On 1 October 1986 when PROMETHEUS was launched, only experts were aware of
the project's magnitude: The "Programme
for a European traffic of highest efficiency and unprecedented
safety" (in German: Programm für ein europäisches
Transportwesen mit höchster effizienz und unerreichter
Sicherheit"). The following, specific questions formed the basis:
What must be done for cars to also enable maximum mobility in the future? How
can we increase safety despite an increasing number of vehicles to reduce the
number of accidents? How can we boost efficiency? How do we harmonise the flow
of traffic without building new roads? How do we achieve all these goals while
simultaneously preserving the environment? The research programme was set to
analyse these and many more questions. What was then Daimler-Benz AG launched
the European cooperative project. For over eight years, it represents a
cooperation between several, European automotive manufacturers, electronics and
supplier companies, universities and institutes.
"It soon became clear to us that there would
only be one solution for the increasing number of traffic issues", Walter
Ziegler, PROMETHEUS project manager at Mercedes-Benz, said at a past event.
"We had to integrate new technologies into road traffic – most of all
microelectronics, sensors, telecommunications and information processing – as
comprehensively as possible." Back then that represented major
developments. At that point, no one could have been able to anticipate the
scale to which electronics have taken over our everyday lives. Neither could we
have been able to foresee that almost all technologies developed as part of
PROMETHEUS would be in or close to series production nowadays.
VITA drives autonomously
As part of PROMETHEUS, Mercedes-Benz achieved the
highest level of intelligent vehicle with the VITA vehicle. Small video cameras
installed behind the windscreen and rear window of an S-Class to enable a
steering of the vehicle using automatic image processing. Thanks to these
electronic eyes, the on-board computer is always aware of what is going on
around the vehicle. VITA – an abbreviation of "Vision Information
Technology Application" – is a genuine autopilot that can brake,
accelerate and steer. The computer detects the course of the road and also
registers whether the vehicle is on collision course with other objects. The
primary goal is automatic collision prevention: we are keen to demonstrate that
what is commonly known as "computer vision" can prevent accidents.
However, it does boil down to autonomous driving.
It was in October 1994 when
the research vehicle covered more than 1,000 kilometres on a three-lane
motorway in normal traffic at speeds of up to 130 km/h while demonstrating
lane changes in both directions as well as autonomous overtaking after approval
by the safety driver.
A previous version of the VITA vehicle was
initially developed on the basis of a Mercedes-Benz van and its spacious load
area was packed with computer technology. The S-Class as an evolution already
represented an important step towards miniaturisation and consequently series
production maturity.
DISTRONIC,
PRE-SAFE® brake, navigation system and Car-2-X
Intelligent cruise control, a function that
always maintains the required, safe distance, is a sub-project of VITA. As soon
as the infrared sensor identifies a slower object ahead, the vehicle is
automatically braked until it maintains a safe distance. Drivers can override
the function at any time. Daimler-Benz advanced the project, named it Traffonic
and used radar sensors in the process. Such a system has long since reached
series maturity at Mercedes-Benz, i.e. DISTRONIC or DISTRONIC PLUS. The
automatic PRE-SAFE® brake has also long since reached series
maturity.
Communication played a major role in further
PROMETHEUS sub-projects. In this context, researchers were working on dual
route guidance to relieve drivers. It was the precursor of the navigation
system. Back then it had to make do without assistance from satellites as this
technology had not yet been released for civilian use. The sub-project also
involved communication between vehicles, for instance to prevent collisions or
warn each other of black ice patches – nowadays known as "Car-to-X"
technology.
Nowadays
fleet management is standard
Cross-border communication is the key term of a
further PROMETHEUS sub-project by Daimler-Benz researchers: freight and fleet
management. It is designed to enable freight forwarders an efficient use of
transport capacities and also react flexibly to unforeseen events. The tests
surrounded a mobile online connection between freight forwarders and their
vehicles. Distribution managers can identify their vehicles' positions using
terrestrial and satellite-based radio systems. They can send their vehicles
messages that will pop up on driver's screens via a central computer system. An
enhanced system known as FleetBoard® is a matter of course in
today's on-road goods transport.
A further sub-project called STORM (Stuttgart
Transport Operation by Regional Management) tests
regional traffic management using a series of ideas and results from
PROMETHEUS. In this process, use of the available traffic infrastructure
throughout the Stuttgart region is improved by linking and enhancing available
traffic guidance systems: with the objective to reduce the environmental impact
and increase the safety and efficiency of traffic within the region. The main
claim is to provide traffic participants with all information and assistance at
the right time and in the right place so they can responsibly choose their mode
of transport.
Additional innovations, such as lane change
assistance or parking aid are also routed in the PROMETHEUS research programme.
"It was well ahead of its time", Werner Breitschwerdt retrospectively
analyses the project, having been responsible between 1977 and 1983 for
research and development as a member of the Daimler-Benz AG Executive Board and
ultimately also between 1983 and 1987 as chair of the company's executive
board. PROMETHEUS lives on in current vehicles and future, fully automatic
vehicles.
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