Vehicle safety features

HOW CAN AUTOMATED AND CONNECTED VEHICLES IMPROVE

ROAD SAFETY?
SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES

• Self-driving (or fully autonomous / automated) vehicles will not require any
driver input and will have the ability to navigate independently. Using on-
board sensors and evaluation equipment, they will have a 360-degree view of
their surroundings at all times.

• Removing the driver from the equation will also reduce the element of human
error in driving, which is the cause in 90% of all accidents today. A self-
driving car simply will not hold a mobile phone behind the wheel nor will it
exceed speed limits or drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

• Indeed, it is estimated that the large-scale introduction of self-driving

vehicles can significantly reduce the number of road accidents. As these
vehicles come equipped with sophisticated on-board sensors, cameras, GPS,
radar and safety systems, they will also be able to drastically reduce the
impact of any remaining accidents.
 AUTOMATED VEHICLES AND ADVANCED DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS (ADAS)

• Self-driving vehicles are unlikely to be widely available before 2030. However, over
the span of just a few years, we have already seen the commercial introduction of
vehicles with increasing degrees of partial automation. These automated vehicles are
now able to perform an increasing number of driving tasks in specific scenarios, such
as automatic parking and highway pilot.

• Likewise, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can already take over safety-
critical functions (such as steering and braking) from the driver under certain
circumstances. Active safety measures such as autonomous emergency braking
(AEB) and lane keeping assistance (LKA) are examples of (partially-automated) ADAS
technology helping to avoid human error and prevent accidents that are in-use today.

• ADAS will also play a crucial role in the medium-term to prepare drivers and other
road users for the reality of cars taking over control from drivers, as we gradually
move towards fully automated vehicles.
CONNECTED VEHICLES
• In addition to the development of (partially) automated vehicles, there is also
a surge in making use of connectivity and information-sharing to further
improve road safety. Exchanging safety-critical information between nearby
vehicles and infrastructure makes it possible to drive down the number of
accidents and casualties.

• So-called Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) are increasingly

facilitating networking between connected vehicles and their surroundings.
C-ITS can detect the flow of traffic, its speed and density. Using this
information it is possible to impose variable speed limits, to determine
whether to open or close traffic lanes and to help avert accidents.

• Construction workers, for example, can automatically inform approaching

traffic of a temporary speed limit and hazards on the road ahead can be
flagged by the police.
ABS
Working of Anti-lock Braking System
(ABS)
• The controller (ECU-Electronic Control Unit) reads the signal from each of the
speed sensors of the wheel.
• As the brakes are suddenly applied by the driver, this makes the wheel to
decelerate at faster rate and may cause the wheel to Lock.
• As the ECU reads the signal which indicates the rapid decrease in the speed of the
wheel, it sends signal to the valve which makes the valve close and the pressure to
the brake pad reduces and prevents the wheel from locking.
• The wheel again starts to accelerate, again the signal sends to the controller, this
time it opens the valve, increasing the pressure to the brake pad and brakes are
applied, this again reduces the speed of the wheel and tries to make it stop.
• This process of applying brakes and releasing it happens 15 times in a second
when a driver suddenly applies the brake harder. Due to this the locking of the
wheel is prevented and the skidding of the vehicle eliminated. During braking
with ABS system, the driver can steer the vehicle and reduces the risk of vehicle
M
 WORKING PRINCIPLE OF ESC
• The main function of this system is to improve the handling
performance of the vehicle and prevent possible accidents during
severe driving maneuvers
• These systems stabilize the vehicle by applying the necessary yaw
moment (generated by individual braking force on each wheel)
and regulating the side slip angle of the vehicle based on a
comparison between the vehicle state and the driver's demand.
• ESC systems also reduce the power from the engine during
excessive steering.
• In an oversteer situation, the vehicle turns more than the driver
intended because the rear end loses traction and slides out.
Understeer occurs when the front wheels lose traction and the
vehicle turns less than the driver intended.
• The ESC system uses the steering angle and vehicle speed to
calculate the intended path of the vehicle. Using a yaw rate sensor
in combination with a lateral acceleration sensor, the system
calculates the actual path of the vehicle.
• In the normal control loop, the driver detects the deviation of the
vehicle from the current road trajectory and corrects it through
the steering system.
• When the driver is about to lose control of the vehicle, the
electronic stability control system senses the deviation between
the intended path of the vehicle and the actual path of the vehicle.
The ESC system generates the necessary yaw moment by
automatically actuating a braking force on the correct wheel to
pull the vehicle back to the intended path.
AEB (autonomous
Emergency Brake)
How Does The Autonomous Braking System Work?
The Autonomous emergency braking system relies on different sensors for its operations. It
has different radar sensors mounted on bumpers, windshields, or front grille. Some of the
AEB systems rely on cameras, and other advanced ones rely on both cameras and radar
sensors. These are what the cameras and radar sensors do and how they do it;
• The radar or camera sensors continuously observe your car’s surroundings and monitor
the distance between your car and another car or a pedestrian.
• If there is a swift reduction in the distance, the system immediately signals a warning.
• The driver then receives the warning through an audio or visual method, depending on
the model of your car.
• If you don’t react to the warning quickly, the AEB steps in and automatically applies
brakes.
• The Electronic Control Unit (ECU) monitors your car and can detect if you are away from
the throttle. It then applies the brake manually.
• The Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) helps the emergency brake assist/AEB slow down the
vehicle or put the car to stop.
• The most advanced AEB systems can also detect stationary objects, moving pedestrians,
cyclists and car
LDW (lane Departure Warning)
How does Lane Departure Warning
Work?
A vehicle’s lane departure warning system uses
forward-facing cameras mounted on the windshield, near the rearview
mirror. Cameras monitor lane markings. If the vehicle starts to leave the
marked lane while the turning signal is off, the system alerts the driver.
A lane departure alert can be an audible alert, a dashboard indicator, or
a seat or steering wheel vibration.
LKA (Lane Keeping assistance)
How does lane-keeping assist work?

• Using cameras looking ahead at the road surface, the lane-keeping

assist (LKA) system monitors for road markings, including the stripes
along the sides of the road as well as the lane dividing markers, in
order to keep the vehicle centered in its lane. Each system requires its
own level of confidence in the lane markings, but once the threshold
is met, the system will typically announce its availability through an
icon on the vehicle's instrument panel. The system can then be
activated by the driver, often with a button on the steering wheel.
What is the difference between lane-keeping assist and lane
departure warning?

• As noted above, lane-keeping assist systems are typically parts of larger active safety feature suites, and those
suites often include other lane-keeping-related functions. Among those are:
• Road-departure assist or mitigation (RDM or RDA)
Lane-departure warning (LDW)
Lane-centering assist (LCA)
• Road-departure assist is often part of the LKA system, but it is sometimes classified as a separate function; it
does what its name indicates, helping to prevent the vehicle from leaving the road surface. It does this
through the same sensors and controls as the LKA system would.
• Lane-departure warning is often integrated with LKA, as alerting the driver is the first stage of keeping the
vehicle in the lane in a driver-assistance paradigm. As a passive (as opposed to active, meaning it only warns
the driver that they are drifting out of their lane but doesn't correct the problem) system, lane-departure
warning may be considered the most basic technology designed to help a driver keep their vehicle in the
proper lane.
• Lane-centering assist is what people sometimes are thinking of when they hear lane-keeping assist. While LKA
will help keep you from errantly departing your lane, LCA will help keep the vehicle near the center of the
lane, a subtle but important distinction, as the LCA systems function more like a semi-autonomous vehicle.
TPMS (tire
Pressure
Monitoring
System)
Type 1 - Direct tire pressure monitoring system
• A direct TPMS measures tire pressure reading from sensors inside the tire valve. These readings are then sent to
your vehicle’s computer. If there’s an issue, it creates a dashboard alert – which is why you see the warning light
near your steering wheel.
• Usually, a direct TPMS sends an alert if air pressure drops by 25% or more. In newer cars, it may tell you which
tire is low in pressure on the dashboard, so you know which one needs air. The TPMS may also notify you of
what the air pressure is and what it needs to be, which makes it easier when you get to your nearest petrol
station.
• Other tire monitoring systems simply let you know something is wrong with any of the four tires, which means
you’ll need to check them manually. You may also need to dig out the car handbook to see what the PSI level
should be – or do a quick online search.
• Direct TPMS are the most common form of sensor because they’re more accurate. They take readings directly
from the tire valve in each tire, leaving less room for error. That said, they can be easily damaged when removing
and fitting new tires, which can cause them to detect non-existent problems.

Type 2 - Indirect tire pressure monitoring system

• An indirect TPMS relies on wheel speed sensors, rather than air pressure sensors. They detect a drop in pressure
through the anti-lock braking system (ABS), which measures the tire’s speed and revolution. Essentially, a flat
tire will spin faster and make more turns (revolutions). That means these sensors look for an increase in both
speed and revolution to alert you to a tire pressure problem.
• In general, indirect TPMS are less accurate because they assess speed rather than air pressure – even though
they warn you of a drop in pressure. If you fit a new tire with a slightly different size, it may cause the system to
flag a drop in pressure despite having a fully inflated tire.
SLI (speed limit information)
ISA (intelligent speed assistance)
How Does Intelligent Speed Assistance
Work?
• ISA systems use video cameras or GPS-linked speed limit data to
detect the posted speed limit. Once the speed limit is detected, the
ISA system will provide a warning to the driver if they exceed the
posted speed.
• For example, if the posted speed limit is 50 km/h. The ISA system
would alert the driver if they were driving over 50 km/h. The driver
would then have the option to slow down or ignore the warning.
PSB (pre-tensioned seat belt)
PSB (pre-tensioned seat belt)
Air bag
How airbags work
• When a car hits something, it starts to decelerate (lose speed) very rapidly.
• An accelerometer (electronic chip that measures acceleration or force) detects the change
of speed.
• If the deceleration is great enough, the accelerometer triggers the airbag circuit. Normal
braking doesn't generate enough force to do this.
• The airbag circuit passes an electric current through a heating element (a bit like one of the
wires in a toaster).
• The heating element ignites a chemical explosive. Older airbags used sodium azide as their
explosive; newer ones use guanidium nitrate.
• As the explosive burns, it generates a massive amount of harmless gas (typically either
nitrogen or argon) that floods into a nylon bag packed behind the steering wheel.
• As the bag expands, it blows the plastic cover off the steering wheel and inflates in front of
the driver. The bag is coated with a chalky substance such as talcum powder to help it
unwrap smoothly.
• The driver (moving forward because of the impact) pushes against the bag. This makes the
bag deflate as the gas it contains escapes through small holes around its edges. By the time
the car stops, the bag should have completely deflated.
Air bag
Linear acceleration sensors, also called G-force
sensors, are devices that measure acceleration caused
by movement, vibration, collision, etc. All acceleration
sensors operate based on a simple principle in which
Newton's second law of motion is applied to a spring-
mass system. A mass is connected to the base of the
acceleration sensor through an equivalent spring. Since
the force between the mass and base is proportional
to the acceleration of the mass and the relative
distance between them has a linear relationship with
the force due to the spring, the acceleration can be
calculated from a measurement of the relative position
of the mass or force on the spring as it varies with
time. Generally, the most common types of
acceleration sensors include: piezoelectric,
piezoresistive, variable capacitance and variable
reluctance.
Modern Head Light System