Continental working to make automated driving a reality

Continental working to make automated driving a reality

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We have seen plenty in science fiction, and one was even the star of a highly-popular TV series that was briefly revived a number of years back. We are, of course, talking about cars that drive themselves, and comparisons with KITT, the talking hero car of the 1980s TV series Knight Rider, become inevitable.

KITT’s myriad range of abilities seemed fanciful 30 years ago, some were outright implausible, but talking cars have become realities (Ford’s SYNC system comes to mind), and modern vehicles have become increasingly automated. The last few years have seen development of technologies such as autonomous braking and adaptive cruise control being first introduced to luxury vehicles and trickling their way down to the masses.

Technology is only going to get ever more advanced, and the inevitable result, whether you like it or not, will be increased automation of vehicle operation. International automotive supplier Continental is certainly banking on this technological upward trend, and one of the central themes of the company’s long-term strategy will revolve around automated driving systems.

“Over the last few weeks, we on the Executive Board have considered the strategic and budget planning for our five divisions for the coming year in great detail. For our automotive divisions, this planning includes all of the necessary elements that need to be implemented step-by-step across the board so that fully-automated driving becomes reality by 2025,” said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Chairman of the Executive Board of Continental, after the end of the Strategy Workshop.

Further elaborating, Degenhart noted, “It’s clear to us that automated driving will be a key element in the mobility of the future. As a system supplier, we are perfectly positioned to develop and launch series production of solutions for partially automated systems for our customers by 2016. We will be able to develop the first applications for highly and ultimately fully automated driving, even at higher speeds and in more complex driving situations, ready for production by 2020 or 2025.”

According to internal projections, Continental anticipates the widespread availability of partially automated systems to assist drivers in traffic jams at speeds of up to 30kph by 2016. Things will escalate by 2020 with a higher level of automation that covers speeds above 30kph on highways only. At this stage, drivers are said to be able to safely indulge in activities such as texting and surfing the Internet although he or she is expected to be ready to regain control of the vehicle at anytime.

It is by 2025 that Continental expects full automation of vehicles that can steer themselves, once again on highways only, at speeds of up to 130kph. This application will still be restricted for highway usage; the system will return the helm to the driver once the designated exit is reached. If the driver fails to respond, the vehicle will bring itself to a safe stop at the side of the road.

When they finally come to fruition, the idea of self-driven cars are likely to be met with excitement and skepticism at the same time. The old-fashioned drivers like us may not embrace the whole idea of taking the driving away from us, but Degenhart makes a case for it by noting that, “Drivers who take the same route to work every day, for example, will surely embrace the opportunity of having the vehicle take charge of this task. The same applies to monotonous and tiring long-distance journeys on freeways.”

Furthermore, Continental also maintains that automated vehicles will be inherently safer and more economical because the operating computer pilots the vehicle based on various environmental parameters such as location of surrounding vehicles, traffic conditions, and road conditions. Energy consumption can be optimized in real-time, thus enabling more energy-efficient driving. What’s important to note is that the driver can choose to assume control at any time he or she wishes to.

Continental currently has 1,250 specialists developing the basic framework for future automated driving systems. To better facilitate this development, the company has even formed a new Advanced Driver Assistance Systems business unit within its Chassis & Safety division in April 2012. Early in 2012, the company completed 6,000 miles (9,656km) testing automated driving systems in the US state of Nevada.

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