Collision-avoidance systems PRORETA: Situation analysis and intervention control

After a discussion of passive and active safety systems for automobiles and accident statistics it follows that a further progress in the reduction of accidents can be especially expected by next-generation driver-assistance systems with a sequence of warnings and active interventions. PRORETA is an Industry–University research project with the goal to develop steps towards accident-free driving. The first project considers two vehicles moving in the same direction. The other vehicle is detected by a fusion of LIDAR and camera data providing the system with relative speeds and distance. If the driver does not react to an obstacle on the own lane, the system automatically triggers an emergency braking and/or swerving to avoid a collision. This includes e.g. a fast and precise evasive trajectory control by automatic steering.The second project is dedicated to vehicles moving in opposite directions performing an overtaking maneuver on rural roads. The own vehicle detects the velocities and distances to the preceding and oncoming vehicle by RADAR and lane markings, etc. with a camera. The measured data of the two sensors undergo a sensor fusion with Kalman filters. The overtaking maneuver is predicted by using the measured data of all three vehicles. If an accident-free overtaking is in danger, warnings are given to the driver and if the driver does not react in time a full braking of the own vehicle is triggered such that the driver can turn back behind the overtaken vehicle.The contribution gives a survey on the developed strategies and some basic calculated features and control systems. Measured data are shown and give an impression of the driving experiments on the runway of an air field.