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departure warning, blind
spot monitoring, and tire pressure monitoring.
In the coming years, truck OEMs will look
to solidify Level 2 automation in vehicles. Many
who have yet to reach this level will roll out
features such as lane keep assist and ACC, and
those already at Level 2 will enhance features to
be more helpful to the driver and offer earlier and
more accurate warnings and adjustments.
ZF is one provider of safety technologies for
heavy duty commercial vehicles. Dan Williams,
director, ADAS & autonomy at ZF, says the company currently offers an electronic adaptive steering
system called ReAX that works in conjunction
with the truck's hydraulic steering system. As
part of the ReAX system, Williams says ZF will
launch a lane keep assist system called OnTraX
in North America this year.
" OnTraX offers further capabilities with the
addition of short-range radar, including lane
change and city drive assist, " Williams says.
" The side-mounted short-range radar can see
in the blind spot where the driver cannot.

When integrated with ReAX ... the system can
be programmed to deliver a haptic warning to
the driver if they are approaching an obstacle
or vehicle in a blind spot. The system can also
be programmed to urge the driver away from
the obstacle. "
Williams adds that ZF's acquisition of
WABCO, a provider of electronic braking, stability, suspension, and transmission automation
systems for heavy duty commercial vehicles, will
allow the company to combine longitudinal and
lateral control.
TJ Thomas is the director of marketing
and customer solutions - controls at Bendix
Commercial Vehicle Systems, a company that
designs, develops, and supplies active safety
technologies for heavy duty commercial vehicles.
Thomas says Bendix currently offers active cruise
control with braking and enhanced collision mitigation as well as multiple passive monitors, warnings, and alerts through the company's Wingman
Fusion system. He adds that more active systems
are coming soon.
" [We will] soon be
releasing an active
steering system
that will interface
with Wingman
Fusion to provide
lane keep assist,
active return,
and a few other
features, " Thomas says.
Volvo Trucks North
America (VTNA) offers ACC and
AEB based on the Bendix Wingman system as
standard features on their Class 8 trucks. Ashley
Murickan, product marketing manager, VTNA,
outlines some of the features currently offered.
" Current Volvo Trucks ADAS systems provide
automation ... assistance to the driver in completing
their driving tasks, " Murickan says. " For example:
lane change support [and] blind spot detection, lane
departure warning, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and dynamic steering. "
Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) currently offers full Level 2 automation in some of the
company's Class 8 trucks, in addition to multiple
passive alerts and warnings.
" The Detroit Assurance 5.0 suite of safety systems
is currently available on the Freightliner Cascadia
as well as the Western Star 49X truck, " says Len
Copeland, product marketing manager, Detroit
Products, DTNA. " Detroit Assurance's Active Lane
Assist (ALA) technology provides temporary automated steering and acceleration/deceleration. "

Safety system
sensors overview
Safety systems rely on various sensors
to provide the raw data needed to calculate risks, alert the driver of an impending
event, and - in the case of active systems
- take action if the driver does not.
* Ultrasonic sensors - These sensors send
out audio waves at a specific frequency and
wait for the waves to bounce back to determine how far a vehicle is away from another
object. These are most commonly used in
forward and reverse proximity sensors.
* Radar sensors - Radar sends out electromagnetic waves (rather than the audio waves
used by ultrasonic sensors) to determine
how far an object is away and how quickly it
is approaching. Radar sensors are used in
some blind spot detection and forward collision detection and mitigation applications.
» Lidar (Light detection and ranging)
- A more advanced form of radar, lidar
scans the environment using a non-harmful invisible laser beam to provide a
three-dimensional view of the surrounding area. When combined with camera
data, lidar can be used to detect what
type of object the vehicle is approaching (vehicle, pedestrian, animal, etc.).
* Cameras - These are used in some forward
collision detection and mitigation applications.
They are also used for maneuverability at
low speeds (forward, rear, and 360-degree
cameras), to monitor driver awareness,
and to record unexpected incidents.
» Infrared - Infrared cameras create an
image using infrared radiation instead of
light like a typical camera. These are used
to help some vehicles " see " in the dark.
» Machine vision - This type of camera analyzes and interprets images to
determine risks. It is used in some lane
keep assist, blind spot monitoring, and
collision warning/avoidance systems.
* GPS (global positioning satellites) - GPS
pinpoints the vehicle's location and speed by
determining distance from global satellites.
* Accelerometer - This sensor measures acceleration and deceleration in
a vehicle to determine sudden unexpected maneuvers or collisions.

Levels 3, 4, and 5
In a vehicle operating at Level 3 automation, the
driver does not need to be in control of the vehicle
at all times but must be able to take over operation
should the vehicle request it by providing an alert.

February 2021 | FleetMaintenance.com

http://www.FleetMaintenance.com

february2021

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