Among the major manufacturers pushing back the technical boundaries in the advanced driver assistance (ADAS) arena are TRW and Continental. Matthew Beecham caught up with Rolf Adomat, head of innovation management and ADAS system design at Continental’s Chassis & Safety division and Andy Whydell, TRW Electronics’ director of product planning, ADAS to find out more about each supplier’s camera technologies.
During a Hockenheim ‘ride and drive’ event hosted by TRW earlier this year, we learned a little more about this supplier’s ADAS camera technologies. TRW’s first generation video camera – the T-Cam – was developed and produced completely by TRW including detection algorithms. Launched way back in 2008 on the Fiat Lancia Delta, it offered lane departure warning with haptic feedback. Since 2009, TRW has partnered with Israel’s Mobileye to offer more enhanced features. Its current S-Cam3 technology comprises Mobileye’s EyeQ3 chip and has an increased vertical and horizontal field of view and a mega pixel imager.
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TRW says that its next-generation camera system, scheduled for launch in 2018, will have an expanded object detection range and field of view that will meet the regulatory requirements for ADAS technologies. The S-Cam4 family includes a single lens, mono-camera version based on a standard housing and mechanical package designed to help meet test protocols such as pedestrian triggered automatic emergency braking (AEB) and new potential requirements including a crossing bicycle AEB test.
Meanwhile, Continental has three groups of ADAS products, namely its radar sensors (24 GHz and 77 GHz); Camera sensor; and Lidar sensor. Continental’s latest generation of multi-functional camera offer lane departure warning, speed limit monitoring and smart headlamp control in a one box design. Continental is supplying such a combination for the BMW 7 Series.
While such multi-functional cameras are becoming cheaper, more effective and easier to integrate, they work with existing technologies as Continental’s Rolf Adomat, told us: “We see [multi-function cameras] as a complementary sensor to radar rather than a competing technology. So for different functions different technologies are privileged. Only with camera functions like lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition or controlling the headlamps of the car can be realised while the radar is beneficial for adaptive cruise control or emergency brake assist. Today some cars already have fusion technology which combines the signals of different sensors for improved function performance.”
In terms of camera multi-functionality, TRW’s Andy Whydell points out that cameras are using more industry-standard electronic components and, to some extent, borrowing image processor technology from smartphones. “The other key trend is that as silicon gets faster and more powerful, the camera can run faster, recognise and track more objects. We will continue to see that trend certainly for the next 5-10 years as those cameras become increasingly capable of being able to assist or take over certain driving tasks.”
Such multi-functional cameras are quickly permeating down to the low end segment cars in Europe, too. Adomat reports how penetration has already started to the point where Continental is supplying cameras for mid-size and smaller cars. “We are currently seeing a big push through Euro NCAP which is forcing car manufacturers to put an active safety system into their cars in order to get a five star rating. A camera is one of the possible solutions to help them achieve this top rating. Also, cameras are becoming increasingly capable in analysing more complex scenarios. We offer cameras which detect vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.”
Whydell predicts that by the end of the decade, almost all new vehicles Europe, North America, Korea and Japan will have a front camera fitted. “This will be driven by consumer safety organisations such as Euro NCAP and legislation.”
Rear-facing cameras
Whydell reports that in North America, because there are so many larger vehicles, rear facing cameras have been popular for some years. “Today, more than half of all new cars sold in North America and about three-quarters of light trucks already have a rear facing camera. And then there is legislation in place that will require standard fitment of those cameras by mid-2018.
“In Europe, because vehicles are generally smaller, it’s much easier to see what is behind your car. Here, the growth of [rear facing] cameras will be slower but it is certainly an area where we do expect to see some more growth over what is in the market today.
“One other point,” adds Whydell “[is that] most of those cameras are passive, which means they just send video to a navigation screen or a display embedded in the rearview mirror. In the near future, we expect to see intelligent rear facing cameras that can recognise objects and pedestrians and obstacles in the same way as front facing cameras.”
In terms of the further development of rear-facing cameras, Adomat reckons that today’s rear facing cameras mainly serve viewing applications. “Future development will see object detection that could trigger an active brake manoeuvre if necessary. This will involve more algorithms integrated into the rear facing camera.”
In the meantime, a myriad of ADAS camera technologies are already available on the road from the luxury class to small city cars. An upmarket model bristling with camera technology is the Volvo S60. The version that we borrowed came with a driver support pack incorporating a full-speed collision warning and crash avoidance system, as well as pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and road sign information. It also featured a so-called Queue Assist, another clever system that brakes the car in slower traffic. On top of this lot comes a driver alert control system that (apparently) advises you to take a break if it thinks you are getting sleepy. We particularly liked the parking assistance camera (front blind view) enabling us to see around corners at tricky junctions where hedges or buildings impeded the view. This camera provides an increased 45-degree field of vision to the left and right. Its seven-inch screen shows you what the camera, mounted in the car’s grille, can see. All this can mean quite a lot of visual and audible information to digest while on the move but crucial nonetheless.
At the other end of the segment spectrum and among those smaller cars offered with rear-facing cameras is the Ford Fiesta. Although the Fiesta has good visibility, its City Pack comes with rear parking sensors for an extra £400. Even the most attentive driver has to blink, and in that time Ford’s Active City Stop low-speed collision avoidance technology captures and process 15 images of the road ahead in its search for potential hazards. It uses a clear light-detecting and ranging sensor to scan the road ahead 50 times every second – more than twice the speed of the movie industry standard frame rate – to help prevent collisions at speeds up to 10mph, and help reduce the severity of impacts at speeds below 20mph. First launched on Ford Focus and ordered by nearly 5,000 UK customers to date, Active City Stop is available on Ford C-MAX, Grand C-MAX and Ford B-MAX. It is also offered on a Ford Fiesta in Titanium trim and test driven by the author who found it reassuring that the system would apply the brakes when needed. Fiesta drivers have never had so much safety technology at their fingertips.
