A range of assistance systems are now available and are becoming increasingly popular. For example, almost one in five drivers chooses the option of an ultrasonic parking aid when buying a new car; these sense the vehicle's immediate vicinity and warn of obstacles.

In premium-class cars, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which automatically regulates the distance to the vehicle in front, is an increasingly popular option. This intelligent speed controller observes the traffic, and adapts the vehicle's speed to the traffic flow. The car automatically maintains an appropriately safe distance to the vehicle ahead of it. It accelerates to the speed the driver has selected as soon as there is no longer a vehicle within the range of its sensors.

Since being launched in 2005, the Bosch active infrared Night Vision system has been an option on Mercedes' flagship model, the S-Class. The system makes driving in the dark safer and more comfortable. Drivers benefit from having a better view of the road ahead, can see other vehicles or possible obstacles at a distance of up to 150 meters, and can therefore recognise and react to potential critical situations more quickly.

Other Bosch assistance systems are scheduled to be introduced as standard equipment over the coming months. The enhanced automatic distance regulator ACCplus, which automatically maintains the appropriate distance to the vehicle in front even at speeds from 30 kilometers per hour down to a stop, is one example. This makes the ACCplus an important aid in difficult, stop-go road conditions and in traffic jams and makes its debut in the Audi Q7 in this year.

Intelligent parking aids will come onto the market from 2007. Initially, these systems will make parking easier by giving clear recommendations, permitting the driver to manoeuvre easily into a parking space. Following this a more advanced version will employ an electronically controlled power steering system that converts the computed steering motions directly into the movements the steering wheel has to take - the driver will only have to apply the accelerator and brake.

The vision of an accident-free future draws closer In critical driving situations, fractions of a second can determine the severity of an accident. Bosch is currently developing driver assistance systems further with a particular aim to avoid rear-end collisions. While they have until now primarily been oriented toward convenience, these systems are now to be developed into predictive, active safety systems. These Predictive Safety Systems (PSS) enable the vehicle to react to dangerous situations on the road ahead without the intervention of the driver. It is the interplay of established safety systems such as ABS, ESP, or the brake assistant with ACC sensors that is providing this higher level of safety.

At Bosch, the development of PSS falls into three phases: the Predictive Brake Assist (PBA) system has been on the market since March 2005, in the Audi A6. Based on the information provided by the ACC sensors, the system recognises a critical traffic situation, imperceptibly brings the brake shoe close to the disk, and prepares the brake assistant for the possibility of emergency braking. This saves important fractions of a second needed to develop full braking force when the driver presses the brake pedal. The combination of the driver assistance system and the driver's reaction significantly reduces the braking distance.

Bosch calls its second phase Predictive Collision Warning (PCW). It goes one step further than the PBA, warning drivers of the possibility of a rear-end collision, so that they still have time to react and in many cases avoid an accident. The system may, for instance, do this by initiating a small yet detectable application of the brakes. The PCW technology will go into series production for the first time in the Audi Q7.

The Predictive Emergency Brake (PEB) is the third phase of PSS. In addition to long-range radar, it will use an additional sensing system - preferably a video sensor. In addition to the functions offered by the PBA and PCW, the system is capable of automatically initiating emergency braking when necessary. This function will only be activated, however, if the driver has not reacted, or has only reacted inadequately, to the previous warnings, and a collision is unavoidable. The automatic emergency braking will generate the maximum possible vehicle deceleration, and will therefore minimise the seriousness of the accident.

Increased networking of systems

Future assistance functions will result from the close networking of both active and passive safety systems with predictive driver assistance systems. Bosch has coined the term Combined Active and Passive Safety (CAPS) for all these projects. CAPS optimises the potential for minimising the risks of accident and injury, prevents and reduces the severity of collisions at the front of the vehicle and supports the driver in dangerous situations that might lead to collisions at the side or the rear, multiple crashes, or to the vehicle rolling over.

In the future, the sensors used in these systems will be used to improve passive safety and provide better protection for pedestrians.

Bosch media enquiries:

Chris Wakley / David Eden  

Automotive PR

Tel: 020 7494 8050       

Email: cwakley@automotivepr.com / deden@automotivepr.com

Bosch OE enquiries:

Beverley Daniels

Communications Manager

Robert Bosch Limited

Tel: 01895 878155

Email: beverley.daniels@uk.bosch.com

About Bosch

The Bosch Group is the world's largest provider of automotive technology to all leading vehicle and component manufacturers. 

In 2005, the company generated automotive sales of €26 billion and employs 158,000 people in this sector.  The key business areas include: fuel injection technology (diesel & petrol); systems for active and passive vehicle safety (brakes, ABS, traction control, ESP, control units for restraint systems); electrical motors, rotating electrics and products for car multimedia.