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Award winning "seeing mirror" also on new Volvo XC70 |
Stuttgart (April 03, 2007) Schefenacker’s camera based blind spot detection system continues to offer assistance to drivers following its introduction on the all new XC70 model, recently showcased at the Geneva motor show.
“Most useful safety gadget - Intelligent digital cameras in exterior mirrors brought the highest recognition to VOLVO and Schefenacker.
Volvo won the Safety and Technology Award 2006 in November from the British “Autocar magazine with the Schefenacker driver assistance system for blind spot monitoring in the exterior mirror.
“Autocar publisher, Charles Hallet, gave the following reasons for the distinction: The blind spot monitoring system “is the simplest, most useful, original and intuitive safety gadget to reach the production line in years. Alongside its affordability that means owners will use it and benefit from it.
Blind spot systems are also ranked in the top ten of the technology trends by the “Automotive News magazine. The increasing traffic density and the increasing average age of vehicle drivers in the Western countries are making assistance systems increasingly important. Therefore, experts anticipate an enormous annual growth of more than 25% in the next ten years in the area of object detection systems.
The assistance system for blind spot monitoring which received the award warns about vehicles in the so-called blind spot and thus ensures more convenience when overtaking.
The special feature of the Schefenacker technology: it functions without radar technology; only optical information provided by two digital cameras is processed.
It is also the first driver assistance system which automatically recognises moving objects using electronic image processing.
VOLVO outside – Schefenacker inside
The blind spot monitoring assistance system developed by Schefenacker is now available for most Volvo vehicles.
Warning range: Three metres wide and ten metres long
The blind spot monitoring assistance system mainly shows itself to advantage where there is a high volume of traffic on several lanes. It is particularly helpful when many vehicles with slight speed differences are on the road and then disappear in the blind spot for a long time. The area in which the system indicates other vehicles using a warning lamp is three metres wide and ten metres long on the left and right of the vehicle. Thus, it completely covers the blind spots. In order to be able to reliably display vehicles immediately on entry to the warning area, they are already recorded and tracked by digital cameras in the exterior mirrors from a distance of 40 metres behind the vehicle. Intelligence in the exterior mirrors processes the image information 25 times per second. If a vehicle enters the warning area, a flashing orange LED in the passenger compartment in the vicinity of the exterior mirror warns the driver.
Reliability due to high fault tolerance
In order to compensate for possible soiling of the lenses, the system performs an ongoing self-diagnosis. The left and right cameras exchange information and thus permanently compare their recording quality. A specifically designed routeing of air flow in the lower area of the mirror casing ensures as little as possible soiling of the camera lens. An installed heater provides condensation-free camera lenses.
Developed and manufactured by Schefenacker
Schefenacker started as early as 1999 with the then visionary plan of developing a camera-based blind spot monitoring system with electronic image processing. Radar technology was out of the question for Schefenacker as legal requirements restricts the use of such systems too much in some countries. Three years later, after the first road tests, Volvo made the order for series development. The system should reliably monitor a precisely defined area irrespective of the speed of the vehicle and the surrounding traffic. The design for every conceivable driving and weather situation and linking the system to the vehicle electronics presented particularly high challenges for the software developers at Schefenacker.
The series production of the current module has been handed over to an experienced automotive industry supplier to Schefenacker. The BSD modules are integrated in the finished exterior mirrors produced for Volvo at Schefenacker in Portchester, England.
Great potential for innovations
“In the future, we will significantly reduce the module size of the blind spot monitoring system with even more computing power, which opens up possibilities for other installation locations and other applications in addition to the exterior mirror‿, says Dr. Dag Wagner, Vice President Global Advanced Engineering & Electronics at Schefenacker.
The aim of Schefenacker is to implement the existing know-how in a flexible application package. With corresponding modified software and lenses it should be usable, for the most diverse applications in the future. Possible examples are lane changing assistants with front-facing cameras or measuring parking spaces for an intelligent parking system. Many assistance and safety systems will be networked with each other in the automobile in the future, whereby the performance and reliability will be increased further.
The Schefenacker Group – market and technology leadership
The Schefenacker Group, established in Germany in 1935, is headquartered in Portchester (UK) and records an annual turnover of approximately 1 billion Euro. The company is the world's leading producer of automotive rear-view mirrors, and is a market force for tail lamps using LED technology. The Schefenacker Group employs approximately 7,900 people in all, with 27 production plants and seven development centres around the globe.
Schefenacker's innovations have repeatedly advanced the technological development of door mirrors, securing it a particularly large share of innovation-driven market segments. Its skills in the development and production of electronic components are one of the most important strategic foundations for all of Schefenacker's product areas. The automotive companies Ford with its brand VOLVO as well as General Motors, Hyundai, Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler and Renault are among the Group's largest customers.
The Blind Spot Detection system was developed at the German innovation and development centre near Stuttgart. The modules are integrated into the door mirrors for Volvo in Portchester, UK, where the mirrors are produced.
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