UR:BAN developing driver assistance and traffic management systems

European vehicle manufacturers, including BMW, Opel and Mercedes-Benz and MAN, are taking part in a new project to develop advanced driver assistance and traffic management systems for cities. The focus is on the human element in all aspects of mobility and traffic and takes the form of three approaches: Cognitive Assistance; Networked Traffic Systems; and Human Factors in Traffic. The four-year UR:BAN project (from a German acronym for Urban Space: User-oriented assistance systems and network managemen
May 16, 2014 Read time: 3 mins

European vehicle manufacturers, including 1731 BMW, 4233 Opel and 1685 Mercedes-Benz and 267 MAN, are taking part in a new project to develop advanced driver assistance and traffic management systems for cities. The focus is on the human element in all aspects of mobility and traffic and takes the form of three approaches: Cognitive Assistance; Networked Traffic Systems; and Human Factors in Traffic.

 

The four-year UR:BAN project (from a German acronym for Urban Space: User-oriented assistance systems and network management), has been running since 2012 , funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, with 31 partners from the automotive industry, electronics/software development, research institutes and municipalities participating.

 

To tackle the cognitive assistance challenge, Opel is developing an advanced driver assistance system which uses a camera, radar and modified steering and braking systems. When a driver fails to responded to an impending collision, the system will take evasive action to steer the car away from the object.

 

Opel is also working on car-to-X communication system which shares data with other vehicles and the traffic infrastructure over a wi-fi connection. The system would apparently operate like the 2125 Audi Online traffic light information system and advise drivers how fast to travel to ensure they can get a green light at an intersection.

 

Meanwhile BMW is developing a driver assistance system to help protect pedestrians: the system analyses the situation and the pedestrian’s behaviour to assess whether there is a risk of collision with the vehicle. Accidents with pedestrians can be avoided by braking, steering or a combination of the two.  Systems installed in a BMW 5 series research vehicle make it possible to recognise detailed features of a pedestrian, i.e. the head and upper part of the body and to classify the direction in which the pedestrian is moving.

 

Truck manufacturer MAN is looking into ways of making commercial vehicles safer and more efficient for city driving. The company’s researchers are how vehicles can most efficiently provide information from assistance systems to the driver in busy urban traffic and how the cockpit can be designed so as to display exactly the right information to the driver in any given traffic situation.

 

BMW anticipates that UR:BAN will foster radical improvements in traffic flow in the future, as BMW Managing Director Dr Christoph Grote, explained: "This will enable us to further increase safety, efficiency and comfort in urban areas to significant effect," he said. 

Location Based Systems UTC

Related Content

  • June 26, 2015
    LRC evaluates headlight systems to improve night driving
    Through its Transportation Lighting and Safety program, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is evaluating the potential for new lighting technologies and approaches to improve driving safety at night, including new car headlight systems. For the study, vehicle manufacturer Audi AG has provided the LRC with an A7 equipped with adaptive high beam ‘matrix lights’ that allow drivers to benefit from using high beams all the time while selectively dimming a portion of the bea
    Read More
  • December 22, 2015
    Austria’s answer to temporary traffic problems
    ASFINAG has developed a mobile traffic monitoring and guidance system through a pre-commercial procurement project. Drivers have become accustomed to roadside and gantry-mounted traffic guidance and control systems along the major roads and main motorway sections. But there are occasions when intense monitoring is required on a temporary basis along motorway sections without traffic guidance and control systems and on federal and national roads too. Examples include the monitoring of the traffic flow during
    Read More
  • April 6, 2018
    EastLink demonstrates hands-free driving through Melbourne freeway
    EastLink has demonstrated hands-free driving capabilities on a section of its Melbourne freeway to help provide Victorian drivers with a better understanding of the technology. For the test, a Honda CR-V VTi-LX carried out automated speed plus steering control, using the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist functions in an area of Eastlink closed to traffic. It was televised on 7 News Melbourne at 6.00pm on the 6 April 2018. The vehicle, according to Doug Spencer-Roy, EastLink’s corporate affair
    Read More
  • March 6, 2015
    Visionary UK strategy ‘needed to unblock benefits of new motoring technologies’
    The UK government Transport Select Committee has called for a Visionary UK strategy to maximise benefits of new motoring technology in its report, Motoring of the Future. The committee says new automotive technologies could unblock congested highways, deliver a step change in road safety and provide the basis for rapid industrial growth, but the Department for Transport (DfT) will need to develop a comprehensive strategy to maximise the benefits of new motoring technology, such as telematics and driverless
    Read More

Highlighted Content