Progress to robotic cars – 40% of compact cars will have Advanced Driver Assistance Systems which will reduce accidents

Frost and Sullivan – Providing sophisticated Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) like driver monitoring system, lane departure warning, intelligent headlamp control and traffic sign recognition to compact cars such as the Ford Focus or Citroen C4 has helped to bring down driver assistance systems from high-end cars to mass-volume compact cars.

According to Frost & Sullivan, technological developments such as the integration of radar and camera as well as sensor fusion between multiple applications are enabling a price reduction which may well lead to a 40 per cent penetration of ADAS in compact cars by 2018.

According to the Accident Research of the German Association of Insurers (GDV), lane departure warning alone can prevent up to 15 per cent of road fatalities. Similarly, intersection assist can prevent up to 35 per cent of accidents in Germany.

“ADAS is surely set to be more popular over the next decade as it will help achieve the European Union’s Transport Policy 2011–2020 which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent,” says Frost and Sullivan Research Analyst Manish Garg.

Stanford has classes on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Suppliers like Continental, TRW and Bosch are working closely with OEMs right from product concept to developing low-cost ADAS systems such as lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, intelligent headlamp control and driver monitoring for midsized and compact cars as these are the segments that will help achieve economies of scale and bring down the price.

Continental recently developed a low-cost integrated ADAS system capable of performing multiple functions such as lane departure warning, intelligent headlamp control and driver monitoring system. TRW’s 24GHz forward-looking radar, a low-cost substitute for the camera, has been able to drive down the cost of DAS technology and is available as an option on the Lancia Delta hatchback. PSA Peugeot Citroen on the other hand has been capable of developing multiple low cost ADAS for their cars.

“There is no reason to consider driver assistance as a luxury status symbol due to their high price and availability on high end luxury cars,” believes Mr. Garg. “Instead, a wider rollout of ADAS technology in European compact vehicles is expected over the next 2-3 years. Potential future regulations for ADAS systems following the truck and bus regulations already in place, and the introduction of insurance incentives would certainly assist in bringing DAS even to the compact and subcompact vehicles segment.”

“SYNC revolutionised the infotainment market by bringing the hi-tech infotainment system to low-end cars; similarly, the low-cost multi-functional camera is set to revolutionise the safety market by bringing hi-end technology to compact cars,” concludes Garg.

European council for automotive R and D is helping to drive this work and adoption

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