The commercial vehicle formation driving project jointly developed by Continental and Knorr-Bremse Group is taking a crucial step towards highly automated commercial vehicle driving. The two parties demonstrated the use of commercial vehicle formation driving systems to jointly develop autonomous driving with vehicle manufacturers. Features. This includes formation of formations, coordinated driving, emergency braking, separate formations of separate vehicles, and efficient and safe dissolution of the entire formation.
The commercial vehicle formation project jointly developed by Continental and Knorr-Bremse Group is taking a crucial step towards highly automated commercial vehicle driving: For autonomous commercial vehicle formation driving (ie, line driving), the technology engineering company Continental from Hanover And the global brake system market leader, and the Knorr Group, a major supplier of railway and commercial vehicle subsystems, have joined forces to develop a test drive demonstration of a commercial vehicle formation based on three different models of trucks. At the test site, preliminary test runs and demonstrations have been conducted for industry customer groups.
The two parties demonstrated their autonomous driving capabilities that they can develop with vehicle manufacturers through a commercial vehicle formation driving system. This includes formation of formations, coordinated driving, emergency braking, separate formations of separate vehicles, and efficient and safe dissolution of the entire formation. In the development work, the project team will liberate commercial vehicle drivers from heavy driving tasks through reasonable process design, and through clear operation instruction settings, drivers can receive this information from professional human-machine interfaces and supervise vehicles Formation driving status. Information is displayed through concise graphics and clear interface layout, enabling the driver to clearly track the status of the system at any time. As long as the distance between commercial vehicle formation vehicles is less than or equal to 50 meters, the formation formation program can be started by pressing the start formation travel button. Synchronized vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) advanced emergency braking function ensures the safety of formation driving: by controlling the cooperative braking and braking redundancy judgment procedures of all vehicles, there will be no braking delay due to wireless signal transmission. Always maintain a safe braking distance and braking response between vehicles traveling in formation.
Now, our commercial vehicle formation driving system can provide a common testing platform based on advanced assisted autonomous driving system for customer groups. No matter what brand and type of commercial vehicle, it can be formed in formation, and for further development The foundation for automated driving solutions. "Through the demonstration of the commercial vehicle formation driving system, the two parties have reached the first milestone of joint research and development. The current focus is to exchange opinions with commercial vehicle manufacturers to further develop customized system solutions that are in line with customer product strategies." Gilles Mabire, head of Continental's Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket Parts & Services Division, said.
"Autonomous driving is an evolutionary and progressive R & D project. As a leading system and product supplier of driver assistance products for commercial vehicles, the experience of our two parties in their respective professional fields has laid an important basis for cooperation. Related technologies have continued to advance, and we The understanding of the market is also deepening. This is changing the conditions of autonomous driving and the speed of introducing autonomous driving functions. Therefore, the main focus of development is also changing accordingly. When it comes to customer needs and implementation paths, flexibility and openness are The key to our success. That's why we are eager to maintain close communication with our customers, present a roadmap of our products and future expected features, create commercial vehicle formation driving demonstrators, and respond quickly to make our work meet customer needs and Market demand, "added Dr. Peter Laier, board member of Knorr-Bremse and responsible for its commercial vehicle division. Continental and Knorr-Bremse are also preparing for the further development of a highly automated highway driving system (measured on the road).
Complementary coupling system solutions
The technical solution of the commercial vehicle formation driving demonstrator illustrates how the expertise of both parties complement each other and form a joint force. Continental is responsible for sensor systems: the latest sensor technology, including binocular depth-of-field cameras, millimeter-wave radar and lidar sensors. Together with V2V communication, the environmental sensor is the core component for maintaining a stable distance between vehicles safely during the formation of a commercial vehicle. Equidistant follow-up makes fuel-saving driving possible, as wind resistance is greatly reduced at high speeds.
In order to process the sensor signals, data from other vehicles (V2V) or transportation infrastructure (V2X) must be included. To this end, the model of the corresponding environment is also created using measured data to achieve self-positioning and high adaptability of the truck. In the future, the system will use Continental ’s “Advanced Automated Driving Control Unit” (ADCU) and Knorr ’s “General Flexible Brake Control Unit” (GSBC) to provide safety and efficiency for driving strategies.
Knorr-Bremse has developed its expertise in the specific requirements of commercial vehicle dynamics. In addition, Knorr-Bremse applies driving stability ("motion control") and actuator-level requirements for formation driving projects, which translates the driver's decision into a specific control process inside the vehicle and initiates longitudinal and lateral controlled steering And braking to form redundant safety controls.
Finally, Knorr is responsible for system integration, including verification. Therefore, commercial vehicle manufacturers can rely on Knorr-Bremse's braking system experience and cooperate on commercial vehicle autonomous driving systems.
Highway formations are just the beginning
The experience acquired by Continental and Knorr-Bremse in the process of developing vehicle fleets for developers has laid the foundation for the further application of highly automated driving and can be applied to road tests. The common goal of both parties is to achieve a high degree of automation for a single truck on the highway drive. The first public road demonstration is planned next year. Beginning in 2020, Continental and Knorr-Bremse Group will prepare to jointly develop commercial vehicle fleet driving system solutions with commercial vehicle manufacturers.