Driver assistance systems

Intelligent Headlight Control ensures optimum illumination of the road. The improved vision makes driving at night much safer and more comfortable. The system uses a video camera to measure the ambient brightness and to estimate the distance from vehicles in front and oncoming traffic. This data is used to implement a variety of light functions.

The High Beam Activation function enables drivers to use their high beam lights as often as possible without having to manually switch them on and off. If the function does not detect any other vehicles, it activates the high beam lights. However, if a vehicle is detected, the high beam light is switched off again.

The Adaptive High Beam Control function enables variable adjustment of the high beam range between low beam and high beam level. The area between the vehicle in front or an oncoming vehicle is better illuminated since the headlight cone is continuously adapted to this distance.

With the Continuous High Beam Control function, the driver can travel with permanent high beam headlights. If the camera detects other vehicles, the headlights are tilted horizontally or vertically, independently if necessary. This produces cones of light in which other road users are blocked out. The light distribution from the high beam lights remains virtually unchanged, while the driver’s visual range is increased considerably.

• Multi Purpose Camera

Drivers should always be aware of the current speed limit. With Road Sign Recognition, currently applicable road signs are in view.

When a video camera identifies a road sign signaling the beginning or end of a speed limit as well as any special instructions, such as “when wet”, the function displays this sign in the form of a symbol in the cockpit.Speed limits on variable message signs as well as restrictions on overtaking and the end of such restrictions can also be detected. If the driver fails to observe the speed limit, he can, for example, also be warned by an audible signal. In the future, it will also be possible to detect other road signs in addition to speed limits.

• Multi Purpose Camera

Backing into a parking space is stressful, and it is rarely a simple matter to reverse into a gap without correcting. Most motorists would agree with this, at least if pressed! Fewer and smaller parking spaces and the hectic nature of today’s driving habits are the main reasons for this. Parking and maneuvering is made even more hazardous by vehicles which are difficult to see and coated bumpers which do not forgive the slightest driving error.

Bosch can help here, with its ultrasonic-based parking assistance systems. They make safe and comfortable parking and maneuvering possible.

• Parking aid
• Parking assistant
• Components

Bosch is launching the new Side View Assist – the world's first ultrasonic-based system for monitoring the blind spot. It is a dangerous situation most drivers will be familiar with: you activate the turn signal to change lanes, glance in the rear-view and exterior mirrors, maybe even glance briefly over your left shoulder – only to find a blaring horn gives you the fright of your life as you are moving over to the left. The Bosch Side View Assist alerts drivers efficiently to approaching vehicles concealed in the blind spot in this critical situation.

Like the Bosch parking aid and the parking assistant, ultrasonic sensors in Side View Assist serve as electronic eyes. Two sensors on each side of the vehicle – with a range of three meters alongside and diagonally to the rear of the vehicle – monitor the space in the adjacent lane, allowing the system to cover exactly the dangerous blind spot. If another vehicle is situated in the monitored area, the driver is alerted to the potential danger by means of a warning-LED in the side mirror. If the driver fails to spot or ignores this warning and activates the turn signal to change lanes, the system can also trigger an audible warning. The system recognizes stationary objects on or alongside the road – such as guardrails, masts or parking vehicles, as well as the driver's own safe overtaking maneuvers – and does not trigger the alarm in this case.

The Side View Assist is active between 10 and 180 km/h. The system assists the driver in complex traffic situations involving low relative speeds, making driving easier, especially in urban traffic and on multilane roads.

The new system will be unveiled in the latest version of the Citroën C4 which is due to be launched in fall 2010.

With conventional low beams, the range of vision at night is approximately 40 meters (130 feet). Obstacles and dangers are therefore often not recognized in time, especially when they are not or only poorly lit. High beams light up the road for a distance of up to 150 meters (490 feet), but also blind oncoming traffic.

With Night Vision plus, the active infrared night vision system from Bosch, the driver sees approximately three times further than is possible with conventional low beam lights – without blinding oncoming traffic. Two infrared headlamps illuminate the road with light beams that are invisible to the human eye. A video camera behind the windshield records the scene on the road. Via an electronic control unit, the image data is passed on to a display in the instrument cluster or the central display. The display shows the driver a clear black and white image of the driving scene.

Night Vision plus offers the driver a true-to-life image of the road ahead and thus provides valuable information about the course of the road, vulnerable road users as well as obstacles on and alongside the road. When the system identifies pedestrians, they are highlighted clearly in the night vision image. Night Vision plus directs the attention of the driver to potential risks. This allows the driver to take appropriate action at an early stage, considerably reducing the risk of accidents involving pedestrians.