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.

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• 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.

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• Multi Purpose Camera

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.

The parking aid supports the driver in situations where every centimeter counts, and makes parking easier and more convenient.

The system uses ultrasonic sensors mounted on the bumper to monitor the situation immediately in front of and behind the vehicle, recognizing obstacles within the parking space. Like a bat, its sensors emit ultrasound signals, and receive their echo. The system uses the time difference to calculate the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle. Visual and/or sound alerts are issued with escalating urgency when the vehicle is within a range of 250cm of an obstacle. The driver has a reliable indicator of how much space remains, even if the line of sight is blocked. This means that vehicles can be maneuvered into the tightest of spaces.

The parking aid helps drivers avoid annoying and costly damage, and makes parking safer. In many cases, the parking aid pays for itself the instant it prevents a bump or scratch.

• Comfort and support when parking and manoeuvring
• Avoidance of annoying repairs resulting from those little bumps and scrapes
• More effective utilization of tight parking spaces

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• Ultrasonic sensors

Parking can be frustrating and stressful. This is why Bosch has developed a parking assistant that lets you park in any suitable space in just moments. Parking has never been easier!

A special ultrasonic sensor mounted on the side of the bumper scans the side of the street as the vehicle is moving. As soon as it recognizes a suitable parking spot, it alerts the driver. At the touch of a button, the driver can activate the parking assistant. Within milliseconds, the parking assistant calculates the best possible way to move into the parking space, and determines which steering actions are necessary. The driver can then let go of the steering wheel, and let the parking assistant take over. The driver controls the parking process through carefully pressing the gas and brake pedals. Working in tandem with the power steering, the parking assistant guides the vehicle into the parking spot as if it were moving a train along rails. The driver remains in control of the situation, and can stop the maneuver at any time by taking a hold of the steering wheel.

In addition, the system also supports while parking out. It helps the driver to bring the vehicle in the correct starting position, by taking over all steering maneuvers to drive out of the parking space safely .

• Automatic parking-space measurement
• An end to long and unsuccessful searches for a parking space
• More effective utilization of tight parking spaces
• Parking without frustration and stress
• Comfortable parking and parking out
• No more annoying repairs caused by bumps and scrapes

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• Ultrasonic sensors

Many new car models nowadays allow drivers to see only very little of the vehicle’s immediate environment. As aerodynamic and pedestrian-protection issues exert an ever greater influence on vehicle contours, while side and rear windows shrink in size, it is becoming almost impossible to maneuver cars safely and precisely.

The Bosch rear view system supports drivers as they reverse their vehicle. The camera image is displayed via the radio or radio-navigation system and shows the area behind the vehicle.

This “third eye” is automatically activated when reverse gear is engaged. The display shows you whether there are any obstacles in your way.

The camera image cannot show the area at the vehicle’s corners and neither can it provide exact information on distances, but Bosch has got around this by combining the camera technology with its tried and tested ultrasonic parking aid. The strengths of each technology complement each other perfectly: distances measured by the ultrasound sensors are for instance embedded in the camera image in the form of colored bars. This gives drivers all the information they need at a glance.

In order to make maneuvering even more comfortable for drivers, there is the option to dynamically overlay the camera image with colored lines showing the vehicle’s path. These indicate the direction the vehicle will take with the steering wheel in its current position, as well as when it is time to turn the wheel. As a result, vehicles can safely approach any obstacle, and even hitching a trailer is no longer a problem.

• Unobstructed view at all times of the vehicle’s immediate environment
• Allows precise parking and maneuvering
• Safe and comfortable parking and maneuvering
• Quicker and easier parking maneuvers
• Easy to use
• Display is easy to understand thanks to intelligent image processing (no fish-eye effect)
• Greatly reduces the risk of material damage and its associated costs

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• Near range camera

Bosch is launching the new Side View Assist – the world's first ultrasonic-based system for monitoring the blind spot. Two ultrasonic sensors on each side of the vehicle serve as electronic eyes and – 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 5 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.

• Reduces the risk of accident during lane changes
• Driver's support in complex traffic situation at low difference speeds
• Tried-and-tested ultrasonic technology
• Easy installation

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• Ultrasonic sensors