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Vehicle radars
have been commercially installed since 1989 with the primary goal to increase road
safety. Beyond passive safety systems including seat belts, airbags and crash
detection, active safety systems play a major role in reducing traffic
fatalities. Active safety systems include adaptive cruise control and collision
warning systems with automatic steering and braking intervention. With
automatic cruise control using long range radar and anti collision devices
using short range radar, manufacturers are working on ways to protect and
notify drivers of all the dangers on the road using multiple frequencies.
In collision
warning systems, 77GHz transmitters emit signals reflected from objects ahead,
at the side and to the rear of the vehicle. These signals are then captured by
multiple receivers integrated throughout the vehicle. The radar system can
detect and track objects in the frequency domain triggering a driver
notification of an impending incident.
Vehicle Radars
are field disturbance sensors able to implement forward crash avoidance and includes
proximity warnings, approach speed indicators and adaptive cruise control. Side
radars are currently in development that detect objects in a driver’s blind
spot, indicating through lights or tones the presence of an obstruction. Rear
radar, transmits only while the auto is in reverse and warns of potential
contact with objects behind the driver. Each automaker determines how to warn
drivers when danger is detected. Options include lights, messages, audible tones
and vibrating in car options such as steering wheels or seats.
Jeff Postupack,
Automotive Segment Marketing Manager - ADAS Radar, Analog Devices, Inc.
believes consumer knowledge and pricing factor in to adoption of Advanced
Driver Assistance Systems, "In Europe, where ADAS are widely adopted, the market awareness is high and very much anticipated by consumers. In North America, OEM national advertising has expanded remarkably over the past year. In time, people will come to appreciate ADAS, and push for widespread adoption."
Mark Brainard, VP
of product development at Hella Electronics Corp stated in an Automotive News
article, “In Europe, lane-change assist is a popular feature” in the U.S. less
so. However, in the U.S., “blind-spot detection and cross traffic alert are
very popular.” To accommodate the differing tastes, most automakers now offer
switches allowing drivers to turn the driver assist security features off.
Suppliers are
still evaluating consumer demand of these advancements and fear consumers will
suffer from information overload. Overburdening drivers with technology can
often create some of the distractions vehicle radar technology was developed to
eliminate.
When asked what
the future holds, Mr. Postupack predicts, “Over the next few years, we’ll see
camera and radar based sensors fuse together to form a more aware, more
sensitive, wider field of view in all conditions.”
http://www.etsi.org/website/technologies
http://www.coparadar.com/rdrcar/
http://www.navtechradar.com
http://www.freescale.com/webapps/sps/site//overview.jsp?code=AUTRMWT
http://www.analog.com
http://www.electronicsbus.com | 
