Koln, 15. June 2011 – Many motorists fearful to drive in the formation of landstreams. This fear is not completely unfounded: in many countries like Sweden, the US or Germany, there are numerous inflates due to wild change. The German Hunting Protection Association E.V. (DJV) Registered a total of 238 for the period from April 2009 to Marz 2010.799 Wildunfalle on German strain. Volvo has been researching a security system for a year, avoiding wildlife or at least reducing their accident sequences. In the coming years, the manufacturer wants to go into series with the new assistance system.
Radar and infrared camera
The new technology is based on the fibruct recognition with automatic emergency brake function, which Volvo has first introduced in the S60 in 2010. The active assistance system combines a radar unit and an infrared camera that should recognize dangerous situations in interaction and react accordingly. The infrared camera constantly observes the traffic situation in front of the car. If an animal is detected within a danger zone, a warning signal immediately. If the driver does not react, the automatic emergency brake function is activated. The new system works both the day and at night.
First, only set to rough animals
The biggest challenge for the Volvo engineers is the programming of a software that relates to different animal species and sizes. In the first stage of development, the new assistance system will therefore only be geared to gross animals. A research team of Volvo also visited a zoo to study the species-specific behavior of different wildlife. The Volvo developers are currently researching the prolonged time and the most appropriate exclusive mechanism for the new security system.