Mercedes-Benz Driver Assistance Systems: Glossary: Terms and Innovations from A to Z

Sindelfingen, May 2, 2017 – Driver Assistance Systems: Terms and Innovations from A to Z

Adaptive Highbeam Assist: Makes it possible to drive continuously with high beams without dazzling other road users and is active on roads with no lighting. Adaptive Highbeam Assist uses a stereo multipurpose camera located behind the windscreen to recognize other road users showing lights. When there are oncoming vehicles or vehicles in front, the LEDs of the main-beam modules are switched off. The other areas of the road continue to be illuminated with the low beam.

Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Function: This system can give a warning when the risk of an accident is detected, also assisting with emergency braking and if necessary, can even brake automatically. It is able to recognize slower-moving, stopped and stationary vehicles as well as crossing traffic at junctions, and pedestrians in the danger zone, using radar sensors and the stereo multipurpose camera. When danger is recognized, the system gives the driver visual and acoustic warnings. If the driver reacts and brakes, the system augments the braking effect as the situation requires, right up to emergency braking. If the driver fails to react, Active Brake Assist can automatically brake the vehicle.

Active Lane Keeping Assist: This feature is able to give the driver a visual and acoustic warning if the vehicle leaves its lane unintentionally. If the driver fails to react, Active Lane Keeping Assist can use braking intervention to help prevent a collision. Active Lane Change Assist: As soon as the driver initiates a lane change by operating the indicators, and if the system detects no other vehicle in the adjacent lane, the car is automatically steered into that lane.

Active Blind Spot Assist: This system is able to help the driver carry out lane changes with the greatest possible safety – in town, on multi-lane highways and on motorways. In urban traffic, cyclists can also be recognized. The system relieves driver stress by giving a warning when it detects vehicles in the driver’s blind spot, and can therefore prevent a collision. Active Blind Spot Assist distinguishes between a warning zone and a collision zone, and can further help prevent a collision via braking intervention if the driver ignores the audible and visual warnings If the driver or a prioritized driving safety system intervenes, for example ESP® or Active Brake Assist, the course-correcting braking intervention is suppressed or ended.

Surround View System: This system allows parking and maneuvering with a realistic all-round view, thanks to four networked cameras. The car and its surroundings can be depicted in the media display from a virtual bird’s-eye view, and obstacles beneath the window line are even visible to the driver.

Torque Vectoring Brake: Especially when accelerating on bends, this ESP®-based system ensures greater stability and driving safety. If the ESP® sensors register a tendency to understeer, this can be reduced by specific braking action on the vehicle side facing the bend. This intervention leads to a gentle yawing motion around the vehicle’s vertical axis, which counteracts the understeer. At the same time the drive torque is slightly increased to compensate the braking torque, and this excess torque is distributed to the outer wheel. This means that the vehicle can be steered through the bend in a more precise and controlled manner.

Driver Assistance Package: Various assistance functions can noticeably relieve the driver’s workloadby automatically regulating distance and speed, and by assisting with steering:

• Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Functioncan help to prevent accidents with vehicles travelling ahead or crossing, and also with pedestrians, or to mitigate their consequences
• Evasive Steering Assist can assist the driver with an evasive maneuver once he/she has decided to avoid a pedestrian detected by the system
• Active Blind Spot Assist can warn a driver changing lanes of vehicles in the blind spot, and also trigger one-sided braking intervention to prevent a collision
• Active Lane Keeping Assist can warn a driver who appears to be drifting unintentionally out of lane, and also trigger one-sided braking intervention to bring the vehicle back into its lane (also where lane markings are interrupted if there is a risk of collision)
• Active Steering Assist generates steering torque which helps the driver to stay in the center of the lane on straight roads and slight bends, taking its guidance from vehicles ahead and lane markings
  • Active Lane Change Assist automatically steers the vehicle into the adjacent lane as soon as the driver initiates a lane change by operating the indicators, and as long as the system detects no other vehicle in that lane
  • Active Emergency Stop Assist brakes the vehicle to a stop in a controlled manner when the system recognizes that the driver is distracted for a longer period or cannot intervene in vehicle control
  • Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC operates within a wide speed range and reacts to stationary vehicles at low speeds
  • Route-Based Speed Adaptation: the speed preset in DISTRONIC is predictively reduced according to the route ahead of bends, junctions, roundabouts or toll booths, then increased back up to the set speed. If the route has been selected using the navigation system, the S-Class also responds accordingly: if the vehicle is in the furthest right lane, it is decelerated when approaching the desired motorway exit. The same applies to junctions where the navigation route recommends a turn.
• Active Speed Limit Assist is automatically able to adopt speed limits recognized from navigation map data or by the camera while driving with Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC activated
• PRE-SAFE® PLUS is able to initiate preventive measures before an imminent collision from behind in order to protect the occupants, including warning surrounding traffic, activating the belt tensioners or locking the brakes of the vehicle when stationary

Night View Assist® PLUS enables the driver to recognize people or animals sooner in the dark as they are clearly shown in the instrument display. To do this, the system projects two beams of dazzle-free infrared light onto the road ahead. With the help of an infrared camera behind the windscreen, the entire high beam range is shown as a crystal clear greyscale image. A thermal imaging camera in the radiator grille allows precise warnings to be given, by distinguishing irrelevant objects such as combinations of road signs or bushes from relevant objects such as people and large animals. These are highlighted in color with small frames in the display. The Spotlight function allows pedestrians in danger to be flashed at repeatedly, so that the driver registers them more quickly and they recognize the danger of the situation. In normal operation, the night view image only switches on automatically when a risky situation is recognized.

SOURCE: Mercedes-Benz