Crash warning system demonstrated
European researchers have demonstrated in laboratory conditions a collision warning system for cars that could alert the driver several seconds in advance of an imminent impact. The device is said to usher in the first steps towards the ‘connected car’.
The Collision Warning System (CWS) – developed by the Reposit (Relative position for collision avoidance systems) project – finds its position using GPS, and determines the position, speed and trajectory of neighbouring and oncoming traffic using an emerging car communication protocol called Vehicle2Vehicle (V2V).
It uses that information to calculate the relative position of other cars and to extrapolate where they will be in a few seconds’ time. If the data predicts a collision, it warns the driver.
“So far, we’ve got predictions about 1 to 3s ahead of a collision, but anything from 2s up gives drivers time to react,” said Jose Ignacio Herrero Zarzosa, Reposit project coordinator. The system is said to work better speeds of more than 50km/h.
