The new Volvo S60 revealed yesterday features a ground-breaking Pedestrian Detection system that’s designed to help protect folk who stray into the road.
The upgrade to Volvo’s existing Auto Brake system consists of a newly developed radar unit integrated into the car’s grille, a camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror, and a central control unit. The radar’s task is to detect any object in front of the car and to determine the distance to it. The camera determines what type of object it is.
The newly developed dual-mode radar’s much wider field of vision ensures that pedestrians about to step into the roadway can be detected early on, says Volvo. The camera has higher resolution than the previous-generation Auto Brake which also makes it possible to detect the pedestrian’s pattern of movement.
"Detecting pedestrians with sufficiently high reliability has been a complex challenge. Our innovative technology is programmed to trace a pedestrian’s pattern of movement and also to calculate whether he or she is likely to step into the road in front of the car. The system can detect pedestrians who are 80 cm tall and upwards, that is to say including children," says Thomas Broberg, Senior Safety Advisor at Volvo Cars.
Volvo says the system can avoid a collision with a pedestrian altogether at speeds of up to 21mph if the driver does not react in time. At higher speeds, the focus is on reducing the car’s speed as much as possible prior to the impact. The company quotes statistics that show when speed is cut from 30mph to 15mph, Pedestrian Detection with full Auto Brake should reduce the fatality risk by as much as 20 per cent and in certain cases by up to 85 per cent.
Click the play button to see the new system in action
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