Thursday 16th October 2003

Delphi Gadgets

Bloke detection and lane departure systems to become standard fitment in cars of the future

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More options are becoming open to manufacturers wanting to fit their cars with numpty aids during manufacture. OEM supplier Delphi has come up with two new systems that will no doubt be beeping and buzzing at us in a few years time.

The latest devices are the Lane Departure Warning and Recognition system and a new occupant sensing system for use with airbag systems.

Bloke Sensor

Delphi was first to introduce an FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) 208-compliant occupant detection system to control airbag deployment with Jaguar for the 2001 model year.

The existing systems measure the weight of the front passenger using a silicone bladder mounted under the seat cushion and connected to a pressure sensor. This allows the airbag control system to suppress airbag deployment if the seat is empty or is occupied by a small child or an infant in a childseat.

The new Vision-based Interior Sensing System helps take occupant detection into the next generation by adding the ability to sense position as well as providing a more accurate passenger size classification. "Previous generations of occupant detection systems supported a relatively simple ‘fire/no fire’ strategy. With Delphi’s vision-based technology we have an intelligent system that can make decisions based on a combination of inputs ," explains some Doctor bloke from Delphi.

The system monitors the front seat passenger using a multiple camera system mounted on the windscreen rail, with infrared LEDs providing illumination. The cameras send up to 50 monochrome images per second to a digital signal processing system that classifies the scene into one of seven categories:

1. empty seat

2. rear-facing infant seat (typically child under 1)

3. front-facing infant seat (typically child 1-3)

4. child in position

5. child out of position

6. adult in position

7. adult out of position

A sophisticated feature of this system is its ability to identify the head and torso of the passenger and to track the person’s head as it moves. The system incorporates a dynamic tracking feature that uses position data of other body features to estimate the location of the occupant’s head, even if the occupant is partially hidden, for example behind a newspaper. The position of the passenger’s head is an important criteria in determining if the passenger is out of position, which would potentially require that the airbag be disabled in certain crash situations.

Future systems may be able to catch your head in a huge inflatable pair of hands...

Vision-based Lane Departure Warning

Delphi’s vision-based Lane Departure Warning technology will warn the driver should the vehicle start to drift out of lane. ems as part of Delphi’s Integrated Safety Systems strategy.

"The ability to identify all lane guidance lines and to work in many weather and lighting conditions has made this a substantial achievement ," says Dr. Richard C. Lind, director of Advanced Engineering for Delphi Delco Electronics Systems.

The new system uses a digital camera, typically mounted in the rear view mirror housing, to look up to 25 m ahead of the vehicle. This data is supplemented by vehicle speed data and yaw data (so the computer knows if the vehicle is turning) collected from other systems via the vehicle’s high-speed databus.

A number of warning strategies could be implemented depending on vehicle manufacturer preference. These include a warning projected onto the windscreen, an audible alarm, a small vibration in the steering wheel or a high pitched Austrian woman yodelling at the driver. In the more distant future, where vehicles are fitted with active steering, the system may even help adjust the line of the car to maintain a safe course.

[Swilly]

Some Mad Numpty Designer said:

Vision based Lane departure Warning

I already have this system installed, having had an extensive development and evolutionary cycle it is almost faultless, and being connected up to a peerless image processing/identifying/decision making and emergency over-ride computing system, it all works wonderfully.

Although the downside with this system is that it needs to be installed withinyour own head sometime between -9 months and 0 months old.

[Marshy]

Not the sort of vision based system that warns the driver by administering a sharp pain in the side and the threat of no sex for a week?

Anyway, FFS, how many more systems can come along to mollycoddle a driver who should have been trained to a higher standard in the first place? It really begins to beggar belief.

Anyway, the moral of this story is not to fall asleep at the wheel unless you're on a motorway, in which case the Delphi Teasmaid will buzz the steering wheel, sound a gong, steer you back on course and waft the aroma of freshly brewed tea at you, all the while gently brightening the interior lights.

[plucas1]

I think these gadgets are great - but only as gadgets. Nothing wrong with a bit of techno-fun, but as a serious tool?

Even putting aside the legal/moral implications of freeing up the driver to do other important tasks such as reading the newspaper/making phone calls/trying to operate an iDrive setting rather than actually driving I'm still sceptical of all these computer aids. How long before the Windows "blue screen of death" becomes all too literal?

[wedgepilot]

Well said swilly!

Why don't they just fit a full autopilot system and be done with it? That would remove the need for any of that tedious 'driving' business, allowing people to get on with important stuff like txting their m8s...

[MoJocvh]

I think the passenger position sensor thingy is actually quite a good idea. You can see that they are trying to increase the effectivness of the safety devices fitted to the car.

The other is a load of bollox---it'll just encourage over tired drivers to push their luck. MoJo.