BMW 2008 Annual Report Download - page 212

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That work is also economically advantageous. Innovations
such as active steering, lane departure warning, Dynamic
Drive and adaptive cornering lights have all been patented.
The fact that more and more people are opting for safety
features shows that customers increasingly consider road
safety a crucial part of their driving experience.
“What is typical about the BMW Group,” adds Kompaß, “is
our integrated approach to the topic. We analyse the en-
tire
process chain – from accident prevention through to
what happens after the impact. That is how we ensure
maximum safety.”
For instance, BMW Group engineers know, from their
study of accidents, that more than half of all fatal pedestrian
accidents take place at dusk or during the night – in other
words, in poor visibility. And although only around 
per-
cent of all driving is done at night, about  percent of
all road fatalities occur in the dark. In response to this chal-
lenge BMW safety experts developed a uniquely intelligent
infrared system to warn the driver of pedestrians or ani-
mals on the road in the dark. “Night Vision,” as the technol-
ogy is called, uses an infrared camera to transmit moving
video images of the surroundings. The difference in tem-
perature allows its sensor to detect people and animals up
to  metres away, even in complete darkness beyond
the range of the headlights. If Night Vision identifies a per-
son or animal moving along the roadside, the image is
shown on the control display; if there is any immediate dan-
ger the driver is also given a warning signal.
Accident type 2:
22percent = accidents in
longitudinal traffic.
Standard features:
– lane change warning
– lane departure warning
– adaptive brake assistant
– Night Vision
– high beam assistant
– ACC
– 2-phase brake light
– brake assistant
– ABS, DSC, ASC
In research or development phase :
–
signal warning driver of motorists
heading in the wrong direction
on highways
But none of these systems will ever take the steering wheel
out of the driver’s hands. “Drivers will always have to make
the final call,” says Kompaß. “We can only enable them
to make the best possible decision.” Many safety systems
within the vehicle are efficiently networked for that pur-
pose: A camera in the rear view mirror of the new BMW
7 Series provides data needed to display the applicable
speed limit as well as for the lane departure warning and
the high beam assistant. The 7 Series’ integrated chassis
management also interfaces with the transmission shift
characteristics, power-steering assist, integral active
steering, accelerator pedal response and dynamic damp-
ing control as well as the DSC and Dynamic Drive re-
sponse. Highly complex applications such as these, which
encompass the entire vehicle architecture, require quite
different development capabilities – and these cannot be
fully realised by external suppliers. “Our development
work gives the BMW Group access to future technologies
in-house and also from our suppliers,” explains Kompaß.
Image aAlways on track with lane departure warning.
bSafety begins in normal driving Intelligent suspension control functions help avoid accidents.
The challenge of the future Topic three Access to technologies and customers Safety
a
b