WABCO claims that its OnGuardMax is the industry’s first system for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) in collision-imminent situations with moving or stopped vehicles.

WABCO Vehicle Control Systems demonstrated at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in September an extension to the OnGuard collision mitigation system with active braking that was launched earlier this year in North America. OnGuardMax, claims the Tier 1 supplier to heavy-duty commercial vehicles, is the industry’s first system for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) in collision-imminent situations with moving or stopped vehicles.

The new AEB system minimizes the response time for a vehicle to brake in such situations and can bring the vehicle to a full stop. Integrating data about road traffic from two sources—video and a laser distance sensor—OnGuardMax processes the information using an algorithm to enhance object dimensioning and anticipate imminent danger. It simultaneously interfaces with braking and other systems in the truck such as the engine, transmission, and stability control to assist the driver.

“OnGuardMax has reached the necessary accuracy in the detection of vehicles through our sensor data fusion,” said Jacques Esculier, WABCO Chief Executive Officer, at the IAA 2008 in Hannover, Germany. “We combine the accuracy of a distance sensor with the accuracy of image processing, and the result is a breakthrough in accuracy for driver assistance.”

Esculier pointed out that the original OnGuard is based on a single source of information—radar. It does “not have that double source of information that allows us to validate that there is a vehicle in front of the truck” as with OnGuardMax, he said.

“That’s the basis of differentiation versus other offerings out there,” agreed Jean-Christophe Figueroa, WABCO Vice President, Vehicle Dynamics and Control. “We have the radar—LIDAR-based—mounted on the bumper, and a video camera mounted at the center of the windscreen…. With two signals, then you can be sure that there is an object so you won’t have false coverages, which is very important.”

According to Figueroa, rear-end and junction collisions account for nearly half of all commercial-vehicle accidents, and OnGuardMax helps prevent or at least mitigate these collisions through a sequence of warnings. First, a warning tone and lamp alert the driver, followed by a haptic signal—a brake jerk—and engine torque limitation if no action has been taken. If the collision then becomes unavoidable, full brake application up to a full stop occurs.

The camera range is around 50 m (164 ft) and it works under all conditions. But Figueroa reminded that it is a video camera, not an infrared camera. “So if you have deep fog that you don’t see at 5 m, there will be a signal ‘no visibility’ or ‘low visibility,’ because what the eye can’t see, the camera cannot see either,” he said.

The AEB system can go as far as to detect a motorcycle but not pedestrians or bicycles. “The LIDAR can’t tell the difference between a pop can and a truck. It just simply sees reflectivity,” explained Kurt Lehmann, WABCO Vice President, Product Development. “It’s the camera that then takes the shape and can process what that possibly could be. To be able to start doing that for humans, there is an incredible next level of processing power that would be required.”

In the next couple of years, OnGuardMax will add lane departure warning to its repertoire. Beyond that, “you can start thinking about convoying, like elephants-in-a-row type of thing,” said Lehmann. A major benefit of convoying, he noted, would be more stable fuel consumption because vehicles could go at the same optimal speeds, for instance.

OnGuardMax will launch in Europe in 2010. “Once we start to sell the device in Europe, there is nothing that will prevent us from offering the same thing to U.S. customers,” said Esculier. “We believe that ultimately the U.S. also will rule [as the European Union has done already] for a system like this to become mandatory for heavy trucks,” but not before 2014, he added.

Esculier said a price for the technology has not been finalized yet but admitted that “it’s going to be an expensive device, for sure. It’s not something that is simple; it touches a lot of technologies.”

WABCO is “actively speaking to quite a few manufacturers” about the integration of OnGuardMax into their future trucks and buses.

参考译文：

WABCO声称，其OnGuardMax系统是业内首个推出用于避免移动或静止车辆发生紧急碰撞的自动紧急制动系统（AEB，autonomous emergency braking）。

在9月举行的IAA商用车展览上，WABCO车辆控制系统分部展出了一个缓撞系统，该系统是今年早些时候在北美推出的基于主动制动的OnGuard缓撞系统的一个扩展。该重型商用车一级供应商表示，OnGuardMax是业内首个推出用于避免移动或静止车辆发生紧急碰撞的自动紧急制动系统（AEB，autonomous emergency braking）。

新推出的AEB系统缩短了车辆在此紧急情形下的制动反应时间，可以将车辆完全停止。利用来自视频和激光测距两个传感器所提供的路面交通信息，OnGuardMax采用一种算法对此数据进行分析获得精确的物象尺寸，并预测将发生的危险。为协助驾驶员的操纵，该系统同时与制动和例如发动机、变速器以及稳定性控制等其它系统进行交互。

WABCO的CEO Jacques Esculier在今年德国Hannover的IAA 2008展览上说，“利用传感器数据融合，OnGuardMax系统已经可以足够精确地检测车辆，我们将间距传感器精度和图像处理精度相结合，结果在驾驶员辅助系统方面取得了突破。”

Esculier指出，原先的OnGuard系统仅仅基于雷达这一个传感器信息，由于缺乏两个信息传感器，它就无法验证卡车前方是否真的有一辆车。

WABCO 副总裁、车辆动力学与控制部门的Jean-Christophe Figueroa也指出，“那正是该系统与其它系统的区别所在，我们的新系统在保险杆装上了基于LIDAR的雷达，在挡风玻璃中央装上视频摄像仪，…，有了这两个信号，你就可以确信车辆前方到底是否有一个物体，而这是十分重要的。”

Figueroa称，追尾和连环碰撞在商用车事故中占几乎一半的比例，OnGuardMax采用一系列的警告信号，有助于防止或至少减轻这些碰撞事故。先是采用报警声和报警灯，然后利用一个紧急制动提供一个触觉信号，若驾驶员还未采用逼撞措施，则将限制发动机的输出转矩。若碰撞无法避免，则将采用全力制动直至车辆停车。

摄像头的有效范围在50m左右，并可在各种条件下使用。但是Fugueroa先生提醒说，这只是一个视频摄像头而不是红外摄像头。“因此，如果你在能见度5m的浓雾条件下，将会有一个‘能见度无’或‘能见度低’的提示信号，因为假如你的肉眼看不见，摄像头也看不见。”

该AEB系统可以检测到摩托车，但是无法检测到行人或者自行车。“LIDAR无法分辨易拉罐和卡车的区别。它只能简单地辨别反射率，”WABCO副总裁、产品开发部的Kurt Lehmann解释道。“只有摄像头接着形成物象，并能对其可能是什么做出处理。要达到像人一样的处理判断能力，还需要在处理能力方面取得更大的进展。”

在几年后，OnGuardMax系统将在现有功能上添加车道偏离警告系统。那之后，“你就可以考虑自动护航功能，就像成排的大象一样”，Lehmann说。他表示，护航功能的主要优点将体现在更稳定的燃油经济性，因为车辆可以都在某一个最优的车速下行驶。

OnGuardMax系统将会在2010年投放到欧洲市场。“一旦我们开始在欧洲销售这个装备，就没有什么可以阻挡我们为美国客户提供同样的装备”，Esculier说。 “我们相信，像欧盟已经做的那样，美国最终会将类似此系统的装备作为重型卡车的强制性配备”，他补充道，但这只有等到2014年之后了。

Esculier表示，该项技术的最终销售价格还未确定，但是他承认：“这无疑会是一项昂贵的装备，它不是一个简单的系统，而是涉及到许许多多技术的系统。”

当前，WABCO公司“正在与许多整车制造商进行积极地商谈”，考虑将它的OnGuardMax系统集成到它们未来的卡车和客车上。