HIGH-PERFORMANCE ACC SYSTEM BASED ON SENSOR FUSION WITH DISTANCE SENSOR, IMAGE-PROCESSING UNIT, AND NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Curve sensors used in first generation ''Adaptive Cruise Control'' sys tems (ACC) are based on steering angle sensors, lateral accelerometers or yaw rate sensors. The disadvantage of these curve sensors is that they do not have any preview characteristics. This leads in many drivi ng situations to misinterpretations by the ACC system, e.g. wrong path assignments of vehicles ahead because of non-constant curve radii par ticularly in the beginning and ending of curves. The consequence is th at the ACC car brakes due to vehicles in adjacent lanes or it ignores relevant obstacles. In the following a second generation ACC system wi ll be presented whose curve sensor is realized by a real time image pr ocessing system with the support of a GPS-based navigation system. Thi s multi-sensor fusion system is now suitable for collision avoidance a nd stop and go applications.