TecDay: Mercedes-Benz Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF) 2019
New safety ideas for a new mobility
Contents
New safety ideas for a new mobility.............................................................. 4
Interview Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg
"Safety continues to be our core brand value"............................................. 9
Innovative answers to new challenges...................................................... 13
Profiles: Comprehensive driving safety......................................................... 16
Cooperative communication with the environment
Looking out for others: creating confidence through communication............ 21
Profiles: Cooperative vehicle environment communication, DIGITAL LIGHT..... 24
Child safety - PRE-SAFE® Child
Preventive protection for the very little ones................................................ 30
Robot in action: warning triangle 4.0.......................................................... 35
PRE-SAFE® keeps on learning..................................................................... 40
Profiles: New PRE-SAFE® functions................................................................ 42
Safety and comfort in the rear
Innovative airbag for the rear and major offensive against seat belt shirkers 45
Partner-like protection for pedestrians and cyclists..................................... 53
Overcoming systemic limits for the safety of the future................................ 57
Under the microscope: Mercedes-Benz accident research
Painstaking detective work on real accidents............................................. 59
Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS)
Numerous test facilities for safety innovations.......................................... 61
The history of the ESF models at Mercedes-Benz
Milestones in safety development.............................................................. 63
The Experimental Safety Vehicle described in this publication (in some respects) differs from series production specifications and portrays our vision of the future based on current development projects. The description in this publication does not imply eventual approvability.
Key facts
Overview of all the innovations
The Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF) 2019 incorporates more than one dozen trailblazing safety innovations in tangible form. It reflects the mobility of the future and the new approaches associated with automatized driving.
New safety ideas for a new mobility
Stuttgart. Electric drive systems and fully-automated driving are key technologies for the mobility of the future. This leads to changes in the requirements for in-car safety technology: firstly, much more flexible seating positions in the interior of such vehicles require a different form of occupant protection. And secondly, empathy and trust are central factors for the acceptance of self-driving vehicles. Other road users must be able to recognize intuitively what a fully-automated vehicle intends to do, as in many situations there will be no driver to communicate this. With the new Experimental Safety Vehicle ESF 2019, Mercedes-Benz is giving an insight into the ideas that the company's safety experts are researching and working on. Among the one dozen or so innovations, some are near-series developments and some look well into the future.
The ESF 2019 is based on the new Mercedes-Benz GLE, is capable of fully- automated driving in many situations and has a plug-in hybrid drive system. In June 2019 the ESF 2019 will make its grand appearance before experts at the ESV convention in Eindhoven (Netherlands). It will then make its public appearance at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in September 2019. In some respects the ESF 2019 is a preview of what is to come, in others a vision and in yet others a contribution to the general discussion, but it is also a tool for improved traffic safety in the great tradition of Mercedes-Benz.
"Safety is part of the brand DNA of Mercedes-Benz. We have repeatedly demonstrated that we are not short of ideas in this field since the 1970s, with our Experimental Safety Vehicles. The new ESF 2019 reflects the mobility of the future, and presents a wide variety of innovations which we are currently researching and developing. And I can already say this much: some of the functions are very close to series production," says Ola Källenius, Member of the Daimler AG Executive Board responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.
"Safety continues to be our core brand value," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg, Head of the Vehicle Safety, Durability and Corrosion Protection Centre at Mercedes-Benz Cars. "The great advantage of automating driving functions is that in the future, fewer accidents will be caused by driver error.
However, fully-automated and driverless vehicles also come up against physical limits, and there will undoubtedly be mixed traffic consisting of automated and non-automated vehicles for many years."
More than one dozen innovations: more protection for passengers and partners
An overview of the key topics covered by the ESF 2019:
- All-round driver safety: When the ESF 2019 is driving in fully- automated mode, the steering wheel and pedal cluster are retracted to reduce the risk of injury during a crash. The greater interior flexibility requires new ideas for restraint systems (seat-integrated belt) and airbags with alternative installation spaces (driver airbag in the dashboard, integral sidebag in the side bolsters of the seat backrests). However, the ESF 2019 also has ideas for a manual driving mode: With daylight-like light from the sun visor, vitalizing interior light can help to keep the driver alert.
- Cooperative communication with the environment: For people to gain trust in the automated vehicle, they must immediately and intuitively be able to recognize what it intends to do. In this respect the ESF 2019 takes human road users very much into consideration. Its sensors not only keep an eye on the traffic, it communicates in all directions and can also warn other road users. The ESF 2019 is also equipped with the revolutionary headlamp technology DIGITAL LIGHT, with practically dazzle-free high beam in HD quality and a resolution of more than two million pixels.
- Child safety: With the child seat concept PRE-SAFE® Child, the seat belt is preventively tensioned and side-mounted impact protection elements are extended before a crash. Thanks to the tensioned belt, the child is more firmly and accurately fixed in the seat while belt slack is reduced. This considerably reduces the loads acting on the child. Monitoring of seat installation and the child's vital signs are other functions integrated into the seat.
- Securing traffic hazards: The ESF 2019 shows how the scenes of accidents or breakdowns could be secured more safely with innovations such as a small robot that automatically emerges from the vehicle's rear following an incident, and positions itself at the roadside as a warning triangle. Other ideas are a warning triangle that folds out of the vehicle roof at the same time, and the rear window as a communication surface.
- New PRE-SAFE® functions: PRE-SAFE® Curve (which uses the belt tensioner to warn the driver that he/she has possibly underestimated an approaching bend) and PRE-SAFE® side lights with electro- luminescent paint can defuse potentially hazardous situations. PRE-SAFE® Impulse Rear is able to extend the protection of passengers and others involved in an accident at the end of a traffic tailback.
- Safety and comfort in the rear: An innovative rear airbag uses a special new inflation concept to deploy and position the airbag. It has a special tubular structure for this purpose. With belt-feeders, belt buckle illumination, USB belt buckles and belt heating, the ESF 2019 implements a number of ideas by which passengers on the rear seats might be motivated to wear seat belts using new methods.
- Active safety: Active Brake Assist with extended functions in the ESF 2019 provides additional protection, especially in potentially dangerous traffic situations with unprotected road users. When turning, it now also detects pedestrians and cyclists moving in parallel to the original direction of travel. If a collision with unprotected road users crossing the road into which the vehicle is turning is imminent, the driver receives a visual and audible warning. Autonomous braking is initiated if the driver fails to react. The same also applies if there are any cyclists in the blind spot when turning to the right. If there is a risk of collision with cross-traffic when turning off or crossing a road, the system now prevents the driver from moving off and, if necessary, stops the vehicle, including from walking speed, by means of autonomous braking. The 360° pedestrian protection system warns and assists while parking and maneuvering if there is a risk of collision with more vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists), right up to autonomous braking.
"Real Life Safety" philosophy: learning from real accidents
In its safety development work, Mercedes-Benz takes its lead from real accidents for the protection of all road users. This Real Life Safety philosophy not only includes simulations and crash tests, legal requirements and published ratings. On the basis of what actually happens in accidents, it develops strict in-house safety regulations that in many cases go well beyond the legal provisions or rating requirements.
The key is accident research: for 50 years, in-house experts have examined serious accidents involving current Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The aim is to learn from them, and incorporate the findings into the designs of new models.
New ideas and safety concepts such as those shown in the ESF 2019 can be tested and validated e.g. at the Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS). Opened in November 2016, the TFS is part of the development center in Sindelfingen and one of the world's most modern crash test centers.
Mercedes-Benz has a wide range of test facilities at the TFS, so as to remain the trailblazer in vehicle safety.
The history of the ESF models: from research to series production
Mercedes-Benz is continuing a long-standing tradition with the ESF 2019:
For the ESV Safety Conferences held from 1971 to 1975, the safety experts built more than 30 experimental vehicles which they crash-tested to achieve the always visionary safety objectives of Mercedes-Benz. Four of these vehicles – ESF 5, ESF 13 (both based on the medium-class W 114/"Stroke/8" series), ESF 22 and ESF 24 (both based on the W 116-series S-Class) – were presented to the public.
The first ESF vehicle for many years, and the direct predecessor to the ESF 2019, was the ESF 2009. This research vehicle celebrated its premiere on 15 June 2009, at the 21st ESV (Enhanced Safety of Vehicles) conference) in Stuttgart. Numerous innovations in the ESF 2009 have meanwhile entered series production. These include e.g. the beltbag available for the S-Class, PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side for the E-Class, CLS and GLE and Active High Beam Assist Plus, which is available for many model series.
Contacts:
Koert Groeneveld, Global Product Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars,
+49 711 17-92311, koert.groeneveld@daimler.com
Katharina Becker, Communication Digital Vehicle & Future Technologies,
+ 49 711 17-93271, katharina.becker@daimler.com
Sarah Widmann, Communication Technology, Intelligent Drive & Passive Vehicle Safety, +49 711 17-97729, sarah.widmann@daimler.com
More information from Mercedes-Benz is available online at: www.media.daimler.com, https://media.mercedes-benz.com, www.smart.com and www.mercedes-benz.com
TecDay ESF 2019
Interview Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg
"Safety continues to be our core brand value"
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg was born on 30 October 1959, studied aerospace engineering and obtained his doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin. He holds an honorary professorship at the College of Technology and Business Economics (HTW) in Dresden. He has been Head of Vehicle Safety, Durability and Corrosion Protection at Mercedes-Benz since April 1999. It was in 2002, under his aegis, that the preventive occupant protection system PRE-SAFE® entered series production as the start of a new era in vehicle safety at Mercedes-Benz. In the interview, Prof. Schöneburg comments on the Experimental Safety Vehicle ESF 2019.
Professor Schöneburg, ten years ago, when the ESF 2009 appeared, you said that Mercedes-Benz has many more ideas for new safety systems, and especially in the areas of passive safety and the preventive protection system PRE-SAFE®. Does this still apply in 2019, is Mercedes-Benz still not short of ideas?
Schöneburg: We are certainly not short of ideas for safety innovations. And that is precisely one of the reasons for building the ESF 2019. We have done so to show the ideas and concepts our safety experts at Mercedes-Benz are currently researching and developing for further improvements in safety. And as was already seen with the ESF 2009, this is more than just an exercise. Many of the ideas presented with it have meanwhile entered series production at Mercedes-Benz.
Can you give us an example please?
Certainly. For example the partial high beam now implemented in Adaptive High Beam Assist Plus. Or the beltbag now available for the S-Class: this inflatable seat belt can lower the risk of injury to rear passengers during a frontal impact, by reducing the load on the ribcage. And what was called PRE-SAFE® Pulse in the ESF 2009 is now available for the E-Class, CLS and GLE as PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side: in the event of an impending side impact, this system is preventively able to move the driver or front passenger a short distance away from the danger area. Together with the familiar PRE-SAFE® protection concepts for frontal and rear-end collisions, it creates something of a virtual crumple zone around the vehicle. We call this PRE-SAFE® 360°.
The original concept of the crumple zone as an area specifically designed to deform in an impact was invented by the Mercedes-Benz safety pioneer Béla Barényi. What exactly do you mean by a virtual crumple zone?
The purpose of the physical crumple zone is to absorb energy during an accident, to protect the occupants. The virtual crumple zone covers the time from the moment when the vehicle reacts to its sensors to the moment of the impact. If an object or other road user enters the virtual crumple zone, many valuable measures can already be implemented to protect the occupants and accident partner. This is possible with PRE-SAFE® and PRE-SAFE® Impulse systems, but also with the help of conventional restraint systems.
Does this primarily benefit the driver and front passenger, or also passengers in the rear?
The purpose of the virtual crumple zone is to mitigate the severity of accidents, and in many cases it helps all those involved. However, another key aspect of the ESF 2019 is safety for rear seat passengers. The innovations in this area include the rear airbag with its groundbreaking tubular structure and the child seat with PRE-SAFE® functions. The latter preventively tensions the belts of the child seat before a crash, and extends side-mounted impact protection elements.
The ESF 2009 was based on an S-Class, but for the first time the ESF 2019 is an SUV. Why?
That's correct, the ESF 2019 is based on the new GLE. SUVs are very popular with our customers, and we currently have seven successful models in the range. It was therefore only logical to use an SUV as an example in which to present the safety features of tomorrow. In addition, the new GLE with its innovative driving assistance systems is currently a pacemaker in the field of vehicle safety.
Mercedes-Benz has always concerned itself with the safety of other road users – does that still apply?
Yes, and the ESF 2019 continues this with new ideas. One example is cooperative communication with the environment: the ESF 2019 is also able to warn other road users, even when parked at the roadside and not involved. It also has 360° pedestrian protection, which can defuse hazardous situations with more vulnerable road users when parking and maneuvering.
Furthermore, the familiar Active Brake Assist has been configured for more traffic situations.
Everybody has probably had tricky situations with pedestrians, and the active systems you mention can help. Are the passive safety systems also developed on the basis of real accidents?
Of course, because our safety philosophy is "Real Life Safety". Alongside simulations and crash tests, what actually happens in accidents is an important aspect for us. Accordingly we have developed strict in-house safety regulations that in many cases go well beyond the legal requirements or rating requirements. Our accident research unit is among the oldest in the industry: for 50 years our in-house experts have examined serious accidents involving current Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The aim is to learn from them, and incorporate the findings into the designs of new models. Safety continues to be our core brand value.
But will there be accidents at all in the future? After all, the ESF 2019 is a car that can drive in fully-automated mode in many situations.
The great advantage of automating driving functions is that in the future, fewer accidents might be caused by driver error. However, there will undoubtedly be mixed traffic consisting of automated and non-automated vehicles for many years. Furthermore, the increasing number of sensors opens up potentials for passive safety - the virtual crumple zone.
But it will still not be possible to do without real crumple zones and modern restraint systems, right?
That's correct. Because even fully-automated and driverless vehicles will encounter physical limits. A tree might fall directly ahead of the car during a storm, leaving no time to brake or take evasive action, or accidents can be
caused by other road users. After all, not all vehicles will already be automated tomorrow. There are therefore ideas in the ESF 2019 that improve protection for passengers in the rear. For example, we encourage them to fasten their seat belts. The innovative tubular structure rear airbag is another good example. And very importantly for me personally, there are many ideas in the ESF 2019 for improved child protection – both inside and outside the car.
Automated cars such as the ESF 2019 are a contribution to Vision Zero, the vision of driving without road deaths or injuries. But do new challenges arise as well?
Yes, because the much more flexible seating positions require a different form of occupant protection. Naturally we also give our attention to this – and in the ESF 2019 we reveal a number of ideas such as the new design of the driver airbag, or the integral sidebag that deploys from the seat backrest on both sides. One thing is clear: a safe vehicle uses all possible means of avoiding accidents, but is always prepared for the eventuality of an accident. This is why all of our future models, including the automated ones, will of course meet our stringent crash safety requirements.
TecDay ESF 2019
Innovative answers to new challenges
Automated cars such as the ESF 2019 bring the vision of accident-free driving a bit closer. However, is the era of automated and autonomous driving, we need a comprehensive safety concept with many innovative solutions, as passengers might be seated much more flexibly in the interior than they are today.
The ESF 2019 adapts itself to the situation: when it is driving in fully- automated mode, the steering wheel and pedal cluster are retracted. Together with the level, padded floor, this can not only reduce the risk of injury in a crash, but also clearly indicates that the vehicle is in automated mode.
Coordinated interaction between the seat belts, belt tensioners, belt force limiters and airbags is a standard feature of Mercedes-Benz restraint systems. As the passengers in automated vehicles might not always be in the best possible seating position in relation to present restraint systems, new ideas are necessary.
For example, the belt system has been integrated into the front seats, so that even when the occupant is in a more relaxed position, the belt fits as closely as possible. The belt system also has an electrically powered high- performance belt tensioner. This not only tensions in PRE-SAFE® situations, but is also able to respond at the moment of impact and tension the occupant's seat belt to an extent adequate to ensure that even when projected forward, he/she is pulled back into a more favorable, upright position.
The new flexibility in the interior requires new airbag systems with alternative installation spaces. In the ESF 2019, for example, the driver airbag is located in the dashboard, not the steering wheel. This deployment concept familiar from the front passenger airbag, plus the three-dimensional airbag shape this makes possible, allows greater coverage. For a better view of the instruments and displays, and to position the airbag where it is least obstructed, the steering wheel has a flattened upper section. The Steer-By-Wire technology in the ESF 2019 – in which steering commands are transmitted electrically and not mechanically – supports the new, slightly rectangular steering wheel geometry. As the steering ratio is now variably controllable, it is no longer necessary to cross one hand over the other on the steering wheel when steering. Maneuvering, for example, requires significantly less movement of the steering wheel, even for a large turning angle.
Another completely new development is also due to the great seating flexibility: the integral sidebag, which deploys from the side bolsters of the seat backrest on both sides. The wing-shaped airbag wraps itself around the shoulders, arms and head of the seat occupant. Its special feature is that it not only protects the passenger on the side facing the impact. As a so-called middle airbag, it can cushion the occupant on the side not facing the impact (known as a far-side impact) and prevent him/her from moving too close to another front seat occupant.
Remaining fit with light from the sun visor: Vitalizing interior light
For Mercedes-Benz, the focus is on the driver when it comes to preventing accidents. Good visibility and relaxed driving are two basic factors that have always been inherent to our vehicles. Our engineers refer to this as "driver- fitness safety".
The driver and passengers in a vehicle sit in relative darkness. Studies have shown that only around 5 to 20 percent of daylight reaches the eyes of the occupants. This can lead to a faster decline in alertness and concentration. Mercedes-Benz shows an innovative solution in the ESF 2019, with vitalizing interior light: biologically effective, daylight-like light from the sun visor supplements the natural daylight without dazzle and keeps the body in its natural biological rhythm. This keeps the driver fitter.
Mercedes-Benz has already tested vitalizing interior light during several studies conducted with test subjects. At the end of 2017 a team of researchers used two Mercedes-Benz Actros TopFit trucks to examine the effects of additional light on the mental state and performance of truck drivers. In addition to the vitalizing interior light while on the move, they also examined a stimulating light shower during breaks and a vitalizing light alarm in the morning. The combination of these three light programs forms a biologically effective system. The tests showed that with the vitalizing interior light, the ability to react remained more constant and there were fewer incorrect responses in monotonous driving conditions. More information on the study in Finland can be found here.
The vitalizing interior light has also been tested in passenger cars as part of a scientific study: especially in the morning, the test subjects tended to react more quickly thanks to the lighting, and made fewer mistakes at the wheel. This was the result of the last study conducted in January and February 2018, using converted E-Class cars and around 40 test subjects. It was found that with vitalizing interior light – unlike on comparative test runs without it – no warnings were needed from ATTENTION ASSIST. Moreover, the drivers tended to be in a more alert state with this lighting in the vehicle. EEG measurements (electroencephalograms) of brain waves recorded during journeys and evaluated also confirm this.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profiles: Comprehensive driving safety
Integral sidebag |
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Function |
This wing-shaped airbag (volume: approx. 40 liters) deploys on both sides from the side bolsters of the driver and front passenger seat backrests. Together with the shoulder and thorax areas, it envelops the arms and head of the seat occupant. As the sidebag is integrated into the backrest, its protective effect is substantially irrespective of the seat's position and backrest angle. |
In detail |
The airbag not only protects the occupant on the side facing the impact. As a so-called interseat airbag, it can cushion the occupant on the side not facing the impact (known as a far-side impact) and prevent him/her from moving too close to the center of the vehicle. If moved too far sideways, there could e.g. be a collision with another occupant. |
Sensors |
Current airbag sensors |
New driver airbag and new steering wheel and pedal cluster concept |
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Function |
The driver airbag (volume: approx. 120 liters) of the ESF 2019 is integrated into the upper dashboard section, like present front passenger airbags. When triggered it deploys across the steering wheel. |
In detail |
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Additional function |
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What accident research says |
3.7 percent of the serious injuries (category AIS2+) sustained by front car occupants and caused by components in the interior are mainly due to parts of the pedal cluster. That is the result of a GIDAS documentation from 12/20181. Retracting the pedal cluster when in automated driving mode could reduce this risk. |
Sensors |
Current crash sensors |
1 GIDAS stands for German In-Depth Accident Study. GIDAS is a cooperative project between the Federal Highway Institute (BASt) and Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik e.V.
Seat-integrated seat belt and electric high-performance belt tensioner |
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Function |
The seat-integrated belt is reversibly tensioned by an electric motor, and fully supports the familiar |
In detail |
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Additional function |
Electric belt tensioners tighten the belt in different driving situations classified as critical. Once the driving situation is considered safe again, the electric belt tensioning is released and the belt system returns to standard operating mode. This means that unlike pyrotechnical belt tensioners, electric belt tensioners |
Sensors |
ABS, environmental and crash sensors |
Vitalizing interior light |
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Function |
The body's natural rhythm is maintained by biologically effective, daylight-like light. This allows the driver to stay fitter – a virtual "open-air driving" effect sets in. The resulting improvement in driver- |
In detail |
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Sensors |
A light sensor in the windscreen registers the ambient light conditions and dims the light in twilight or in tunnels. This prevents dazzle and ensures that the |
2 Brainard et al 2001: Action Spectrum for Melatonin Regulation in Humans: Evidence for a Novel Circadian Photoreceptor.
TecDay ESF 2019
Cooperative communication with the environment
DIGITAL LIGHT
Looking out for others: creating confidence through communication
Eye-contact is a major element of communication in road traffic. And usually we quite rightly trust that a person who has seen us will give us attention. We do not have this level of relationship and experience with vehicles driving in automated mode. Accordingly Mercedes-Benz considers empathy and trust to be central factors for the acceptance of self-driving vehicles. For people to gain confidence in an automated vehicle, they must be immediately and intuitively able to recognize what it intends to do – so-called "informed confidence". In this respect the ESF 2019 takes human road users very much into consideration. Its sensors – whose development has of course not yet been completed in the experimental vehicle – not only keep an eye on the traffic situation, but also enable the ESF to communicate in all directions. And it not only makes its own intentions clear, it can also warn other road users. Even when even when parked at the roadside and not involved – like a thinking, alert passer-by.
"I have seen you", "I will stay here", "Attention, tailback" or "I'll give way to you" – car drivers constantly give these and other signals to other road users. The ESF 2019 uses clearly visible light signals in turquoise to do the same, thereby instilling informed confidence. There are many means of communication, using:
- the large front panel,
- LEDs in the sensor unit on the roof, in the indicator repeaters of the exterior mirrors and in the third brake light and
- projections onto the rear window.
Warnings and messages are sent using animations and symbols. Warnings are framed in red according to their urgency, for example in animations on the rear window.
The ESF 2019 clearly indicates e.g. that it will allow a pedestrian to cross the road or make room for a vehicle cutting in. The vehicle can even warn following traffic of hazards that lie ahead.
The ESF 2019 is also equipped with the revolutionary headlamp technology DIGITAL LIGHT, with practically dazzle-free high beam in HD quality and a resolution of more than two million pixels. With the innovative software- controlled DIGITAL LIGHT technology, symbols can also be projected onto the road in HD quality, e.g. as additional information for the driver3.
As the sensor system of a plug-in hybrid vehicle is not dependent on a running combustion engine for its power supply, it can even keep an eye on the traffic when it is connected to a charging station. So it would be able to warn car drivers of pedestrians who might carelessly wander into the road, or warn a car driver who is turning off about approaching cyclists. At the same time, pedestrians or cyclists can be warned of a hazard: this is because the ESF 2019 shares its knowledge of risks with its direct surroundings, and can therefore protect others against accidents.
Studies have shown that pedestrians like turquoise as a communication color
360-degree light signals have a special importance when it comes to information for pedestrians. This was a finding from several light studies that Mercedes-Benz conducted in Sindelfingen and at the Test and Technology Centre opened in Immendingen in September 2018, using a cooperative vehicle based on the S-Class. The studies examined how pedestrians react to differently marked, highly automated vehicles in different traffic situations. It became clear that light signals have a decisive effect on the acceptance of automated vehicles and pedestrians' feeling of safety.
The majority of participants preferred turquoise as the color of the light signals, and favored a 360-degree display. Mercedes-Benz is also contributing the results of these studies to the deliberations on "Automated and autonomous driving" by SAE International, an international association of engineers that e.g. develops and proposes norms and standards in the mobility sector.
3 New technologies must always meet the legal requirements of the different markets, and must therefore be adapted accordingly. We are currently examining the approval situation in this respect.
Mercedes-Benz is recommending the color turquoise, which has not been previously used in the automobile sector, to indicate automated driving mode and communicate with the environment.
Messages to the rear: Projections on the rear window
The rear window of the ESF 2019 plays an important role during interaction with following traffic. To this end the rear window has a membrane which switches from transparent to milky when required, and can then serve as a projection screen for a laser projector in the luggage compartment. This can not only project symbols and text, but even the image of the front camera onto the rear window.
For example, if the ESF allows a pedestrian to cross the road in front of it, the situation is explained to following traffic by a projection onto the rear window: A symbol indicates why the ESF is stopping, and subsequent projection of the camera image shows the pedestrian in front of the ESF to give vehicles behind a clear understanding. The ESF therefore communicates its behavior clearly, and following traffic is not tempted to try overtaking.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profiles: Cooperative vehicle environment communication, DIGITAL LIGHT
Motorway: |
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Function |
Cooperative behavior and communication with other road users: the ESF 2019 communicates its behavior and shares its knowledge of impending hazards, |
In detail |
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What accident research says |
In 2017 22 people lost their lives on German motorways and motorway-like highways owing to wrong-way drivers4. This number could possibly be reduced by a corresponding warning on the rear |
Sensors |
The comprehensive sensor system of the ESF 2019 allows it to recognize other road users and their direction of movement. At the same time, thanks to its permanent networking with the backend, the ESF 2019 is aware of possible hazards on the route ahead |
4 Source: Federal Statistical Office.
City: warning of pedestrians and cyclists |
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Function |
The sensor system of the parked ESF 2019 being charged at a charging station also remains alert when it is stationary, and can recognize possible accident risks in its immediate surroundings. If there is a risk of other road users colliding with each other, the ESF 2019 makes them aware and warns them if necessary. In the urban environment this can particularly benefit unprotected road users such as pedestrians and |
In detail |
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Sensors |
The extensive sensor system of the ESF 2019 enables |
City: interaction with pedestrians |
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Function |
E.g. at pedestrian crossings and when turning off, the ESF 2019 stops for pedestrians and indicates that it has seen them. It signals that it will wait until the |
In detail |
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Sensors |
The extensive sensor system of the ESF 2019 enables it to recognize other road users and their possible |
DIGITAL LIGHT |
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Function |
With the innovative software-controlled DIGITAL LIGHT technology, symbols can also be projected onto the road in HD quality. It not only gives the driver information in the direct field of vision, but also allows communication with the surroundings.
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In detail |
In the headlamp there are chips with over a million micro-reflectors, i.e. a total of over two million per vehicle. The cameras and sensor systems in the vehicle detect other road users, powerful computers evaluate the data plus digital navigation maps in milliseconds and give the headlamps the commands for optimally adapting the light distribution in all |
5 New technologies must always meet the legal requirements of the different markets, and must therefore be adapted accordingly. We are currently examining the approval situation in this respect.
Additional function |
With practically dazzle-free high beam in HD quality and a resolution of more than two million pixels, DIGITAL LIGHT has even greater precision than MULTIBEAM LED headlamps. The risk of dazzling |
Sensors |
Camera and sensor systems, navigation data |
TecDay ESF 2019
Child safety - PRE-SAFE® Child
Preventive protection for the very little ones
According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost 11,000 children suffered accidents as car passengers in Germany in 2017. With PRE-SAFE® Child in the ESF 2019, Mercedes-Benz now shows how child safety can be further improved. With this child seat with PRE-SAFE® functions, the seat belts are preventively tensioned before a crash and side impact protection elements are extended. Monitoring of seat installation and the child's vital signs are other functions integrated into the seat.
In 2002 Mercedes-Benz began a new era in vehicle safety with the preventive occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®, by integrating active and passive safety functions. PRE-SAFE® is able to activate preventive protection measures for car passengers. The aim is to prepare the occupants and the car for an impending impact, so that e.g. the seat belts and airbags can develop their best protective effect.
In the ESF 2019, small children now also benefit from PRE-SAFE® protection and side impact protection by elements integrated into the sides which extend automatically in a PRE-SAFE® situation.
The child seat is networked with the vehicle by radio. When the vehicle sensors recognize a maneuver relevant for PRE-SAFE® (for example a skid to the side), a signal is sent to the child seat which triggers the corresponding protective functions.
Within milliseconds the belts of the child seat are tensioned and the side impact protection element is extended by operating solenoid switches. A battery integrated into the child seat supplies the power.
The great advantage of this system is that thanks to the tensioned belt, the child is more firmly and accurately fixed in the seat while belt slack is reduced. The loads acting on the child during an impact are considerably reduced. The side impact protection elements also follow this approach.
The five-point belt system of the child seat is mechanically pretensioned. This is how this is done: the child seat can be rotated, so the child can be lifted in or out of the seat when facing the door. The subsequent 90° rotation to position the seat either in or against the direction of travel pretensions the system. The generated spring force is used to tension the seat-integrated belt as soon as the vehicle recognizes a situation justifying PRE-SAFE® intervention. The reversible system is pretensioned again when the child seat is next used and rotated.
A similar principle is used for the side impact protection elements integrated into the sides of the seat, which extend automatically in a PRE-SAFE® situation. This always happens on the side next to the door, irrespective of whether the seat is facing forwards or backwards. The system is mechanically pretensioned by manually pressing the protective element into the seat. This also keeps them out of the way when not in use.
Installation monitoring: reduces the risk of incorrect operation
A study published by insurance company accident researchers (UDV) in October 2018 found that almost one in two child seats are not correctly installed in the car. 48 percent of the 1042 children examined were not correctly secured in their child seats. The main causes were seat installation errors and incorrect belt fastening.
The aim of the installation monitoring function in the networked child seat of the ESF 2019 is to prevent such mistakes. Eight symbols directly on the seat, and corresponding three-dimensional animations in the media display of MBUX, provide self-explanatory guidance through the individual installation steps and signal that they have been done correctly.
Monitoring vital signs: reduces the risk of distraction
- Size is an improved standard for child seats. In line with the safety directive ECE R129, i-Size child seats can be attached to the ISOFIX anchorages in a rearward-facing position. This means that children up to the age of 15 months can be carried against the direction of travel. The advantage of these so-called reboard child seats is that during a frontal impact, the head and neck of a small child are subjected to lower loads than in a forward-facing child seat.
However, the rear-facing position of these seats also has the disadvantage that the child cannot be observed from the driver's seat. So that the driver is not distracted from the traffic situation to check how the child on the rear seat is faring, the networked child seat of the ESF 2019 monitors its temperature, pulse, breathing and state of wakefulness. During the journey, animations (e.g. "All OK" or "Child waking up") in the media display report the child's condition. The display is intuitive to understand, and the system requires no additional mirrors in the interior.
The child seat is additionally provided with a camera. When stationary, e.g. at traffic lights, it is possible to briefly switch over to a live video image in the media display. If required, and with the help of the Mercedes me App, all the vital signs can also be transferred to a smartphone during a journey, e.g. to inform the other parent about the child's condition.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profile: PRE-SAFE® Child
Networked child seat 6 with PRE-SAFE® functions |
|
Function |
Before an impending crash, the seat belts of the child seat are preventively tensioned and side-mounted impact protection elements are extended if the triggering threshold of PRE-SAFE® is reached. Being more firmly fixed in the seat, the child is better protected from physical forces in a critical situation, |
In detail |
|
6 From birth to 4 years / 40–105 cm / 0-18 kg; up to 15 months in reboard position.
Additional functions |
|
What accident research says |
|
Sensors |
|
7 The icons show correct belt buckle fastening, PRE-SAFE® pretensioning, seat correctly rotated and engaged in position, belt tensioned, ISOFIX locking, supporting leg with floor contact, radio connection, power supply
TecDay ESF 2019
Robot in action: warning triangle 4.0
"Be careful on the A8 Stuttgart-Munich autobahn, there is an unsecured accident scene just after Stuttgart airport" – everybody has heard similar traffic reports. There is a high risk of secondary accidents. With innovations such as a small robot that automatically emerges from the rear of the vehicle after an accident or breakdown, and puts out a warning triangle at the roadside, the ESF 2019 shows how securing the scene of traffic hazards might be further improved. Other ideas are a warning triangle that folds out of the vehicle roof at the same time, and the rear window as a communication surface. This can be used to display messages such as "Help is on the way for other road users.
Correct positioning of the warning triangle can be vital for one's own safety and that of other road users: a driver drawing attention to a traffic hazard at an adequate distance and in good time can prevent potentially serious accidents. In Germany and in most EU countries it is compulsory to carry a warning triangle in the car8. ECE Directive R27 defines the requirements for a warning triangle. These include minimum values for visibility by day and night. An ECE-tested warning triangle must also withstand a wind speed of 60 km/h for three minutes.
But how is a warning to be given in the future, when there are also driverless and automated vehicles on the roads? Who will put out the warning triangle in this case? The ESF 2019 gives two possible answers to these questions – alongside car-to-X communication, which is already able to warn other road users electronically:
8 Incidentally, § 15 of the German traffic regulations (StVO) prescribes that with "fast- moving traffic", the warning triangle must be positioned at least 100 meters from the scene. Naturally local circumstances must also be taken into account. If the accident scene is e.g. around a bend or behind a dip or the brow of a hill, the warning triangle must be positioned a greater distance away. Since 2014 is has also been compulsory to carry a fluorescent jacket for each occupant in the car, and this must be worn in the event of an accident or breakdown.
- When a corresponding hazard occurs, a small robot automatically emerges from the rear of the vehicle. The warning triangle is immediately unfolded when the robot leaves the vehicle.
- The vehicle's roof is also fitted with a warning triangle. When the robot leaves the vehicle, this opens out and warns other road users from an easily visible position. As a practical advantage, it is permanently integrated into the roof structure, and cannot be forgotten.
If the ESF 2019 is not driving in automated mode, both functions can also be activated individually by the driver.
At the same time the rear window is used as a communication surface to secure the scene. Messages such as "Help is on the way" can be displayed there, so that other road users do not stop unnecessarily. Further examples of the projection of warnings onto the rear window can be found in the section on cooperative environmental communication.
Safety measures also after an accident
In the case of complex accidents with multiple collisions or rollovers, it may not be possible to put up a warning triangle either by robot or on the roof. The hazard warning system may also be out of action. Especially at night, this poses great danger for other road users: they might overlook the unlit vehicle and collide with it at full speed.
To lower this risk the ESF 2019 has electro-luminescent emergency lighting. The special paint used (for details of the technology see the section on PRE-SAFE®) is applied as strips on the front bumper, on the sides of the body and between the light clusters at the rear. The advantage is that even after an accident causing very severe damage, the illuminated vehicle remains visible.
Already today, numerous measures in Mercedes-Benz vehicles help to ensure that consequential damage can be reduced and the rescue of occupants is assisted. As soon as a protective system (e.g. belt tensioner or airbag) is triggered, an emergency or service call is made or a breakdown is detected, the following measures can be initiated depending on the type and severity of the incident:
- Automatic activation of Mercedes-Benz emergency call to notify emergency services of the location and emergency situation and initiate rescue. Data transfer is via a communication module with its own SIM card.
- If necessary, deactivation of the high-voltage supply (in electric vehicles)
- Activation of the hazard warning system to secure the scene of the accident and protect occupants from a follow-on accident.
- Activation of the interior lighting to help occupants and rescue services find their bearings.
- Slightly lowering the front side widows if an airbag has been deployed – this ventilates the interior and helps the occupants to find their bearings
- Opening of the central locking system to facilitate access to the interior for helpers.
- Raising of the electrically adjustable steering column; facilitates exiting and access to the driver.
- Sending a recognized breakdown or accident situation by car-to-X communication and to the Mercedes-Benz Service Centre (Mercedes me or service call) to warn of accident or broken-down vehicles and automatically offer the driver contact with the Mercedes-Benz Service Centre
- A rescue sticker provides a direct link to the vehicle's rescue data sheet. For this purpose there are QR code stickers in the fuel or charging flap and on the opposite B-pillar. In an emergency, first responders can scan the QR code with a smartphone or tablet PC, which quickly and reliably allows access to the correct rescue datasheet and makes a rescue easier
- Apart from rescue datasheets, the Rescue Assist App for smartphones and tablets has three-dimensional views of the vehicle –also offline if no mobile network is available at the scene
- An innovative emergency helper uses the media display to give important safety information, as breakdown, emergency and accident situations can be highly stressful for the occupants. For example, it tells them where the first-aid kit can be found. It reminds them to wear their safety vests, and explains how to release the seat belts if the vehicle is lying on its roof after an accident. It can also mute the audio system automatically.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profile: Securing an accident scene
Warning triangle robot |
|
Function |
A robot is carried at the rear of the vehicle. In the event of a breakdown or accident, this leaves the vehicle and automatically puts out an illuminated warning triangle at a requisite distance to warn other |
In detail |
In an emergency, a small robot (length/width/height: 38/26/14 cm) automatically emerges from its drawer- like box in the vehicle's underbody. As soon as it has left the stationary vehicle, the warning triangle is automatically unfolded. Later the robot returns to the vehicle with the triangle folded. If required the robot can also be deployed by the driver when stationary. |
Additional function |
The warning triangle can no longer be forgotten, and there is less personal risk when positioning it. |
Sensors |
Video cameras in the robot for orientation with the help of line and crash barrier recognition plus GPS information. Infrared LEDs show the robot the way |
Roof warning triangle |
|
Function |
When the warning triangle robot leaves the vehicle after an accident or breakdown, a warning triangle automatically folds out of the vehicle's roof. Thanks to its prominent position, it is able to warn other road users very effectively. The warning triangle can also |
In detail |
The warning triangle is integrated into the carrier of the communication LEDs, and normally lies flat on the roof. It is erected by electrically driven, threaded spindles connected to the two lower corners of the warning triangle by hook-shaped fittings. Once the danger has passed it is folded down again. The |
TecDay ESF 2019
New PRE-SAFE® functions
In 2002, with PRE-SAFE®, Mercedes-Benz vehicles started learning to respond before an accident occurs. These functions have improved more and more over time. More new aspects are added with the ESF 2019: PRE-SAFE® Curve and PRE-SAFE® Side lighting defuse situations where the accident risk suddenly increases but can be avoided. At the end of tailbacks, PRE-SAFE® Impulse Rear improves the protection of passengers and others involved in an accident.
Even in vehicles that can already automatically take over driving functions, the driver will be able to drive the vehicle if desired – and do so for personal enjoyment. Intelligent onboard systems can provide support in this case.
PRE-SAFE® Curve uses the reversible belt tensioners if the driver approaches a bend at high speed. The belts are tensioned well before the bend is reached, so that the driver receives a warning and can still reduce the speed. At the same time the passengers receive improved support from the increased belt tension when negotiating the bend.
The car also warns other road users (in cross-traffic) with the PRE-SAFE® Side lighting function. This based on electro-luminescent paint (for details see profile).
PRE-SAFE® Impulse Rear attempts to prevent an impending rear-end collision, or to mitigate its effects, by briefly accelerating the car forwards at the last moment. The ESF 2019 maintains the same distance at the end of a tailback as a careful driver. When the system recognizes that the vehicle behind is about to cause a rear-end collision, it briefly accelerates the car into the gap between it and the vehicle ahead, then brakes it to a stop. This increases the chance of avoiding an accident, as traffic behind has a longer braking distance available. Moreover, the consequences are less serious for the occupants of the ESF 2019 if the impact is unavoidable, as they have already been accelerated forward and the relative speed is lower. The resulting movement of the occupants is another advantage. This is because the occupant is forced back into the seat before a possible rear impact, so the head is resting against the head restraint. This can further reduce the risk of typical neck injuries (whiplash). Crash simulations have shown that acceleration impulses lasting just a few hundred milliseconds can considerably reduce the impact energy.
An electric drive system is able to generate very high acceleration impulses, and its torque is available from standstill. Accordingly an electric vehicle needs less than one meter to accelerate to over 7 km/h.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profiles: New PRE-SAFE® functions
PRE-SAFE® Curve |
|
Function |
The reversible electric belt tensioner preventively increases the belt force ahead of bends, depending on the expected lateral acceleration. This warns the driver that he/she has possibly underestimated the bend, and allows time for braking. |
In detail |
|
Additional function |
More lateral seat support |
Sensors |
Wheel speed sensors and navigation data |
PRE-SAFE® Impulse Rear |
|
Function |
Before the rear of the stationary ESF 2019 is impacted by another vehicle, it is automatically accelerated forward into the gap between it and the vehicle ahead, then braked it to a stop. This gives the vehicle behind a longer stopping distance and can potentially prevent a collision. Furthermore, PRE-SAFE® Impulse Rear improves occupant contact with the seat backrest and head restraint, reducing potential loads and especially the risk of whiplash injuries. |
In detail |
|
Additional function |
The vehicle behind has a longer braking distance available. |
Sensors |
Vehicle environment monitoring (cameras, lidar, ultrasound, radar) |
PRE-SAFE® Side lighting |
|
Function |
When a lateral collision appears possible at a junction, lighting strips on the sides of the vehicle are activated to make it more visible to crossing traffic. |
In detail |
Electro-luminescent light strips are integrated into the sides of the body. The paint structure of these strips consists of several layers. An electrical field is generated between two conductive layers, causing the electro-luminescent material of an intermediate layer to light up. The light strips are activated when the vehicle's sensors recognize a critical situation with |
Additional function |
The light strips can also be used for other hazardous situations to make the vehicle clearly visible or warn others (see section on cooperative vehicle environment communication). |
What accident research says |
21.6 percent of accidents where failure to give right of way is the major, officially registered cause occur at night or in twilight conditions.9 |
Sensors |
Vehicle environment monitoring (lidar, radar, |
9 Source: GIDAS documentation 12/2018.
TecDay ESF 2019
Safety and comfort in the rear
Innovative airbag for the rear and major offensive against seat belt shirkers
Airbag development at Mercedes-Benz already began in 1966. The first driver airbag to reach production maturity was introduced in the 126-series S-Class in 1980. And the idea of a protective air cushion as a passive safety feature has by no means exhausted its potential, as an innovative rear airbag in the ESF 2019 shows. With belt-feeders, belt buckle illumination, USB belt buckles and belt heating, the ESF 2019 implements a number of ideas by which passengers on the rear seats might be motivated to wear seat belts using new methods.
The rear airbag has a special filling concept to inflate and position the air cushion. To this end it has an innovative tubular structure. In the event of a crash, cylindrical sections are rapidly inflated with compressed gas and form a framework – in a similar way to the new, inflatable tents where air hoses replace rods. But the really special feature of the airbags is the space between the bars of the framework. The side walls instantly capture the ambient air and retain it as the passenger's body sinks into the airbag. This gives the passenger support, and the loads acting on the head and neck vertebrae during a severe frontal impact can be reduced by up to 30 percent.
Designing a rear airbag for a frontal collision requires a different concept from a conventional driver or front passenger airbag. This is because the spatial parameters are different, occupant behavior varies widely and the airbag must be accommodated in the adjustable backrest of the front seat. In addition, children and adults sit very differently in the rear of a vehicle.
Particular attention was therefore given to gentle deployment of the airbag in case people or objects are in the deployment zone. The special design of this new airbag decisively contributes to compliance with the in-house requirements of Mercedes-Benz, some of which were derived from tests on front passenger airbags. The inflating tubes give way when contacting obstructions, e.g. a child seat in the reboard position. The force is directed past the obstacle rather than against it.
How the seat belt wearing quota could be increased in the rear
Nowadays the driver and front passenger are protected by three-point seat belts as well as front airbags and sidebags in almost all series production cars. Three-point seat belts are standard for the rear seats. According to the Federal Highway Institute (BASt), the quota of rear seat passengers wearing seat belts in Germany has increased to almost 100 percent since this became compulsory in 1984. In some markets, however, the quota of rear seat passengers wearing seat belts is very low. If occupants in the rear seats are involved in an accident, the risk of injury is just as high as for those in the front seats. Moreover, rear passengers not wearing seat belts can be catapulted forward owing to the lack of restraint, and inflict severe injuries on front occupants who are wearing seat belts.
Accident researchers therefore consider it important to find new ways of motivating and encouraging rear seat passengers to fasten their seat belts. The ESF 2019 has a number of ideas for this:
- Belt feeder: this brings the belt within easy reach as soon as the door is closed. It is therefore more convenient to grasp.
- Belt buckle illumination: this makes it easier to find the belt buckle, and therefore easier to fasten the belt.
- USB belt buckle: this motivates the passenger to fasten the seat belt, as the USB connection is only enabled once this is done.
- Heated seat belt: motivates the passenger to fasten the seat belt, and can reduce belt slack because the heating effect of the belt close to the body allows passengers to dispense with thick jackets and coats. In addition, the heatable seat belt in combination with seat heating improves thermal comfort in the vehicle.
TecDay ESF 2019
Profiles: Comfort and safety in the rear
Rear airbag |
|
Function |
The rear airbag is specially designed for use on the rear seats. Its design allows better protection of rear passengers in a severe frontal collision, and its particularly gentle deployment takes the varied |
In detail |
In the rear airbag, cylindrical tubes are inflated with compressed gas and unfold a wing-shaped framework. A large, tent-like airbag deploys between the two wings, and this is inflated by the surrounding air via specially patented valves in the skin. These valves are so designed that the air cannot escape when the rear passenger is immersed in the airbag. The comparatively small volume of the tubes allows rapid deployment of a relatively large airbag volume. This takes place with comparatively low force and a low risk of injury, as the tubular wings give way to obstacles. The airbag volume is sufficient to protect the seat belt wearing passenger against colliding with the front seats, and to reduce the loads acting on the head and neck vertebrae by up to 30 percent in a severe frontal impact. |
The rear airbag, what accident research says |
In frontal collisions, around 12 percent of rear passengers suffer head injuries, and around 10 percent injuries to the neck area, although they are wearing a seat belt.10 |
Sensors |
Airbag sensors, seat occupancy recognition |
10 Source: GIDAS 6/2018, all AIS levels: 1-6.
What accident research says |
In Germany the seat belt wearing quota in the front and rear is 97%11. Despite this high quota, there is still a great potential to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in road traffic with more sustained use of seat belts. This is shown by a detailed accident analysis by UDV (accident research by insurance companies)12. It showed that 28 percent of all fatally injured and 12 percent of all severely injured car occupants were not wearing a seat belt. In this connection UDV calculated that at present, around 200 accident fatalities and 1500 cases of severe injury in Germany per year could be avoided if all occupants were wearing a correctly fastened seat belt at all times. In the USA the seat belt wearing quota on the rear seats is 70 percent.13, and 40 percent of fatally injured car occupants were not wearing a seat belt14 In some EU countries the quotas are as low as 30 to 50 percent (Hungary, Portugal, Austria, Spain)15. There are no general figures for India and China, but individual studies indicate that belt wearing quotas in the rear are close to zero (1.8% in CIDAS overall).16 |
11 Source: International Transport Forum, quoted here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicherheitsgurt#Anlegequoten
12 https://udv.de/de/mensch/regelverstoesse/fahrzeug/insassenschutz/nutzen-des- sicherheitsgurtes
13 https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.51416
14 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812465
15 According to ETSC.
16 Source: CIDAS – China InDepth Accident Study.
Belt feeders in the rear |
|
Function |
The rear belt feeder moves to its extended position when the passenger has entered and closed the door. It returns to its operating position when the latch plate |
In detail |
When the door is closed, the belt feeder extends at shoulder level and offers the passenger the seat belt. It remains in this position until the passenger has fastened the belt, or returns to its rest position after around ten seconds. Activation while on the move is not possible. The rear belt feeder is a tangible convenience system, and a passive safety feature that |
Sensors |
Door contact, belt buckle status recognition, vehicle speed, vehicle status |
Illuminated belt buckle |
|
Function |
An LED on the belt buckle lights up when the door is opened, inviting the passenger to fasten the seat belt. The illuminated belt buckle also makes it easier to find the buckle in the dark, and reminds the occupants to wear a seat belt even before they enter the vehicle. |
In detail |
A transparent ring around the outer contour of the belt buckle is lit up by a red LED when the rear door is opened. The light only goes out when the latch plate is inserted into the buckle. |
Additional function |
The light makes it easier to find the belt buckle in poor lighting conditions. The belt buckle also lights up after an accident to improve orientation. |
Sensors |
Door switch, belt buckle status recognition, vehicle status |
Heated seat belt |
|
Function |
An intermediate layer with heating elements17 is integrated into the seat belt, allowing rapid warming close to the body in cold ambient temperatures. The warming effect of the belt is intended to encourage occupants to take off winter jackets etc. before setting off, which reduces belt slack. This comfort function also encourages occupants to obey the law and wear |
In detail |
The heating elements can warm the approx. 48 mm wide belt from an ambient temperature of -10 °C to body temperature in less than four minutes. This is many times faster than seat heating. The temperature of the seat belt is thermostatically controlled. The belt heating is switched on together with the seat heating, and can be adjusted in three stages. The integrated heating warms the belt across its entire width. Even in cold ambient temperatures, the belt is brought to a pleasant temperature within a very short time. The |
Additional function |
The heatable seat belt ensures better thermal comfort, and also gives electrically powered vehicles the potential for more efficient interior climatization. |
Sensors |
Belt buckle switch, temperature sensor on the belt |
17 A heating element consisting of thin wires conducts electricity.
Belt buckle with USB socket |
|
Function |
A USB socket is integrated into the belt buckle. This enables mobile devices to be charged and connected when the seat belt is fastened. A possible further function could be the transfer of data (e.g. video or |
In detail |
A USB C socket is recessed into the belt buckle. A passenger connecting a device only has a power supply and a connection to the vehicle's media system if the seat belt is buckled. This feature therefore |
Additional function |
The number of passengers also increases the need for mobile device connections, especially in the rear. |
Sensors |
Belt buckle switch |
TecDay ESF 2019
Partner-like protection for pedestrians and cyclists
Driving assistance systems can help to prevent traffic accidents and mitigate their severity. With Active Brake Assist with extended functions, the ESF 2019 shows how above all unprotected road users can be protected in even more hazardous situations. 360° pedestrian protection forms part of partner protection: the system warns and assists while parking and maneuvering if there is a risk of collision with more vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists), right up to automatic braking.
Active Brake Assist with extended functions in the ESF 2019 provides additional protection, especially in potentially dangerous traffic situations with unprotected road users. When turning, it now also detects pedestrians and cyclists moving in parallel to the original direction of travel. If a collision with unprotected road users crossing the road into which the vehicle is turning is imminent, the driver receives a visual and audible warning. Autonomous braking is initiated if the driver fails to react. The same also applies if there are any cyclists in the blind spot when turning to the right.
If there is a risk of collision with cross-traffic when turning off or crossing a road, the system now prevents the driver from moving off and, if necessary, stops the vehicle, including from walking speed, by means of autonomous braking. Before moving off, the driver first receives a visual warning of the cross-traffic. In the event of real danger, there is also a visual and acoustic warning. Should the driver still fail to respond, moving off is prevented by locking the brakes or acceleration is limited to prevent the collision. If necessary there is autonomous braking intervention to standstill. This begins at the time at which moving off would inevitably lead to an accident.
360° pedestrian protection: safer parking and maneuvering
Partner protection is given high priority at Mercedes-Benz. New: 360° pedestrian protection warns and assists while parking and maneuvering if there is a risk of collision with stationary or moving road users (pedestrians, cyclists) in the vehicle's path, right up to autonomous braking. This works during both forward driving and reversing and even if the pedestrian is at the side of the vehicle.
The 360° camera already available in many model series today assists the driver when maneuvering in unfamiliar surroundings. Four cameras in the frontal and rear areas, and also in the exterior mirror housings, provide the images. The system uses these to generate a bird's-eye view of the vehicle and its surroundings.
In the ESF 2019, the camera data are not only used to show images in the media display: they are combined with information from the other sensors. It is only this sensor fusion that creates an environmental model meeting the high safety requirements of Mercedes-Benz and allows autonomous braking intervention if the driver fails to heed the vehicle's warnings. Already today, there can be autonomous braking for obstacles such as pedestrians in a parking space if Active Parking Assist with PARKTRONIC is used when parking. In the ESF 2019, autonomous braking is also possible if the driver is maneuvering the car, i.e. the parking procedure is not automatic.
TecDay ESF 2019
Active Brake Assist with extended functionality |
|
Function |
Lower risk of collision with cross-traffic, pedestrians and cyclists when turning off or crossing a road. |
In detail |
|
Sensors |
Sensors in the vehicle's front section |
360° pedestrian protection |
|
Function |
Lower risk of collision with stationary or moving pedestrians or cyclists when parking and maneuvering. If the driver fails to react, automatic |
In detail |
Sensor fusion allows 360-degree monitoring of the vehicle's surroundings. Should a collision with a stationary or moving pedestrian or cyclist appear likely in the vehicle's path, autonomous emergency braking can be initiated. This works both when moving forward and reversing, and even when the |
Sensors |
Ultrasonic sensors (six in the front bumper and six in the rear bumper), 360° camera (Four cameras in the frontal and rear areas, and also in the exterior mirror |
TecDay ESF 2019
Overcoming systemic limits for the safety of the future
The decision to present another ESF ten years after the ESF 2009 was taken in 2017. This time the deciding factor was the awareness that technical developments and the prospect of automated driving are changing the requirements for in-car safety technology. Just as the first wave of Experimental Safety Vehicles was a response to the mass motorization of the 1960s and increasing accident figures, the new ESF reflects the mobility of the future and shows new approaches associated with automated driving. At the same time an ESF is always a technological advertisement for research & development progress in safety. The ESF 2019 not only presents innovations in Mercedes-Benz safety technology that go well into the future, but also developments whose entry into series production is currently being prepared for.
What should a safety system for an automated vehicle look like that is driven in mixed traffic with a changing infrastructure and with differently equipped roads users, sometimes automated and sometimes controlled by a driver? What classic passive safety systems need to be adapted? What additional, new possibilities for accident prevention and mitigation does the technology offer that is being developed in connection with automated driving?
Questions like these illustrate the changes to safety requirements since Mercedes-Benz conducted the first systematic crash tests 60 years ago. During the time of Béla Barényi, the Mercedes-Benz engineer responsible for a number of fundamental innovations for passive safety, the main focus was on the safety of the vehicle's own occupants. With the development of ABS, ESP® and today's driving assistance systems with the prospect of automated driving, accident prevention took on ever-increasing importance. A further, decisive aspect is added with vehicles capable of automated driving: How can the vehicle communicate and cooperate?
In spring 2017, work began on putting the ideas to be demonstrated in the ESF 2019 together. They included projects on which predevelopment work had been under way for years, but also new approaches that were no further than sketches on paper.
Multiple uses: showcar and development tool at the same time
The ESF 2019 stands for the objective of Mercedes-Benz to continue improving vehicle safety in the conditions posed by the mobility of the future. Questions of detail regularly arise during the process of formulating new regulations, standards and test procedures. The ESF provides the engineers with a discussion basis and platform by revealing where the problems lie, and what is important when resolving them – even when not all the sensors are fully mature in their development, for example. This discussion has only just begun in some of the areas addressed by the ESF 2019.
Typical features of the ESF 2019 include e.g. the steering wheel and the retractable pedal cluster, both of which are removed from the driver's area of movement to create more space when in automated mode. This also significantly reduces the risk of injuries to the lower extremities by the pedal cluster. On the other hand, the position of the driver in relation to the airbag is changed by relocating the steering wheel and by more comfortable, flexible seating. Whether this should result in modified requirements in future regulations and test ratings is best discussed using a real vehicle.
Accordingly the ESF 2019 is in some respects a preview of what is to come, in others a vision and in yet others an object for discussion and a working tool for further improvements to traffic safety in the great tradition of Mercedes-Benz.
Facts and figures for the ESF 2019
- Number of additionally installed LEDs: 228 in the sensor housings and 49,152 in the front panel
- Total weight of parts produced by 3D printing: approx. 7 kg
- Surface area of laminated carbon-fiber: approx. 18 m2
- Surface area of nappa leather: approx. 24 m2
- Total length of orange thread used for topstitching: approx. 45 m
TecDay ESF 2019
Under the microscope: Mercedes-Benz accident research
Painstaking detective work on real accidents
Mercedes-Benz accident research (UFO) is a major component of the safety philosophy "Real Life Safety" – taking guidance from what actually happens in accidents. Up to 100 times each year, the experts take to the road to examine serious accidents involving current Mercedes-Benz vehicles within a radius of around 200 kilometers from Sindelfingen. The aim is to learn from them, and incorporate the findings into the upgrading and design of new models.
Starting in 1969, Mercedes-Benz accident research is one of the oldest departments of this kind in the automobile industry. Since then the teams have examined and reconstructed more than 4800 traffic accidents. Most assignments are within a radius of around 200 kilometers from Sindelfingen, but in some cases the distance can be much greater.
All road users benefit from their painstaking detective work and extensive collection of data: numerous Mercedes-Benz safety innovations such as ESP®, the windowbag or PRE-SAFE® were developed on the basis of these accident findings.
Thanks to cooperation with the interior ministry of Baden-Württemberg, the police report serious accidents involving a current Mercedes-Benz model that occur in the region. When the researchers take to the road in their prominently marked V-Class, they usually start by examining the vehicle, which is often already in a workshop. How severely was the bodywork deformed? Were the airbag(s) and belt tensioner(s) deployed? Is there anything unusual about the interior of the Mercedes-Benz model involved in the accident?
In the next stage the accident scene is visited to reconstruct the course of the accident, also if only one vehicle was involved. There are always many questions to answer: What were the positions of the vehicles at the moment of impact? Are there tire or skid marks? For one and a half years or so, the accident researchers have been aided in this by a laser scanner that enables the accident scene to be three-dimensionally scanned as a point cloud and automatically measured. Vehicles that drive through the scene on the day of the reconstruction are simply faded out.
The answers to the numerous questions are structured and electronically stored on a tablet PC, along with dozens of photos, sketches and injury reports. When all the information is finally to hand, the collision is systematically reconstructed.
Special software helps the researchers to do this. It converts the data and measured values from the scene into moving images. To this end the computer
e.g. combines the length of the tire or skid marks with the design and dynamic data of the vehicle suffering the accident, and reconstructs what happened on this basis. The specialists are able to see on-screen how the vehicle moved before, during and after the collision.
Finally the results are compared with the data from other accidents, so that over time, the automobile engineers gain a precise picture of typical injury patterns and further findings for the development of new, even more effective protection systems. With the help of a so-called prospective efficiency analysis, the accident researchers are also able to ascertain what the consequences of an accident would have been if a particular safety feature had been on board.
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Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS)
Numerous test facilities for safety innovations
Opened in November 2016, the TFS is part of the development center in Sindelfingen and one of the world's most modern crash test centers. Mercedes-Benz has a wide range of test facilities at the TFS, so as to remain the trailblazer in vehicle safety. New ideas and safety concepts as shown in the ESF 2019 can be developed and validated there.
The flexible and efficient crash track concept at the TFS not only provides facilities for classic crash tests, but also creates the conditions for new test procedures: Car2Car collisions at all angles, the evaluation of PRE-SAFE®, automated maneuvers followed by a crash, crash tests with trucks, electric vehicles and other alternative drive systems. All in all, around 70 different crash test configurations are possible. There is also a sled test facility to test components, and new methods of measuring vehicles before and after the crash.
Mercedes-Benz traditionally conducts more, and more demanding crash tests than legislation and ratings require. The numerous test facilities at the TFS assist the company in this pacemaking function. Mercedes-Benz is working on approximating the crash test in the hall even more closely to what happens in real accidents. For example, PRE-SAFE® systems are also to be assessed even more precisely when e.g. emergency braking or evasive action precedes the actual impact.
The TFS offers the space necessary for this, with the longest crash track measuring more than 200 m. A total of five crash blocks are available, one of them freely movable and other rotatable around the vertical axis. For efficient operation, these two crash blocks are preconfigured with a different barrier on each of the four sides. By virtue of a mobile partitioning system, the complex allows up to four crash tracks to be in operation at the same time. Thanks to the operating concept and flexible layout of the facility, around 900 crash tests can be conducted each year. There is also capacity for around 1700 sled tests per year.
The large, pillar-free area is e.g. suitable for testing pre-crash systems during the pre-accident phase, or for vehicle-to-vehicle crashes. The vehicle being tested can be powered by a traction cable in the conventional way. Work is also under way to allow test vehicles to move on a freely programmable basis under their own power, i.e. without the use of a traction cable.
Numerous tests are necessary to develop and fine-tune restraint systems such as seat belts, airbags or child seats - the development maturity of the components is examined in sled tests conducted before the overall vehicle test. Sled-testing does not damage an entire vehicle each time, a vehicle that is very expensive in the early stages and only available in small numbers. Instead a reinforced body with the necessary interior fittings is mounted on a sled and accelerated to simulate the effect of e.g. a frontal crash. At the TFS, these tests can be conducted on a total of four different test sleds capable of acceleration/deceleration with g-forces from slightly more than 0 to approx. 80 g, and even up to 120 g for some component tests.
The new building: perfectly level floor as a major challenge
The new TFS was a highly complex construction project costing in the hundreds of millions. Initial planning began more than ten years ago, with building work starting in the autumn of 2013. The topping-out ceremony was on 12 May 2015 and the first productive crash test was carried out on
30 September 2016.
The challenges included the stipulation that no pillars were allowed in the large crash test hall, and that the floor of the crash tracks had to be perfectly level. The structural features also include temperature control using the waste heat from the adjacent climatic wind tunnels.
The dimensions and materials used when constructing the TFS are impressive: The unsupported, roofed area of the crash hall measures 90 x 90 meters - much larger than a football pitch. Over 7000 tons of steel were installed, around as much as the Eiffel Tower. The 36,000 cubic meters of concrete used may be visualized as an approx. 40-kilometre long queue of concrete mixer trucks.
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The history of the ESF models at Mercedes-Benz
Milestones in safety development
In the early 1970s, just as part of the ESV program (Experimental Safety Vehicles), Mercedes-Benz built more than 30 test vehicles to research into future automobile safety systems. It is with these ESFs that the brand reflects its many years of systematic activities for the development of vehicle safety. They prepare the way for numerous innovations, some of which are only ready for series production years later. They include ABS, belt tensioners and belt force limiters, airbags, pedestrian protection measures and side impact protection.
In the 1960s one negative aspect of mass motorization could no longer be ignored: more and more people were dying in road traffic accidents. In 1968, on the initiative of NATO, which was following the aim of addressing social challenges with civilian program at the time, the American Department of Transportation (DOT) started a program for the development of Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESVs). In 1970 it called an international conference into being which has since 1991 carried the name Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles.
Requirements for the ESFs: front and rear impact at 80 km/h
The first requirements for Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESVs) were defined in 1970. They included an extremely demanding front and rear impact against a rigid barrier at 80 km/h, and a side impact against a mast at 20 km/h. The test vehicles were also to withstand more minor accidents at 16 km/h without lasting deformation of the front and rear. It was believed that American consumers could not be expected to put on a seat belt by themselves.
Automatic belt systems were therefore envisioned that would automatically wrap around the front occupants when the doors were closed.
The American government also issued an invitation to foreign countries to take part in this safety research. In 1970 this gave rise to the European Enhanced Vehicle Safety Committee (EEVC), which is still active today.
World innovation in 1959: safety body with crumple zones
Mercedes-Benz responded very positively to the challenge of designing safer vehicles. After all, the company could already look back on more than 20 years of continuous safety research at the time. In 1949, after the first beginnings at the end of the 1930s, the systematic research work resumed after the Second World War already led to the development of a safety door lock designed to prevent the doors from springing open in an accident. An improved version entered series production ten years later, in 1959 – together with the "unsharpened" interior designed to reduce secondary injuries. Also introduced was another world innovation that has saved many lives to this day: the safety body invented by Béla Barényi. Crumple zones at the front and rear absorb impact energy, with a rigid passenger cell between them. The safety body was the fundamental basis for all subsequent safety developments, and a pioneering milestone in vehicle safety.
In 1959 Mercedes-Benz also began systematic crash testing at the Sindelfingen plant, and this was to become an important part of the development process for new vehicle models. Ten years later the company intensified its safety development by forming the accident research department. This department analyses real accidents to systematically incorporate the findings into vehicle development (see separate section).
Project ESF: in four years Mercedes-Benz built 35 vehicles
From spring 1971 the ESF project in Sindelfingen went full speed ahead. More than 30 vehicles were built and tested over the next four years. The first test took place on 12 March 1971, with a series production car from the medium- class W 114 series: It took the form of a frontal impact against a fixed wall at 80 km/h. The crash tests also included front and rear impact tests, side impact tests against masts and other vehicles, and also drop tests from a height of 0.5 meters. As early as October 1971, Mercedes-Benz presented the ESF 05 at the 2nd International ESV Conference in Sindelfingen.
However, the focus of the developers was not only on occupant protection in an accident based on correspondingly improved vehicle structures and new restraint systems. Even more than 40 years ago, Mercedes-Benz adopted its still continuing approach of comprehensive safety, as an extract from the description of the ESF 13 presented in May 1972 shows. It contains highly topical terms such as
- driver-fitness safety through seating comfort, climatization and pleasant NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) characteristics.
- In the area of perceptive safety the ESF 13 included pneumatic headlamp beam control, headlamp wash/wipe function, monitoring of the rear lights from the interior, a rear window wiper and a safety paint finish using light colors and color-contrasting strips.
- For exterior safety, i.e. the protection of pedestrians and cyclists, the ESF 13 featured e.g. front and rear bumpers with foam-clad side sections, rubber drainage channels and rounded door handles.
- Nor was fire safety neglected: The fuel tank above the rear axle was positioned well away from the exhaust system. A mechanism controlled by the oil pressure deactivated the fuel pump if pressure was lost. A valve system prevented a leakage of fuel if the vehicle was in an abnormal position. The materials used in the interior were flame- resistant, and a fire extinguisher was conveniently mounted on the front of the driver's seat.
All in all, Mercedes-Benz presented the following four ESFs to the public as part of the ESV program:
ESF 5 Developed on the basis of the W 114 ("Stroke/8") series, presented at the 2nd International ESV Conference from 26 to 29 October 1971 in Sindelfingen
- Configured for impact speeds of up to 80 km/h
- Five three-point seat belts each with three force limiters, self-fitting front belts
- Driver and front passenger airbags, also an airbag in each front seat backrest for the outer rear passengers. Resulting increase in the weight of each front seat to 63 kilograms (standard: 16 kg).
- Extensive structural reinforcement of the front section and sides
- Curb weight: 2060 kilograms (665 kg more than standard)
- Overall length 5340 millimeters (655 mm more than standard)
- Wheelbase 100 mm longer than standard to retain space in the rear despite larger seats
- Front section extension including hydraulic impact absorbers: 370 mm
- Experimental V6 engine to gain deformation space in the front
- Dashboard with metal impact absorber in the front passenger area
- Impact areas in the interior padded with polyurethane foam, especially doors, pillars and roof frame
- Power windows rather than window winders in the doors
- Headlamp wipers, beam control, parallel rear window wipers
- Side marker lights, rear lights with stationary relay and control system
- Windscreen and rear window of bonded laminated glass
- Pedals with rounded lower sections
- Anti-lock braking system (ABS).
ESF 13 Revised variant of the ESF 5, presented at the 3rd International ESV Conference from 30 May to 2 June 1972 in Washington (USA)
- Restraint systems and other details as in the ESF 5
- Curb weight: 2100 kilograms (705 kg more than standard)
- Overall length 5235 millimeters (550 mm more than standard)
- Front section extension including hydraulic impact absorbers: 420 mm
- The changes in external dimensions were primarily the result of redesigning the front and rear ends. The bumpers could now be under- ridden, while the deformation path remained the same. The front and rear were extended to reduce the bumper overhang to a stylistically acceptable size.
ESF 22 Based on the S-Class (116 series), presented at the 4th International ESV Conference from 13 to 16 March 1973 in Kyoto (Japan)
- Configured for impact speeds of up to 65 km/h
- Four three-point belts, each with three force limiters and a belt tensioner
- Airbag instead of belt tensioner for the driver's seat
- Curb weight: 2025 kilograms (287 kg more than standard)
- Overall length 5240 millimeters (280 mm more than standard)
- Front section extension including hydraulic impact absorbers: 245 mm
- Anti-lock braking system (ABS).
ESF 24 Modified S-Class (116 series), presented at the 5th International ESV Conference from 4 to 7 June 1974 in London (Great Britain)
- Restraint system as in ESF 22
- Curb weight: 1930 kilograms (192 kg more than standard)
- Overall length 5225 millimeters (265 mm more than standard)
- Front section extension including hydraulic impact absorbers: 150 mm
- Anti-lock braking system (ABS).
All this provided an important basis for the safety level of car bearing the Mercedes star. The consolidated test report (1975) came to the same conclusion. It states: "The ESF 24 brings the project to a close, as this vehicle represents the best possible compromise between the original ESV requirements and our present production models."
Safety aspects having been part of the development process for new models as a matter of course at Mercedes-Benz for many years, the ideas first realized during the development of the ESFs entered series production in rapid succession. Milestones include the following:
- 1978: The anti-lock braking system ABS enters series production
- 1980: Introduction of the driver airbag and belt tensioner as a world innovation
- 1995: Belt force limiters and sidebags enter series production.
Mercedes-Benz also brought an immense number of other active and passive safety features to market, as the brand continues to be a pacemaker in the field of vehicle safety.
In keeping with this role, Mercedes-Benz presented a new Experimental Safety Vehicle in 2009. In presenting the ESF 2009, the brand not only marked two anniversaries, namely "50 years of the safety body" and "40 years of accident research", but also managed to bring the ESV Conference back to Stuttgart after 38 years. This ESF combined the latest concepts and ideas for further improvements in active and passive safety – with a time horizon that was often well into the future. Numerous innovations in the ESF 2009 have meanwhile entered series production.
ESF 2009 Developed on the basis of the S-Class (222 series), presented at the 21st International ESV Conference from 15 to 18 June 2009 in Stuttgart
- Beltbag – inflatable seat belt widening to lower the risk of injury, entered series production in 2013 in the S-Class (222 series)
- Braking Bag as an auxiliary brake in the vehicle's underbody, and possibly a new PRE-SAFE® component
- Child Protect – metal frame and padding for improved side impact protection, attractive appearance and "adjustment for growth"
- Hybrid Battery Shield – all-round electrical and mechanical protective measures for the lithium-ion battery, entered series production in 2009 in the S 400 HYBRID (221 series)
- Interactive Vehicle Communication – communication between vehicles. Initially an option in combination with the Drive Kit Plus in the A-Class in 2013, entered series production in the E-Class (213 series) in 2016.
- Interseat Protection – addresses the rare case when e.g. the driver and front passenger collide during a side impact. The interaction protection presented two different solutions: an airbag installed on the inner side of the driver's seat for the front occupants. In the second seat row the cushions could either be used as comfort features or activated as a PRE-SAFE® measure
- Partial high beam – LED headlamps with automatic light distribution adjustment and spotlight function to light up potential hazards, entered series production in 2017 as part of the combined MULTIBEAM LED and Night View Assist Plus system in the S-Class (222 series)
- PRE-SAFE® 360° – extended monitoring of the vehicle's surroundings up to 60 meters to the rear. As PRE-SAFE® PLUS, recognition of an impending rear-end collision was introduced in 2013 with the S-Class (222 series) and the E-Class facelift (212 series). In this case measures are taken to warn following traffic and prepare the occupants for an impact.
- PRE-SAFE® Pulse – reduces loads acting on the upper body by preventively moving it towards the center of the vehicle by up to 50 millimeters, entered series production in 2016 under the name PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side in the E-Class (213 series)
- PRE-SAFE® Structure – inflatable metal structures for additional stability of structural components
- Rear Seat Camera – rear seat monitoring for the driver
- Side Reflect – special reflective elements integrated into the door seals and tires that are invisible by day make the vehicle's silhouette more clearly visible at night
- Size Adaptive Airbags – automatic adjustment of the front passenger airbag's volume to the seating position and stature of the front passenger detected by the sensors.
Every Experimental Safety Vehicle by Mercedes-Benz underlines the extremely broad technological horizon with which the brand continuously drives innovations in vehicle safety forward. Because all ESVs by Mercedes-Benz reflect measures designed to come closer to the vision of accident-free driving. The key aims on the way to this are
- to mitigate the severity of unavoidable accidents (e.g: emergency braking, active safety),
- to further improve passive safety while increasingly taking the pre- accident phase into account (PRE-SAFE®)
- and to put post-accident measures into place.
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Active safety: Attributes and measures that help to prevent accidents. The distinction from èpassive safety was formulated by the Mercedes-Benz engineers Hans Scherenberg and Béla Barényi in 1966.
Automated cars: Guided by the SAE J3016 standard, the Association of the German Automobile Industry (VDA) defines six stages of automated driving.
- Stage 0: no automation. The driver performs all driving functions.
- Stage 1: assisted - driving with assistance systems. The driver always has full control of the vehicle, but can call on support from driving assistance systems for longitudinal or lateral guidance, e.g. parking aids or proximity cruise control.
- Stage 2: semi-automated. The driver always has full control of the vehicle, but can call on support from driving assistance systems for longitudinal and lateral guidance.
- Stage 3: highly automated. The automated driving function takes over certain driving functions. A driver is however still necessary. The driver must be ready to take control at all times when prompted to do so by the vehicle.
- Stage 4: fully automated. Under certain circumstances (e.g. selected roads, not in any weather) the vehicle can manage all traffic situations by itself.
- Stage 5: driverless. The vehicle can perform all driving functions by itself in all circumstances.
This classification was developed by SAE International (formerly Society of Automotive Engineers), a non-profit-making organization for technology and science. The classification was adjusted for Germany by the Association of the German Automobile Industry (VDA), an association of more than 600 companies in the automobile industry with production in Germany.
Car-to-X communication: Extends the horizon of previous vehicle sensors by the exchange of information with other vehicles, and between vehicles and the traffic infrastructure. Car-to-X technology allows information about potential road traffic hazards to be passed on to drivers at an early stage, so that they are able to prepare for them and critical situations do not arise in the first place. The first generation entered series production in the 213- series E-Class - it was initially an option in combination with the Drive Kit Plus in the A-Class in 2013, and entered series production in the 213-series E-Class in 2016.
Belt slack: If the belt does not fit closely to the occupant's body, the latter can be moved forward during a collision before the belt can exert major restraining forces. This increases the risk of collision with areas of the vehicle interior. Moreover, the deceleration forces of the impact act on the passenger at a later stage, and therefore more severely.
Integral safety: The term used for a collective view of the two safety aspects, as well as rescue measures, with the aim of improving protection for all road users. In 1966 the two Mercedes-Benz safety experts Béla Barényi and Hans Scherenberg formulated the division into èactive and èpassive safety. Thanks to the integral safety concept of Mercedes-Benz, both areas now intermesh seamlessly. This is because a new era in vehicle safety began in der Mercedes-Benz S-Class with PRE-SAFE® in 2002: for the first time, the technology was able to recognize an impending accident in advance and prepare passengers for a possible collision. Moreover, Mercedes-Benz follows a philosophy of èReal Life Safety.
- Size: Standard for child seats based on the EU safety directive R129. Key requirements:
- Improved protection during a side or frontal impact, more protection for the head/neck area
- Children aged up to 15 months must be facing the rear when driving
- Use of the ISOFIX system is mandatory, reducing the risk of incorrect installation
- i-Size child seats are compatible with all i-Size cars and almost all ISOFIX cars
- Lengths indicated in centimeters simplify the choice of the right child seat, and replace the previous weight indications in kg. This is to counter a premature upgrade to the next seat size.
ISOFIX: internationally standardized attachment system for child seats acc. to ISO 13216. A rigid connection is made between the vehicle body and the child seat. The car is equipped with ISOFIX anchorages located between the seatback and seat cushion of the car seat. The ISOFIX connectors of the child seat or a base station are engaged in these. Additional protection is provided by Top Tether (upper restraining belt) and/or a supporting leg. The key advantages of ISOFIX are ease of installation, which lowers the risk of incorrect fitting, and the rigid connection to the vehicle.
Driver-fitness safety (or performance-enhancing comfort): A mentally and physically fit driver has more performance reserves to react quickly and correctly in critical traffic situations. As a development objective, driver- fitness safety covers many areas:
- NVH configuration (noise, vibration and harshness) of the body, suspension and drive system
- Dimensional concept of the interior
- Easy, ergonomic operation,
- All aspects of climatic and seating comfort
- Intelligent assistance systems.
Lidar: Abbreviation for "Light Detection and Ranging". The only sensor able to measure in 3D with high precision (distance, position, height), measuring the time taken by a pulsed laser beam to be reflected. In the ESF, the lidar housings are also used to accommodate signal LEDs.
MBUX – Mercedes-Benz User Experience: stands for a new infotainment system that focusses on the user (UX: user experience). A unique feature of this system is its ability to learn thanks to artificial intelligence. MBUX celebrated its premiere in 2018, in the new A-Class, and is constantly developed further.
Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call: dependable aid whose functions go beyond those of the legally prescribed eCall. Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call is activated either automatically or by the driver pressing the button in the interior. Manual activation serves to report an accident which the driver has observed or to call for help if an occupant of the vehicle is experiencing health problems. The emergency call function is triggered automatically after deployment of one of the pyrotechnic belt tensioners or an airbag in the car. The vehicle then establishes a voice connection with the Mercedes-Benz emergency call center. If the emergency call center does not receive a response, it will immediately alert the nearest rescue service.
Mercedes me: digital mobility and service brand. Mercedes me allows individualized access to the world of Mercedes-Benz. This goes well beyond the car itself, offering an integrated system of products, services and innovations.
Passive safety: Measures to mitigate the consequences of accidents. With the introduction of the preventive occupant protection system èPRE-SAFE® (2002), the distinction from èactive safety became less clear, as PRE-SAFE® uses active safety elements to protect passengers.
PRE-SAFE®: preventive occupant protection system. PRE-SAFE® activates preventive occupant protection measures when signs of an impending accident are recognized, so that e.g. belts and airbags are best able to perform their protective function during a collision. This early accident recognition is possible because as a preventive occupant protection system, PRE-SAFE® is networked with active safety elements such as Brake Assist and the Electronic Stability Program ESP®, as well as with other driving assistance systems whose sensors recognize critical driving and traffic situations and are able to send corresponding information to the electronic control units within milliseconds. These extensive sensor data are also used by PRE-SAFE®.
Real life safety: This safety philosophy not only includes simulations and crash tests, legal requirements and published ratings. On the basis of what actually happens in accidents, it develops strict in-house safety regulations that in many cases go well beyond the legal requirements or rating requirements. The key is accident research: for 50 years, in-house experts have examined serious accidents involving current Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The aim is to learn from them, and incorporate the findings into the designs of new models.
Reboard child seat: rear-facing child seats. Especially in frontal collisions, these can give better protection to infants and small children by distributing the forces more evenly over a larger area of the child's body, which also reduces the loads on the head and neck.
Sensor fusion: The vehicle's surroundings are registered by sensors (ultrasound, radar, cameras, lidar). During sensor fusion, all the data are brought together, evaluated and adequately interpreted.
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