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Everyday the media brings us the horrible news on road accidents. Once a
report said that the damaged property and other costs may equal 3 % of the world¶s
gross domestic product. The concept of assisting driver in longitudinal vehicle
control to avoid collisions has been a major focal point of research at many
automobile companies and research organizations. The idea of driver assistance was
started with the µcruise control devices¶ first appeared in 1970¶s in USA. When
switched on, this device takes up the task of accelerating or braking to maintain a
constant speed. But it could not consider the other vehicles on the road.

An µAdaptive Cruise Control¶ (ACC) system developed as the next generation

assisted the driver to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front. This system is
now available only in some luxury cars like Mercedes S-class, Jaguar and Volvo
trucks the U.S. Department of transportation and Japan¶s ACAHSR have started
developing µIntelligent Vehicles¶ that can communicate with each other with the help
of a system called µCo operative Adaptive Cruise Control¶ .this paper addresses the
concept of Adaptive Cruise Control and its improved versions.


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Cruise Control systems have been with us for years. They work very effectively to
control the speed of the vehicle.

Cruise Control systems are comprised of electronic and mechanical subsystems. This
is how they work.

A Cruise Control system exists to maintain the speed of a car, even over varying
terrain, when turned on by the driver. When the brake is applied, the system must
relinquish speed control until told to resume. The system must also steadily increase
or decrease speed to reach a new maintenance speed when directed to do so by the
driver.


























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Two companies are developing a more advanced cruise control that can
automatically adjust a car's speed to maintain a safe following distance. This new
technology, called adaptive

ise

t , uses forward-looking radar, installed
behind the grill of a vehicle, to detect the speed and distance of the vehicle ahead of it.
Adaptive cruise control is similar to conventional cruise control in that it maintains the
vehicle's pre-set speed. However, unlike conventional cruise control, this new system
can automatically adjust speed in order to maintain a proper distance between vehicles
in the same lane. This is achieved through a ada
eadway
ses , digita
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p
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t e. If the lead vehicle slows down, or if another
object is detected, the system sends a signal to the engine or braking system to
decelerate. Then, when the road is clear, the system will re-accelerate the vehicle back
to the set speed.
The 77-GHz Autocruise radar system made by TRW has a forward-looking range of
up to 492 feet (150 meters), and operates at vehicle speeds ranging from 18.6 miles
per hour (30 kph) to 111 mph (180 kph). Delphi's 76 -GHz system can also detect
objects as far away as 492 feet, and operates at speeds as low as 20 mph (32 kph).
Adaptive cruise control is just a preview of the technology being developed by both
companies. These systems are being enhanced to include collision warning
capabilities that will warn drivers through visual and/or audio signals that a collision
is imminent and that braking or evasive steering is needed.


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ACC works by detecting the distance and speed of the vehicles ahead by using
either a Lidar system or a Radar system. The time taken by the transmission and
reception is the key of the distance measurement while the shift in frequency of the
reflected beam by Doppler Effect is measured to know the speed. According to this,
the brake and throttle controls are done to keep the vehicle in a safe position with
respect to the other. These systems are characterized by a moderately low level of
brake and throttle authority. These are predominantly designed for highway
applications with rather homogenous traffic behavior. The second generation of ACC
is the Stop and Go Cruise Control (SACC) whose objective is to offer the customer
longitudinal support on cruise control at lower speeds down to zero velocity. The
SACC can help a driver in situations where all lanes are occupied by vehicles or
where it is not possible to set a constant speed or in a frequently stopped and
congested traffic. There is a clear distinction between ACC and SACC with respect
to stationary targets. The ACC philosophy is that it will be operated in well
structured roads with an orderly traffic flow with speed of vehicles around
40km/hour. While SACC system should be able to deal with stationary targets
because within its area of operation the system will encounter such objects very
frequently.

 






1. A sensor (LIDAR or RADAR) usually kept behind the grill of the vehicle to obtain
the information regarding the vehicle ahead. The relevant target data may be
velocity, distance, angular position and lateral acceleration.
2. Longitudinal controller which receives the sensor data and process it to generate
the commands to the actuators of brakes throttle or gear box using Control Area
Network (CAN) of the vehicle.







Currently four means of object detection are technically feasible and

applicable in a vehicle environment. They are
1. RADAR
2. LIDAR
3. VISION SENSORS
4. ULTRASONIC SENSOR

The first ACC system used LIDAR sensor.

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The first acc system introduced by Toyota used this method. By measuring the
beat frequency difference between a Frequency Modulated Continuous light Wave
(FMCW) and its reflection, we can calculate the distance.

Fig 1.Range estimation using FMCW-LIDAR

A company named Vorad Technologies has developed a system which

measured up to one hundred meters. A low powered, high frequency modulated laser
diode was used to generate the light signal.
 Most of the current acc systems are based on 77GHz RADAR sensors. The
RADAR systems have the great advantage that the relative velocity can be measured
directly, and the performance is not affected by heavy rain and fog. LIDAR system is
of low cost and provides good angular resolution although these weather condition s
restrict its use within a 30 to 40 meters range.

 

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RADAR is an electromagnetic system for the detection and location of

reflecting objects like air crafts, ships, space crafts or vehicles. It is operated by
radiating energy into space and detecting the echo signal reflected from an object
(target) the reflected energy is not only indicative of the presence but on comparison
with the transmitted signal, other information of the target can be obtained. The
currently used µPulse Doppler RADAR¶ uses the principle of µDoppler effect¶ in
determining the velocity of the target.

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The block diagram of pulse Doppler radar is as shown in figure.2.

The continuous wave oscillator produces the signal to be transmitted and it is

pulse modulated and power amplified. The µduplexer¶ is a switching device which is
fast-acting to switch the single antenna from transmitter to receiver and back. The
duplexer is a gas-discharge device called TR-switch. The high power pulse from
transmitter causes the device to breakdown and to protect the receiver. On reception,
duplexer directs the echo signal to the receiver. The detector demodulates the
received signal and the Doppler filter removes the noise and outputs the frequency
shift µfd¶.
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The new sensor system introduced by Fujitsu Ten Ltd. and Honda through
their PATH program includes millimeter wave radar linked to a 640x480 pixel stereo
camera with a 40 degree viewing angle. These two parts work together to track the
car from the non-moving objects. While RADAR target is the car¶s rear bumper, the
stereo camera is constantly captures all objects in its field of view.

Fig5. A prototype of a car with fusion sensor arrangement

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The image processor measures the distances to the objects through

triangulation method. This method includes an algorithm based on the detection of
the vertical edges and distance. Incorporating both the 16-degree field of view of
radar and 40-degree field of view of camera enhances the performance in tight
curves.

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As shown in Figure below, the ACC system consists of a series of interconnecting
components and systems. The method of communication between the different
modules is via a serial communication network known as the Controller Area Network
(CAN).

 ACC Module ± The primary function of the ACC module is to process the radar
information and determine if a forward vehicle is present. When the ACC system is
in 'time gap control', it sends information to the Engine Control and Brake Control
modules to control the clearance between the ACC Vehicle and the Target Vehicle.

 Engine Control Module ± The primary function of the Engine Control Module is
to receive information from the ACC module and Instrument Cluster and control the
vehicle's speed based on this information. The Engine Control Module controls
vehicle speed by controlling the engine's throttle.

 Brake Control Module ± The primary function of the Brake Control Module is
to determine vehicle speed via each wheel and to decelerate the vehicle by
applying the brakes when requested by the ACC Module. The braking system is
hydraulic with electronic enhancement, such as an ABS brake system, and is not full
authority brake by wire.

 Instrument Cluster ± The primary function of the Instrument Cluster is to process

the Cruise Switches and send their information to the ACC and Engine Control
Modules. The Instrument Cluster also displays text messages and telltales for the
driver so that the driver has information regarding the state of the ACC system.

 CAN ± The Controller Area Network (CAN) is an automotive standard network that
utilizes a 2 wire bus to transmit and receive data. Each node on the network has the
capability to transmit 0 to 8 bytes of data in a message frame. A message frame
consists of a message header, followed by 0 to 8 data bytes, and then a checksum.
The message header is a unique identifier that determines the message priority. Any
node on the network can transmit data if the bus is free. If multiple nodes attempt
to transmit at the same time, an arbitration scheme is used to determine which node
will control the bus. The message with the highest priority, as defined in its header,
will win the arbitration and its message will be transmitted. The losing message will
retry to send its message as soon as it detects a bus free state.

 Cruise Switches ± The Cruise Switches are mounted on the steering wheel and have
several buttons which allow the driver to command operation of the ACC system.
The switches include:

'On': place system in the 'ACC standby' state

'Off'': cancel ACC operation and place system in the 'ACC off' state
Figure: Physical Layout of the vehicle with ACC modules.
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Figure below shows the information and signal flows between the different systems
for ACC operation.

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Operation during this mode is equivalent to that of conventional speed control. If no

forward vehicle is present within the Time Gap or clearance of the system, the
vehicle's speed is maintained at the target speed. The engine control system controls
the engine output via throttle control to maintain the vehicle speed at the target speed.

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The ACC system enters follow mode or 'ACC time gap control' if the radar detects a
forward vehicle at or within the clearance distance. During this mode of operation, the
ACC system sends a target speed to the Engine Control Module and deceleration
commands to the Brake Control module to maintain the set time gap between the vehicles.

e
eeati 

t  ± The ACC system decelerates the vehicle by lowering the target
speed sent to the Engine Control Module and sending a brake deceleration command to
the Brake Control Module. The maximum allowed braking effort of the system is 0.2 [g].
During brake deceleration events, the Brake Control Module activates the brake lights.

eeati 

t 
% The ACC system accelerates the vehicle by increasing the target
speed sent to the Engine Control Module. The Engine Control Module tries to maintain
the target speed and can accelerate the vehicle at a rate of up to 0.2 [g] of acceleration.
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time
gap ± The driver can adjust the time gap via the 'Time Gap +' and
'Time Gap ±' switches. Pressing the 'Time Gap +' switch causes the time gap value to
increase and therefore the clearance between the two vehicles to increase. Pressing the 'Time
Gap ±' switch causes the time gap value to decrease and therefore the clearance between the
two vehicles to decrease.

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e ± Situations may occur such that the
ACC system is not able to maintain the time gap within the deceleration authority of the
system, 0.2 [g]. The clearance between the ACC vehicle and the forward vehicle may be
rapidly decreasing or the minimum vehicle speed of 25 [mph] may be reached. Under
these situations the ACC system enters 'ACC standby' and alerts the driver by displaying a
"Driver Intervention Required" text message on the instrument cluster and by turning on an
audible chime. If the brakes were being applied by the ACC system, they will be slowly
released. At this point the driver must take control of the vehicle.

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Though conventional ACC and SACC are still expensive novelties, the next
generation called Cooperative ACC is already being tested. While ACC can respond
to the difference between its own behavior and that of the preceding vehicle, the
CACC system allows the vehicles to communicate and to work together to avoid
collision.
Partners of Advanced Transit Highways (PATH) ±a program of California
Department of Transportation and University of California with companies like
Honda conducted an experiment in which three test vehicles used a communication
protocol in which the lead car can broadcast information about its speed, acceleration
,breaking capacity to the rest of the groups in every 20ms.
PATH is dedicated to develop systems that allow cars to set up platoons of
vehicles in which the cars communicate with each other by exchanging signals using
protocols like Bluetooth.
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1. In CACC mode, the preceding vehicles can communicate actively with the
following vehicles so that their speed can be coordinated with each other.
2. Because communication is quicker, more reliable and responsive compared to
autonomous sensing as in ACC.
3. Because braking rates, breaking capacity and other important information about
the vehicles can be exchanged, safer and closer vehicle traffic is possible.

Fig 10.Under CACC, both the leading and following vehicles are electronically
³tied´ to a virtual reference vehicle, as well as to each other.
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dvatages

1. The driver is relieved from the task of careful acceleration, deceleration and
braking in congested traffics.
2. A highly responsive traffic system that adjusts itself to avoid accidents can be
developed.
3. Since the breaking and acceleration are done in a systematic way, the fuel
efficiency of the vehicle is increased.

isadvatages

1. A cheap version is not yet realized.

2. A high market penetration is required if a society of intelligent vehicles is to be

formed.

3. Encourages the driver to become careless. It can lead to severe accidents if the
system is malfunctioning.

4. The ACC systems yet evolved enable vehicles to cooperate with the other
vehicles and hence do not respond directly to the traffic signals.
ü
 

The accidents caused by automobiles are injuring lakhs of people every year.
The safety measures starting from air bags and seat belts have now reached to ACC,
SACC and CACC systems. The researchers of Intelligent Vehicles Initiative in USA
and the Ertico program of Europe are working on technologies that may ultimately
lead to vehicles that are wrapped in a cocoon of sensors with a 360 ±degree view of
their surroundings. It will probably take decades, but car accidents may eventually
become as rare as plane accidents are now, even though the road laws will have to be
changed, upto an extent since the non-human part of the vehicle controlling will
become predominant.