DAIMLER TECHNICITY 02-2013 English by Mercedes-Benz next

Issue 02 2013

Autonomous driving Everyday life revolutionized: The vision of the self-driving automobile is now becoming reality.

Topography of comfort Regional comfort zones: The expectations placed on interior comfort vary from country to country.

Vehicles for big guys A unique development tool: The Obesity Suit of the ergonomics engineers from Daimler.

Innovation Technology Mobility

TecHnicity <Eng.> n; -ies (abbr. T) 1. Noun composed of the words q tech•nol•o•gy (1) and q ci•ty (2) 2. The name of a magazine that describes the use of (1) and particularly of mobility in urban environments and metropolitan areas worldwide 3. <Eng.> for the German q Tech•ni•zi•tät (3) 4. The technical nature of an q in•no•va•ti•on (4)

New Autonomous Dr iving Functions Step by step, autonomous driving is becoming a reality: As early as 2011, in the research vehicle F 125! Mercedes-Benz presented semi-autonomous driving functions such as the fully automated lane change assistant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the next technological leap has already taken place.

Focus on Autonomous driving

The invention of the automobile has enabled people to conquer their environment and the world. Bertha Benz was the first to realize this through her courageous journey on the road from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888, thus writing automotive history. Exactly 125 years later, our engineers have again ventured on a journey along the historic route taken by Bertha Benz in order to navigate us into the future of autonomous driving. With the selfdriving research vehicle “S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE”, for the first time, they have left the blocked-off test tracks or highways and have succeeded in driving safely on country roads and in 21st-century urban traffic with the help of extended series technology. Therefore, in this issue of TECHNICITY, we examine the different aspects of autonomous driving. An acceptance study conducted by Mercedes-Benz in the company’s own driving simulator shows how test subjects assess the chances of autonomous driving; experts provide us with an outlook of the changes expected through autonomous driving and explain the required safety precautions. The Daimler and Benz Foundation has also launched a research project on autonomous driving, about which we will keep you up to date here and on our homepage www.technicity.daimler.com. Our second major topic “Man as the Measure of All Things” is presented with two stories in this issue. The so-called “Obesity Suit” simulates excessive body weight and facilitates the optimal development of workplace ergonomics, for example for heavy-weight truckers. In the article “Topography of Comfort” we analyze the requirements for vehicle comfort posed by people from different cultures. We hope that we have again reported on interesting topics from our research and development activities for you in this issue of TECHNICITY and, as always, are looking forward to your feedback! Yours, Thomas Weber Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development

INDEX Tr iumph of the assista nce systems 12 Everyday life revolutionized: The vision of the self-driving automobile is now becoming reality.

Futur e L a bor atory for Autonomous Dr iv ing 26 In a large acceptance study Daimler research scientists sent about 100 test subjects into the future of autonomous driving.

Autonomous Dr i v ing in the tr acks of berth a benz 32 Mercedes-Benz is showing that autonomous driving is possible in overland and urban traffic.

A new ch a pter in safety technology 36 Rodolfo Schöneburg on passive safety and autonomous driving.

Topogr a phy of comfort 38 Regional comfort zones: The expectations placed on interior comfort vary from country to country.

V ehicles for big gu ys 46 A unique development tool: The Obesity Suit of the ergonomics engineers from Daimler.

Digital IMprint aND contact 50 PROJEcTOR 51 5

â&#x20AC;&#x192; On AutoPilotâ&#x20AC;&#x192; What was once a distant utopia is moving closer to reality: Driverless vehicles can relieve drivers of the future from all driving tasks upon request. In congested traffic, in monotonous commuter traffic, during long highway trips or in stressful situations. Technology components that are key for the impending revolution in daily mobility are already in serial use at Mercedes-Benz or will be in use shortly.

CONTROL AT THE PUSH OF A BUTTON The ability of autonomous vehicles to move without human intervention will in no way lead to a loss of driving pleasure or individual experience in the future. The driver will be able to regain control of the vehicle at any time at the touch of a button and to drive himself whenever he wishes without any stress.

â&#x20AC;&#x192; NEW FREEDOMâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Autonomous individual transport can offer extended freedom to the person behind the wheel. At least in the early stages of the step-wise technical realization, autonomous systems will still have to be supervised by people, however.

T h e t r i u m ph of t h e a ssista nce syst ems

The decades-old vision of autonomous driving will finally become reality in the coming years. It promises to gradually revolutionize everyday life.

Text Steffan Heuer Photography David SPĂ&#x201E;TH, Daimler Illustrations Iassen Markov, Daimler

KEYWORDS DRI V ER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS AUTONOMOUS DRI V ING EN V IRONMENT RECOGNITION SAFETY SOCIETY

raffic is thick on the A9 expressway just before the Berlin ring road. The indicator of the silver-colored S-Class sedan flashes as it accelerates. It changes into the left lane and quickly passes two slower vehicles without its driver having to pay much attention to the maneuver at 120 km/h. Half an hour later rush-hour traffic on the city expressway starts to bog down. For several minutes the vehicle calmly keeps a steady distance in stop-and-go traffic from the erratic vehicle traveling ahead until the Kaiserdamm exit programmed into the navigation system has been reached. From here the S-Class knows the way home because it has traveled it many times already. It effortlessly finds its way through the dense traffic of the megalopolis, where cars, trucks, buses, cyclists and pedestrians are all intent on moving at their own pace. In the traffic-reduced area the vehicle adheres to the prescribed walking pace because it can read traffic signs, and thanks to radar sensors and stereo cameras it also keeps a keen eye on pedestrians at all times. After a few minutes the destination is reached and there’s even a parking space to be found. The vehicle stops to let its passengers get out. A push on the electronic key and the vehicle parks itself in a space whose dimensions would provide a challenge even for experienced drivers. Until a few years ago engineers and computer scientists used to develop such science fiction scenarios to provide a visionary outlook of the mobility of the 21st century. Now reality has caught up with them, because all the maneuvers described above are already possible or are being tested under real-life conditions with the help of the latest assistance systems from Mercedes-Benz. IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS BRING DRIVERLESS MOBILITY WITHIN REACH Consequently, everyday life will face a profound revolution. Even though the vision of autonomous driving goes back many decades, it is only now that the combination of steadily increasing computing power, innovations in the area of sensor technology and the scanning of a vehicle’s surroundings paired with the rapid digitization and networking of everyday life makes driverless mobility attainable. There are many possibilities to enhance traffic safety, to make mobility more efficient and environmentally compatible and to create unimaginable freedoms for all road users. However, before the goal of highly or even fully autonomous driving is reached, several development obstacles must be overcome in order to make the hardware and software faster, more intelligent and more affordable. In addition to Mercedes-Benz, researchers and development engineers of electronics companies, automotive suppliers and universities are working on intelligent hardware and software intended to gradually make the vehicles autonomous. At the same time the infrastructure, legislative bodies and society will have to prepare for this new dimension of motoring. “Autonomous driving will gradually become reality,” states Ralf Guido Herrtwich, Head of Driving Assistance and Chassis Systems in Group Research and Advanced Engineering at Daimler. “Initially we will drive autonomously on certain classes of roads, starting with the expressway and maybe only under certain weather or lighting conditions. At first, the driver will also have to monitor the system rather than simply turn his attention to a book.” 13

Accordingly the researcher also warns of too quickly placing too high an expectation on autonomous vehicles that manage without any human intervention. “At low speeds, in stop-and-go traffic or when parking driverless mobility is only a matter of years away. At high speeds and in complex situations the driver will be involved at least for the next ten years,” says Herrtwich. PRECISE RESPONSE WITHIN MILLISECONDS

THE ACTIVE PARK ASSIST in the S-Class enables automatic parallel parking and parking perpendicular to the street. The driver only needs to step on the accelerator and the brake pedal. In addition, the vehicle can leave parallel parking spaces fully automatically.

There are several reasons for this realistic assessment. Assistance systems already on the market have shown that partly autonomous vehicles can lower the accident figures because they compensate for human errors and react precisely within milliseconds – in many cases even more precisely than most people. According to the latest traffic safety study by the World Health Organization more than 1.2 million people die each year on the roads. By 2020 the European Commission (EU) wants to cut the number of traffic deaths in the 27 EU member states – 35,000 in 2010 – by half.

»Autonomous driving will gradually become reality.« Ralf Guido Herrtwich

THE BRAKE ASSIST BAS PLUS WITH CROSS TRAFFIC ASSIST in the S-Class can help prevent collisions with cross traffic at intersections. The system warns the driver of impending danger and increases the brake pressure automatically if needed.

* Fuel consumption: 10.3-4.1 l/100 km (NEDC combined), CO2 emissions, combined: 242-107 g/km, energy efficiency class: F-A+ ** Fuel consumption, combined cycle: 10.3-5.5 l/100 km, CO2 emissions, combined: 242-146 g/km, energy efficiency class: F-A The figures are provided in accordance with the German PKW-EnVKV and apply only to the German market. They do not concern an individual vehicle and are not part of the offer; they are provided solely for the purposes of comparison between different types of vehicles.

Driving assistance systems like the ones that are already standard equipment at Mercedes-Benz play a crucial role in this context. Today these technologies are already capable of merging comfort and safety. They include DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control, which keeps the desired distance from the vehicle traveling ahead. In addition, the STEER CONTROL steering assistance system, for example in the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class* and S-Class**, keeps the vehicle in the center of the lane. However, drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times. Active Lane Keeping Assist can intervene when the driver unintentionally crosses a broken line and the adjacent lane is occupied. The previous generation of the lane-keeping assistance system was already capable of detecting when a solid line was crossed. BAS PLUS Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Assist can not only prevent rear-end collisions, but can also intervene in the event of impending collisions with crossing traffic at junctions, if need be even including a full emergency stop. The latest version can now identify pedestrians walking in front of the vehicle, warn the driver visually and audibly or in emergency situations even initiate autonomous braking. These intelligent systems are made possible by an array of sensors that provide the vehicle with a 360-degree view of what is going on. Radar sensors of different ranges can “see” for a distance of up to 200 meters. Their input is complemented by a stereo camera behind the windscreen. Thanks to its two eyes, the camera can see a three-dimensional image of the area up to

about 50 meters in front of the car and from there on – similar to human eyes looking into the distance – two-dimensionally. All the data constantly streaming in are processed by various on-board systems, for instance, to calculate the trajectory of crossing vehicles or a pedestrian in anticipatory fashion, “read” traffic signs and issue appropriate warnings or initiate reactions. This makes it possible, for example, to let a vehicle drive or even autonomously overtake other vehicles safely at high speeds with the Mercedes-Benz Motorway Pilot system that has already undergone successful testing under real-life conditions. Ideally autonomous automobiles equipped with the necessary sensor package, detailed map data and sufficient computing power can travel virtually any arbitrary route. One of the milestones for autonomous driving was the DARPA Grand Challenge, which was organized by the research and development branch of the U.S. Department of Defense in the desert of Nevada in 2004 and 2005. Only on the second try did some of the expensive and hair-raisingly retrofitted vehicles manage to complete the route that stretched over 240 kilometers of very rough terrain. “These two competitions inspired an entire research community that went to work with passion. This led to a quantum leap in technology, for sensors as well

Consumers in BRIC States Desire more automated automobiles

57%

of consumers, globally, trust driverless cars – even more so in emerging countries. Brazil 95% India

86%

China

70%

USA

60%

Russia

57%

Canada

52%

France

45%

Germany

37%

Japan

28%

Source: Cisco Customer Experience Report for Automobile Industry, 2013

Ralf Guido Herrtwich, Head of Driving Assistance and Chassis Systems in Group Research and Advanced Engineering at Daimler

automation Mr. Herrtwich, automobiles will increasingly allow autonomous driving with various interim stages. Are machines going to take over control? No, machines are not going to take over the initiative. The systems in all vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz brand are designed to put drivers back in full control as soon as they want to take over. Our systems are fully dedicated to providing support and relief. The transition from partly to fully autonomous systems is not only a matter of the technical capabilities of the systems, but goes hand in hand with the driver’s growing trust in such automation. Once you personally experience that such a system works, then you trust it in more and more situations.

Trust Is gaining trust in the technology a process that takes weeks or months? It’s much faster than that. We noticed this in the people testing our prototypes. They monitor the vehicle at the beginning of the drive very closely and keep their hands on the steering wheel all the time. But after an hour they have gained enough trust to turn around in their seat to talk to somebody sitting on the rear bench. The realization that partially autonomous vehicles are capable operators soon emerges, even for people who are somewhat nervous initially when the vehicle flashes the indicators at 120 km/h and changes lanes. Mixed Modes How do you envision the interaction between partially autonomous or highly autonomous vehicles and those still under full human control? For a significant period, if not forever, we will have mixed operating modes, on the basis of the existing mix of older and newer vehicles alone. With regard to autonomous driving this situation presents no problems whatsoever. Our vehicles are designed to travel completely autonomously using their extensive on-board systems and are therefore able to easily handle the most diverse traffic situations with their own intelligence – we do not anticipate a concept for autonomous driving that features a central computer somewhere that controls all vehicles. However, it would be conceivable that autonomous vehicles will temporarily log on to such a system and thus make driving in convoys on the motorway possible, for example. When all is said and done it is also completely legitimate that there will be people who don’t want to use an autonomous car. 15

Limits What effects will many consumers’ sometimes exaggerated expectations of autonomous driving have? On the one hand, it is of course nice to use striking promotional videos to show everything that might be possible. On the other hand, it would only be fair to admit at the same time that the initial systems will not make such comprehensive visions a reality. Due to technical limitations they will still require the driver in many situations, and from a legal perspective also, we are not yet at a point where the lawmakers are prepared to wave through all the developments in autonomous driving that are already a realistic proposition today. One always has to be careful not to over- hype such innovations, otherwise the first production versions will inevitably lead to disenchantment. Even worse: In that case even what is technically feasible and truly impressive suddenly becomes unsatisfactory. evolution Technologists often talk of “good enough” when it comes to innovations – that something is used when it’s just good enough. Can this concept also apply to autonomous driving or do we need to demand unerring utmost precision and reliability? “Good enough” is simply not good enough; we do need to work a little harder than that. But neither does such a system have to be able to totally master all situations from the start: the partially autonomous stage is a great path down the middle. The driver will for the time being retain ultimate control. At the same time, we as development engineers keep learning with each development stage. That was also the case with other driving assistance systems. For instance, before we designed a fully autonomous emergency braking system, we introduced stages in which Brake Assist only acted when the driver applied the brakes slightly. As soon as a system works to the satisfaction of the customer, it is possible to take the next step and progressively remove the driver from the equation.

Time Frame How long will it take before the driver can be removed from the equation in autonomous driving? That depends on the traffic situation. At low speeds, in stop-and-go traffic or when parking it is a matter of years. At high speeds and in complex situations the driver will be involved at least for the next ten years, I guess.

Relief What is the ideal situation in which you personally believe autonomous driving makes the most sense? I can think of two situations off the top of my head. On the one hand, I find it immensely nerve-racking when I am in a traffic jam and constantly have to do the same thing with the accelerator pedal, steering wheel and brakes over and over again, just to cover a small distance in a long period of time. And on the other hand, I think it would be great if autonomous driving made routine trips easier for me – for example, the 15 kilometers I drive every day to and from work. In both cases I’d greatly appreciate the extra freedom or relaxation.

The full version of this interview is available for you online at: technicity.daimler.com/en/herrtwich-en 16

as applications. It is astonishing how far we have come this past decade,” says William “Red” Whittaker, professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh and, together with his team, one of the DARPA winners. Pioneers like Whittaker also know about the obstacles the researchers and engineers still have to eliminate. Firstly there is the question of when the necessary technology will be powerful, compact and affordable enough to have the required potential for series production. The LIDAR laser scanners used for instance in Google’s driverless cars are too expensive for series-production use. Such precision mechanics that constantly rotate on the roof provide a detailed 360-degree view of the surroundings. But they cost several times the value of the cars on which they are mounted. A TECHNOLOGICAL QUANTUM LEAP “Many of the hardware and software components are still too expensive. They are plainly and simply unaffordable for normal consumers. If I had that much money, I’d buy a great sports car and drive myself,” jokes Emilio Frazzoli, professor of aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who normally deals with autonomous vehicles traveling by land or air. This is why Daimler researchers like Ralf Guido Herrtwich are trying to offer an intelligently assembled array of radar sensors and cameras that collect the required information even without costly lasers in order to travel safely, efficiently and comfortably. “This technology ultimately mustn’t cost any more than today’s driving assistance systems, that is to say, a couple of thousand euros,” Herrtwich stresses. This also includes a continuously updated digital map that provides significantly more detail and may also remain more up to date than those of conventional navigation systems. Otherwise an autonomous vehicle will flounder if it encounters a new, non-registered construction zone or a recorded bend that deviates from the values measured by the on-board sensors. However, vehicles can assist each other in creating such new real-time maps because theoretically every car is able to record the route it travels and to feed the route data into databases.

Experts like CMU professor Whittaker expect autonomous vehicles to see the world differently. Their navigation aids have little in common with the combination of conventional maps and superimposed images we know from today’s assistance systems. “We are already able to create three-dimensional models of our environment that are better and more detailed than the human eye would ever be able to perceive,” says Whittaker of the initial prototypes. Such super-realistic models of the environment are generated partly on board and – thanks to mobile broadband access to the internet in future vehicles – partly in the Cloud. Not only the vehicles need to evolve, the surrounding infrastructure does as well. Companies like Daimler have long researched so-called car-to-x communications that allow vehicles to exchange data with each other and their surroundings, including road signs and traffic cameras mounted above the road. In April the Los Angeles metropolitan area became the first city in the world to synchronize all its 4,500 traffic lights. Magnetic sensors in the road and hundreds of cameras feed their data into a central computer that dynamically controls all traffic lights to speed up the traffic flow of seven million daily commuters. During rush hour the system can phase the traffic lights only for bus lanes while other vehicles have to wait.

Short-range radar systems Long-range radar systems Camera Stereo camera

Vehicle not to scale in relation to sensor ranges. Overlap of sensor ranges much larger in reality.

“Especially for driving in an urban area surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other vehicles we already have a wealth of information as well as the infrastructure for lowering the costs and complexity of autonomous driving,” MIT researcher Frazzoli reflects. “A car can use its surroundings and other vehicles for its eyes and ears.”

»It is astonishing how far we have come this past decade.« William “Red” Whittaker

Besides all the technical advances that are happening rapidly this also requires another change that has already begun. Society at large and legislative bodies have to rethink what constitutes the nature of a vehicle and of the modern transportation system overall, because what would be possible technically is frequently legally impermissible. The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic from 1968 determines who may drive a car: “Every driver must have control of his vehicle at all times [...].” Nobody thought of any kind of computer at the wheel 45 years ago. And thus questions about certifi-

cation and insurance as well as liability in the event of accidents are still a grey area. Some legislators have tackled the issue. The U.S. states of Nevada, California and Florida were the first to pass laws that govern the certification and operation of autonomous automobiles. This provides an incentive to companies to test their prototypes there and serves as a role model for one of the world’s largest automobile markets. Should the U.S. establish national rules for autonomous vehicles, the EU and China would soon follow suit. Until then, autonomous driving will continue to be relegated to narrowly defined areas of application where people may never really take their hands from the steering wheel or their eyes from the road ahead.

William “Red” Whittaker, Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh

SOCIETY AND LAWMAKERS MUST RETHINK “We build all the systems in a way that ensure the driver regains full control the moment he or she wants to take over. Our systems are fully dedicated to providing support and relief,” says Daimler researcher Herrtwich. In his mind the transition from partly to fully autonomous systems is not only a matter of the technical capabilities of the systems, but goes hand in hand with the driver’s growing trust. (Continue reading on page 22)

SENSORS AND CAMERA SYSTEMS IN THE MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS The basic platform for the strongly extended driver assistance systems built into the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is provided by a networked system of many high-tech sensors and cameras. They keep track of the immediate and distant surroundings of the vehicle and supply data for intelligent algorithms, which consolidate all relevant information and evaluate traffic situations, signs and road markings within milliseconds. Other sophisticated sensory tools can record the driving conditions and the driver’s responses. Since they are supplied with all relevant real-time data, the most varied assistance systems can thus ensure appropriate support for any situation at all times.

state of the art Mr. Whittaker, what’s the state of the art in autonomous vehicles? The abstract concept of autonomous driving is well understood. We now are in the stage of fulfillment. The two DARPA Challenges held in 2004 and 2005 in the desert and in 2007 in an artificial urban setting were watershed events. They transformed the field. Competition What changed fundamentally between 2004 and 2007? We went from believing in the potential of autonomous driving, but thinking it beyond reach, to seeing it as something that’s clearly attainable. Those two competitions inspired an entire community and enrolled it to work for the cause. That led to a huge, nonlinear leap of technology, whether you look at sensors or applications. It’s absolutely astonishing how far we have come in the past decade, in terms of processing power, sensor costs and infusing all these advances into commercial automobiles.

Feasibility The seminal DARPA moments in which you participated and won were competitions for which scientists prepared quite a long time. Now we have new entrants like Google proclaiming that blind people will soon be driving autonomously. Is that wishful thinking or a realistic goal? I see it as viable and inevitable, and here’s why. I actually held the first symposium on blind driving that took place before the very first Challenge. There are several land speed records for the blind that are hard to beat for a driver with good eyesight, even though we are talking about controlled settings. And you already have driverless people movers at airports. In due time, vehicles driving the disabled will be very analogous to such public transport. I think it is a question of dignity for the disabled and the elderly.

Innovation Cycles Is getting there then a question of bringing costs and form factors down fast enough? The fundamentals of sensing, modeling, planning a trip and driving are well understood. I know a thing or two about sensors since I used to build them myself. They are now in such rapid development cycles to become increasingly cheaper and more powerful. Overall, there are certain parts of it that have not 19

yet reached maturity, such as driving in bad weather, complex situations in which you have to deal with intersections, oncoming traffic, or driving at the physical limits at high speed, on ice or with reduced traction. But that should not distract from the incredible capabilities that have now been matured.

T h r ee n e w f u nc t ions on t h e pat h t o au t onomous dr i v i ng

experiment When will this technology for autonomous driving become mainstream? I recommend an experiment to get an idea how far we’ve come. Get a new car that will prevent you from blindly backing from a driveway into oncoming traffic. Just step on the gas without looking and you’ll be amazed. Then, get into a 1950s pick-up truck. Experience the way the brakes and steering work – which is very slowly and imprecisely by modern standards – and see how quickly you can get yourself into trouble just by driving around. It will make you truly appreciate all the features in modern cars that we take for granted. But contrary to what many might think, the automotive industry is not the early adopter of these technologies. Progress happens in areas that most people overlook: mining, construction and agriculture – industries that use large and heavy-duty vehicles for tasks like earth moving, rock crushing and road building, working with utmost precision.

1.1

1.2

Mapping Those are scenarios in which vehicles have a very limited range and know the terrain very well. Don’t we also need new types of very detailed, almost real-time digital maps of our world to let the vehicles of the future get around in free traffic? It’s a chicken and egg problem. Before vehicles are autonomous, all the other cars moving about are already working as mappers and cartographers. Building those maps and models doesn’t require autonomous vehicles. The capabilities of vehicles as collaborative information-gathering systems already exist to detail, refine and update the information needed. Again, it’s a virtuous loop in which new data can be quickly integrated when, say, a new construction site pops up somewhere on a road and influences local traffic.

interaction Autonomous vehicles need to interact with human drivers in other cars for a long time to come. How well will this mix play out? It’s already happening. As automotive companies and others introduce all these safety features, they are assisting us in certain situations to an increasing extent, and can even correct errors on the part of the driver. In essence, these technologies make vehicles adhere to the rules of the road, no matter who is driving. Think about driving on a highway today. You’re going fairly fast, but you don’t have face-to-face contact with other drivers, you don’t communicate your intentions or need to explain what you want to do next. It’s all about behaviors observed and interpreted as we are moving along at high speed.

1.3

1.4

1.0 car-to-x The instantaneous transfer of information between vehicles and the infrastructure can lead to further increases in safety and efficiency in road traffic. Real-time warnings about congested traffic, accidents or approaching emergency vehicles ensure that many critical situations do The full version of this interview is available for you online at:

not arise. In 2013 the future technology is already available for

technicity.daimler.com/en/whittaker-en

convenient installation into many Mercedes-Benz models.

2.2

2.0 HIGHWAY PILOT The highway pilot of Mercedes-Benz,

2.1

which has already been tested successfully under real conditions, can take over all driving tasks on the highway on command with the help of 360-degree sensory information from the camera, radar and ultrasound devices. This includes distance and lane keeping, overtaking and adherence to speed limits. 2.3

As a result, drivers and passengers can also cover great distances in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

2.4

3.3

3.4

3.2 3.0

3.1 park pilot With the

help of the park pilot the vehicle can be sent off to park and maneuvered comfortably from the exterior or completely autonomously in connection with an intelligently networked parking garage. The pick-up function allows the vehicle to navigate to the driver’s position independently after the end of the parking time. 21

“Once you personally experience that such a system works, then you trust it in more and more situations.” That is precisely what people seem to do if they are members of the group called ‘digital natives’, that is to say, all those who grew up surrounded by digital devices and services and in many cases willingly and completely count on technology. They hope that autonomous vehicles will relieve them of performing tedious routine tasks, such as commuting to and from work.

»The ‘sharing economy’ and autonomous driving are two sides of the same coin.« Emilio Frazzoli DISTRONIC PLUS WITH STEERING ASSIST supports the driver in maintaining the desired distance to the vehicle in front even on slight curves. When driving more slowly the Stop&Go Pilot can orient itself to the vehicle in front.

THE ACTIVE LANE KEEPING ASSIST in the S-Class can intervene in cases of unintentional crossing of a lane marking if there is a danger of a collision. The radar-based system also detects occupied neighboring lanes in oncoming traffic.

People who try to talk on the phone, write something on their smartphone or even read their emails while driving will mostly be thrilled by the prospect of soon leaving the driving largely to the vehicle. The designers are already sketching driver’s seats for concept vehicles that swivel to let drivers direct their attention to a tablet computer or the newspaper instead of watching traffic. Many senior citizens will also put their hope in the next vehicle generation or the one after that because their sensor systems and algorithms can make up for their own declining abilities. This promises to increase the mobility radius for millions of people who previously had been severely limited by old age, illness or disability. Against this background it is understandable that Google promotes the prototypes of its autonomous vehicles with a video showing a blind man regaining his mobility thought to have been long lost. “For people with disabilities and senior citizens autonomous driving is a question of human dignity,” robotics researcher Whittaker believes. “For that we by no means need vehicles that drive autonomously under all conditions.” He envisions fully automatic people-mover systems for public transportation, such as are already in existence at many airports. And some local authorities are considering their use in inner cities. MAKING MORE EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES Autonomous driving also creates new freedoms in a much wider sense. For MIT professor Frazzoli, for instance, it is not about automatically steered vehicles that drive occupants from point A to point B, but about the opportunity to reinvent the transportation system and make it more efficient. “Today our cars are only utilized 5 to 10 percent. The rest of the time they sit around. That is not a sustainable model,” says the scientist working in Singapore. “That’s why I believe that the ‘sharing economy’ and autonomous driving are two sides of the same coin.” “Sharing economy” refers to a culture of sharing services and objects.

Instead of waiting for all-capable fully autonomous vehicles to arrive, says Frazzoli, carsharing services should be outfitted with vehicles that have a limited list of capabilities, such as finding the way to the nearest filling or charging station, picking up a waiting customer at a specific address, or if needed moving to another location. Such cars would solve several problems of autonomous driving at once, the scientist argues: “Since they’re driving without human passengers, they can always take the easiest route, for example, like a municipal commercial vehicle they could initially drive slowly at the edge of the road, and even if their steering and braking maneuvers were a bit jerky, it wouldn’t bother any occupants. In this way it is possible to lower the requirements on autonomous vehicles and at the same time expand their fields of application.” With growing experience the autonomous carsharing fleet could increase its effective radius. There is still the question of how people at the wheel will come to terms with vehicles that act ever more independently. Experts agree that for the foreseeable future there will be mixed operations: some of the vehicles will be steered by people, while others drive partly or highly autonomously. Vehicles will enter and exit parking spaces at the push of a button – or memorize a frequently traveled route to derive independent actions from it. The urban infrastructure will increasingly exchange data with the road users. But at the same time there will be older vehicles on the road that have a lot less electronics and intelligence. To William Whittaker this interaction of man and machine is not a problem. “When we drive on the expressway, we don’t have any direct contact with other drivers even at high speeds. You observe and interpret the behavior of other road users. This works for all kinds of driving situations without having to draw a distinction between man and machine. Only one thing is for sure: Autonomous driving is already a done deal today and will continue to advance steadily.”

Emilio Frazzoli, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

vision Mr. Frazzoli, are self-driving vehicles within reach or still a far-out vision? It’s a question of defining autonomous driving. Generally speaking, it’s happening. The technology is advancing rapidly and in some instances is already pretty mature. On the other hand, I think we are not ready in terms of regulations or political and legal aspects. How do you get a license for such a vehicle, how to insure it? Costs And who will be able to use them – a few select researchers and some well heeled people? We have to talk about affordability. A lot of people are working on the technology we need for autonomous driving, including myself. Many of the hardware and software components are still too expensive. They are plainly and simply unaffordable for normal consumers. If I had that much money to spend on a car, I’d buy a great sports car and drive it myself. sensors Won’t the costs for the necessary technology come down very rapidly? That trend is clearly visible. Video sensors are becoming cheaper and better all the time, and they provide a lot of information. Laser scanners are very convenient, but they are expensive and I wonder if you really need them. The challenge is to figure out how to reduce the sensor package on a car, thereby making it smaller and cheaper. definition You were talking about the question of defining

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autonomous driving. Can you give us your definition? Very often, people think it means replacing the human driver. That’s all well and good, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Also, do we really think humans drive so well that the goal is for technology to replace a human behind the wheel? Autonomous vehicles can drive very differently than a human would, as long as they do it safely and in an environmentally friendly way. I propose we think of autonomous vehicles as a subset of all the possible driving scenarios because that’s much more useful.

Benefit What are, to your mind, the reasons why autonomous driving is useful? If you listen to the debate, the advantages of automated driving generally fall into three categories. First, safety, because 23

we can reduce or remove risk factors due to human error, coupled with mobility options for the disabled or the elderly. Second, the efficiency of having features that let you drive in a caravan on a highway and using adaptive cruise control. And third the environmental impact. Using these technologies, we can reduce carbon emissions anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. But there’s one thing most people forget: While these arguments all lead to an improvement over the current status of the automotive industry, they do not change the basic concept of how we think of cars.

Sharing How should the debate about autonomous driving be framed then? It should be about how it allows us to fundamentally rethink transportation. We only use our cars 5 to 10 percent of the time; the rest of the time they are sitting somewhere, often a very expensive piece of real estate. That’s not a sustainable model, so I think the idea of sharing goes hand in hand with autonomous vehicles. Take today’s carsharing services. They hold much promise, but have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to quality of service and availability. Now, imagine these cars could park themselves, go to gas or charge stations by themselves or reposition themselves to another location based on where a customer is waiting or demand is predicted. That’s much easier than a general-purpose autonomous vehicle, because those would be cars moving autonomously only along pre-defined routes. Moreover, since there are no human passengers on board to please, the cars could drive in a way that maximizes safety, rather than passenger comfort or travel time. Requirements They’d still have to navigate regular urban traffic with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Absolutely, but the number of routes they need to know drops dramatically. They don’t have to drive the fastest route. They could well take the easiest and least congested route. They could have a yellow light on the roof, just as trash and other public service vehicles do to let others know they are coming. Things could be easier if you separated human drivers and autonomous vehicles, even on separate lanes. They could just drive slowly on the roadside, like service vehicles do. Human drivers already accept that today. killer app Do you see a killer app that will make autonomous driving go mainstream? It’s not the “I want to read the paper while going to work” idea. The killer app to my mind is reliable carsharing that changes the way we think of personal mobility – the knowledge that you’ll have transportation tomorrow at a certain time at a certain spot, and you can truly count on it. Then we can move from an ownership- to a subscription-based model of cars. Most cars today are designed for long distances and high-speed driving. However, we use them mostly for city driving.

The full version of this interview is available for you online at: technicity.daimler.com/en/frazzoli-en 24

Prometheus I The creation of an electronic road map was part of the Prometheus research project, which was launched in 1986.

HIST ORY

At Mercedes-Benz the research and development work for realizing the vision of autonomous driving and thereby offering motorists a maximum of safety and comfort goes back more than half a century. It all started with cruise control to keep a preset speed. This became standard equipment in all Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Europe in the 1960s. THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT The next milestone was the Prometheus (short for “Programme for European Traffic with Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety”) research project initiated by Daimler-Benz that was intended to demonstrate new perspectives for the traffic of the future. The project was part of the European “Eureka” research initiative from 1986 to 1994 and involved unprecedented cooperation between all major European automobile manufacturers, suppliers and numerous science institutes. The results were presented to the public in October 1994. Prometheus addressed the key questions of tomorrow’s mobility, such as how to enhance safety despite the growing number of vehicles and how to harmonize traffic flow without building new roads and causing more environmental stress. Researchers from Mercedes-Benz soon realized that this would require the integration of new technologies – from microelectronics and sensor systems to telecommunications and data processing – in as comprehensive a fashion as possible.

Prometheus II Electronic components

6D Vision The image recognition tech-

SEMI-AUTONOMOUS DRIVING The

enabled testing of the proximity control system and

nology analyzes the images from the stereo camer-

research vehicle F 125! demonstrated fully auto-

the destination guidance control device.

as installed in the car within fractions of a second.

mated driving maneuvers at the touch of a button.

In close cooperation with a team headed by Prof. Ernst Dickmann from the Bundeswehr- universität (University of the German Armed Forces) in Munich and a pioneer in the areas of computerized image recognition and autonomous driving, the company presented several autonomous test vehicles in the 1980s and 1990s. They included the “VaMP” (“Versuchsfahrzeug für autonome Mobilität und Rechnersehen” or “test vehicle for autonomous mobility and computer vision”) based on a Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL, as well as the VITA and VITA II. The test vehicles made headlines in 1994 when they drove some 1,000 kilometers in the Paris metropolitan area and in 1995 when they drove from Munich to Copenhagen and back. VITA, an abbreviation for “Vision Technology Application”, was an autopilot capable of braking, accelerating and steering. The intelligent test vehicle has small video cameras behind the front and rear windscreen that provided the on-board computer with an overview of the vehicle’s surroundings. The computer was for the first time able to discern the course of the road and register whether VITA was on a collision course. The Prometheus sub-project demonstrated that an automatic collision prevention system was technically feasible. Another milestone was the Electronic Stability Program (ESP), whose concept had been patented way back in 1959 as a “regulating device” and which celebrated its world début in the S-Class in 1995. ESP recognizes critical handling situations as they develop, brakes one or several wheels as required and adjusts the engine torque to keep the vehicle on track. Another result of Prometheus is also well familiar to motorists today: the intelligent cruise control that always keeps the required safety distance. It was introduced in the S-Class in the mid-

90s and today is standard specification at Mercedes-Benz under the name DISTRONIC and DISTRONIC PLUS. Other innovations such as a lane-change assistance system, the automatic PRE-SAFE® brake or an electronic parking aid stem from this research program. Work on implementing the visions put forward some 30 years ago continues to this day – on the road to the stated goal of accident-free driving. Since around the year 2000 the Mercedes-Benz experts have also been working on communication between vehicles and their surroundings and among each other, referred to as “car-to-x communication”. If vehicles communicate with each other, they can warn each other of obstacles on the road or a bend covered in black ice. This evolved into the “simTD” project, which stands for “safe, intelligent mobility – test site Germany”, which has been undergoing trials in the Rhine-Main area around Frankfurt since 2007. This project involves companies from the automotive and telecommunications sectors, the government of the German state of Hesse as well as renowned universities and research institutes. simTD is also sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Research as well as the Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. As early as 2009 Mercedes-Benz presented ATTENTION ASSIST, which can recognize driver inattention and drowsiness based on changes in the steering behavior and a multitude of other parameters. Today the system can not only remain vigilant at speeds between 60 and 200 km/h, but can be calibrated to individual drivers. Observing drivers will play an even more important role in autonomous driving, as some stages of the automation will depend on monitoring driver attentiveness.

Many of the most recent safety features were presented to the public in the ESF 2009 experimental safety vehicle, followed by the F 125! research vehicle two years later. It was equipped with numerous functions for partly autonomous driving, such as fully automatic lane changing, at the push of a button.

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INTELLIGENT DRIVING Since 2012 the entire range of intelligent assistance systems from Mercedes-Benz has been summed up under the term “Intelligent Drive”. The basis is provided by the innovative 6D vision technology, which processes and analyzes the images from the stereo cameras on board. The vehicle sensors register what is going on around them within fractions of a second. Stereo cameras paired with radar sensors recognize moving objects such as vehicles or pedestrians, measure their position and direction of travel including their speed and compute how they will behave in traffic. In critical situations the assistance systems installed in the car then react appropriately and at lightning speed. Initial applications of “Intelligent Drive” in production cars are DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control with STEER CONTROL as the Stop&Go Pilot in the new Mercedes-Benz S- and E-Class as well as the BAS PLUS Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Assist. 360-degree vision makes partly autonomous driving in dense traffic possible. Mercedes-Benz provided a more concrete vision of the future of autonomous driving in early 2013 with an E-Class that for testing purposes was fitted with the new “Motorway Pilot” system that allows fully autonomous overtaking maneuvers. The system independently searches for a sufficiently large gap in the left lane, changes lanes, overtakes slower vehicles and automatically moves back to the right lane in front of them. 25

Fu t ur e L a bor atory for Au tonomous D r i v i ng

Autonomous driving will change our daily routine in the future. Daimler researchers are also working on our customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wishes and expectations for the new system. In a broad-based acceptance study they sent men and women drivers on a journey into the future.

Text Frank Brandt Photography Stefan Hohloch, Daimler

Keywords AUTONOMOUS DRIVING ACCEPTANCE STUDY CUSTOMER RESEARCH DRIV ing SIMUL ATOR Infor m ation Acceler ation

THE DRIVING SIMULATOR: THE PERFECT ILLUSION OF DRIVING The driving simulator is playing an increasingly important role in the development of modern driving safety and assistance systems. The installation in the Mercedes-Benz Development Center in Sindelfingen, which is among the most state-of-the-art and most powerful driving simulators in the automobile industry, consists of a cabin mounted on six movable supports that can simulate all movements and driving maneuvers of a vehicle realistically thanks to its fast and powerful mechanism. The interior of the cabin houses a complete Mercedes-Benz, in which the test driver is seated. A 360-degree projection images road traffic realistically and also incorporates pedestrians and oncoming traffic into the virtual world. The illusion of driving becomes perfect through the restoring force of the steering wheel in different situations or the screeching of tires during a fast drive around a curve. Hazards in road traffic, such as sheet ice or side wind, can also be simulated along with all reactions of the vehicle.

During the test drive through virtual real-

ity the computer calculates the driving behavior of the vehicle 1,000 times per second and sends the corresponding commands to the electrical components. It is able to move the installation transversely at a maximum speed of ten meters per second (36 km/h) up to twelve meters, which also enables simulating dynamic double lane changes, for example.

With this â&#x20AC;&#x153;real lifeâ&#x20AC;? simulation, the system can

be used not only as a research laboratory but also as a multi-functional test bench, on which the systems and components of future vehicles are already tested and optimized in the early development stages. After inputting extensive vehicle data, a driving dynamics program computes the reactions of the respective vehicle types in real time. This enables safe testing of control, safety and assistance systems up to the physical limits of the vehicle.

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he mystery of the future. Throughout the ages, people have concerned themselves with the phenomenon of the world of tomorrow and continue to philosophize about what the future will bring and whether it would be possible to predict it. The answers are few and far between. The future is inevitably connected to fate – it is uncertain and full of riddles. For an automotive company like Daimler it is even strategically important since those who stop thinking ahead risk being overtaken. “Research is insurance for the future” – this is what Stuttgarters have believed since the foundation of the Research division 45 years ago. Today, engineers and scientists, sociologists and psychologists still view anticipating the world of tomorrow and the development of technologies that will positively change our mobility as very important tasks. This means looking far ahead and recognizing developments and expectations that are truly important regardless of short-lived trends, moods or fads. This is how the future can be designed. One of these megatrends is autonomous driving. In only a few years’ time it will be possible to equip vehicles with an intelligent electronic copilot, which temporarily takes over the driver’s role and automatically guides the vehicle along the highway. But, for a topic as important as this, it would be short-sighted and contrary to the principle of sustainable future planning to concentrate only on the question of technology. Because what is the use of even the most intelligent driver assistance system if the customers are not interested – if they have other preferences and other expectations of their future vehicle? To shed light on these important questions, Daimler places people in the center of the research project on autonomous driving. Early 2013: The Stuttgart automotive company invited around 100 men and women drivers to take part in one of the largest studies of the Customer Research Center (CRC) to date. Their opinions were to provide researchers with information about the acceptance of the vanguard technology and ideas for conceptualization of future assistance systems for the Mercedes-Benz models. The participants in the survey were people from different age groups, customers of different vehicle brands, new drivers and experienced drivers, who are already using driver assistance systems on a regular basis. In this way the researchers formed a thoroughly representative group of participants, with whom they ventured on an extensive journey into the future in the driving simulator of the Mercedes-Benz development center. Just one more thing: How are drivers to evaluate a system that will only be available in a few years’ time? How are they to say today what they will be thinking the day after tomorrow? While designing the concept of the acceptance study, the research team examined these questions because they were the key to success. “We knew that we would only get to hear truly meaningful opinions if we could create a scenario reflecting the world of tomorrow that would enable our test subjects to move half a century forward conceptually,” said Daimler researcher Marianne Reeb in explaining one of the main tasks in the study planning. In other words: The phenomenon of the future would have to be experienced. The scientists solved this exciting task through a method called “Information Acceleration,” which was developed by Professor Glen L. Urban at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has already been applied successfully in

INFORMATION ACCELERATION: ACCELERATING INTO THE FUTURE How do we know today what people will be thinking tomorrow? How do we find out what expectations customers will have and which products they will prefer? These were the questions that occupied a team of researchers from the Sloan School of Management at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA in the 1990s. The scientists led by Professor Glen L. Urban had recognized the increasingly strong interest of industrial companies in accurate predictions about future customer reactions. While corporate groups regularly conduct surveys and invite selected customers to product or prototype presentations, such surveys have one serious shortcoming: They can only reflect opinions from the present that can quickly change in the course of product development, which frequently takes several years to complete. What is missing is a far-sighted vision which also takes into consideration the lifestyles, attitudes and moods of people in the future.

Professor Urban developed a method which

he calls “Information Acceleration.” The principle of the method is simple: If customers are provided today with the information they will receive tomorrow, they can evaluate a new model or a new technology more realistically than with the traditional methods of market research. In other words: The important thing is to accelerate the information provided to customers and transport it into the future conceptually. With the comprehensive knowledge about the new product and the news from the world of the day after tomorrow, Professor Urban creates a solid basis for surveying customers’ opinions. Thus, they report – as it were – from the future, evaluate new developments in a different context and in a different environment than today.

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Autonomous Driving and Society: The Villa Ladenburg Project As the automobiles of the future begin to drive autonomously, this will lead to changes not only in the driving behavior of individual drivers but also, for example, in drivers’ working and living habits and legal requirements. But how can general acceptance for this be created? What are the social, psychological, legal and economic aspects associated with autonomous driving?

recent years. The basic principle is termed “Inform and Condition”: With the help of different media such as brochures, the Internet, films, blogs or TV broadcasts customers are to be transported into the world of tomorrow through information in order to enable them to evaluate the object of the respective market study realistically – as it were, through the eyes of a customer of the future. The researchers had already used the MIT methods to analyze the chances of future vehicle models, smartphones, computers, and new financial or online services and had provided valuable information for product development through their findings. Marianne Reeb: “It is a proven method for predicting today what people will be thinking in a few years’ time.” NEWS FROM THE YEAR 2020 “The world has changed.” This is the opening sentence of the three-minute movie which the participants watched at the start of the Daimler acceptance study. The movie transported them to the time around the year 2020 and showed everyday life where a great deal runs automatically and is even more densely networked than today. According to the core message of the visionary film, everything will be simpler, more stress-free and more comfortable. Including driving a car.

These are some of the issues which the interdisciplinary research project “Villa Ladenburg” has been examining since the fall of 2012 as part of its analysis of the overall social effects of autonomous driving. The project – with a core team of four research scientists and a group of twenty experts from different specialist units – is being funded with a total of two million euros by the Daimler and Benz

After the end of the test drive, one of the test subjects said that the autonomous driving system was »like traveling in an airplane«.

Foundation, which has been engaged in supporting research activities in various scientific disciplines since 1986. The expert team of the “Villa Ladenburg” project covers a broad range of expertise: In addition to experts from numerous German universities, staff members of Stanford University and California State University in the USA are also involved. The final project report presenting the researchers’ assessments of the social future of autonomous driving is to be submitted at the end of 2014 and will be made available to the general public at that time. www.daimler-benz-stiftung.de

Through this “Future Conditioning” the researchers painted a picture of the future, which the test subjects could detail further through their own research. At the click of a mouse, a computer provided them with further news from the future: Newspaper reports about possible events from politics and the economy in the year 2020, interviews with experts, websites of government agencies and organizations, and blogs with experience reports by imaginary contemporaries. Of course, the focus of the information offering was on the topic of “Car Driving in the Future,” which was presented mostly through reports about driverless vehicles. “Overall, we had compiled more than a dozen information points for the test subjects to click on. Autonomous driving was also presented under a critical light through accident reports and comparison tests of different driver assistance systems,” said Project Manager Christin Sütterlin from the Customer Research Center. With this information offering, the test subjects were well prepared for the future and subsequently experienced the decisive phase of the acceptance test, in which they expanded their knowledge of driving in the future through their own practical experiences: The Mercedes-Benz in the driving simulator could well be a reality around the year 2020 – a sedan that drives autonomously on the highway. “The test participants were able to decide for themselves whether they wanted to use the new technology or not,” reported Bernhard Morys, Head of the testing operations in the driving simu-

lator. “Those who wanted to drive autonomously could activate the system while driving in the right lane and were subsequently chauffeured along the highway at 130 km/h. Those who wanted to drive faster had to take over the steering wheel and were able to accelerate up to 160 km/h in the left lane.” Naturally, the majority of the drivers switched to autopilot only a short time later and did not want to drive themselves. That did not surprise the research team. The desire to let go of the steering wheel for a time and to do something else points to a trend that has already been observed by experts for some time. “We can see that young people would rather concentrate on other things besides driving in the car. This applies mainly during long, monotonous trips, in congested traffic or on stretches of road that are traveled on a daily basis,” explained Daimler researcher Marianne Reeb. A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN ATTITUDES But what would drivers occupy themselves with while their car chauffeurs them on the highway? In order to clarify this, the test car in the driving simulator was equipped with an online system, which brought music, email, videos, news or Internet services into the car at the touch of a screen – a comprehensive infotainment program that is not available to drivers at present because they would be overly distracted from the surrounding traffic. “The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. More than half of the test subjects said that they had a good and secure feeling while using the new information and entertainment offering,” reported Christin Sütterlin, thus providing an early glimpse into areas where autonomous driving can provide customer benefits. In the course of the study, the researchers repeatedly asked the test subjects questions and informed themselves about their opinions concerning the new technology. This shed light on a meaningful change in sentiment, which confirms the success of the MIT method of “Information Acceleration.” While the majority of test subjects were rather skeptical at the beginning of the study and evaluated the systems as an “expensive toy” that would probably take away very little of the driver’s responsibility, this attitude had changed significantly after the virtual journey into the future. “The acceptance of autonomous driving improved significantly as the information and actual experience with the system increased,” said Christin Sütterlin summarizing the result. Specifically: At the end of the study, around 50% of test subjects described themselves as fans of autonomous driving and demonstrated a high level of purchasing propensity for this system. Another 31% were strongly interested and would like to use such technology as standard equipment. Thus, the combined acceptance for autonomous driving was over 80%. “We were surprised by this outcome,” said customer research specialist Sütterlin. “It shows that we are on the right track and are developing an important technology for the vehicle of the future.” According to the test subjects, the most important argument in favor of autonomous driving is the great relief to the driver. Nearly 70% of those who took the test emphasized this advantage. The majority also said that the new technology would offer tangible support in stressful situations or on routine trips and would allow the

time spent in the car to be meaningfully used. One participant stated literally that he had traveled “as in an airplane” and had found the time at the end of the drive when he had to steer himself as “much too stressful.” The safety gains were also acknowledged and positively evaluated by over 50% of drivers because, in their opinion, there would be fewer accidents through human error. And, finally, many of the participants also introduced buzz words like ecology and economic efficiency into the discussion. They felt that autonomous driving would be particularly economical and of benefit to the environment.

One test subject felt that driving manually after turning off the autonomous systems was »much too stressful«. But, of course, there were also critical voices. Some participants felt an increased need to be in control during the autonomous drive and were concerned whether the vehicle would do everything correctly. Some saw a risk that a secondary activity would distract and subsequently prevent them from intervening in due time if the system requested them to take over control of the vehicle themselves. Almost one in four test drivers thought that, in this respect, a gradual preliminary warning strategy would be needed, thus confirming a task that Daimler engineers are already working on. The participants’ journey into the future of the automobile took about three hours. Three hours in which their interest, enthusiasm and acceptance for the future system improved continuously from one test phase to the next. But the researchers were still not satisfied. They know from experience that the euphoria frequently subsides once the test subjects return to their daily routine and have thought about their experiences for a while. To take this into consideration, two weeks later, the customer research team contacted the participants in the acceptance study and again queried their opinions on autonomous driving. “While the results indicated a slight decrease in the level of acceptance, the attitude of the participants continued to be largely positive, and the interest in this kind of driver assistance system during the subsequent survey was still significantly above the values we had established at the start of the study,” reported customer researcher Christin Sütterlin, adding: “This establishes that autonomous driving is not a ‘flash-in-the-pan’ innovation.”

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Video You can find this report, along with a video on the state-of-the-art driving simulator from Mercedes-Benz in Sindelfingen, on the Internet at: www.mb-qr.com/0ek

au tono m o us Dr i v ing i n t he t r ack s o f Bert h a Benz

When it sent its S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle along a historic route, Mercedes-Benz became the first motor manufacturer to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomous driving on both interurban and urban routes. The route in question retraced that taken by motoring pioneer Bertha Benz exactly 125 years ago when she boldly set off on the very first long-distance drive. Text and photography Daimler

AUTONOMOUS AUTOMOBILE In the dense traffic of the 21st century, the self-

Keywords

driving S-Class had to master highly complex situations autonomously – with traffic lights,

AUTONOMOUS DRIVING RESEARCH VEHICLE S 500 Intelligent Dr i v e A PIONEERING ACHIEVEMENT BERTHA BENZ DRIVE

n August 1888, Bertha Benz set off on her famous first long-distance automobile journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim. In doing so, the wife of Carl Benz demonstrated the suitability of the Benz Patent Motor Car for everyday use and thus paved the way for the worldwide success of the automobile. Precisely 125 years later, in August 2013, Mercedes-Benz recorded a no less spectacular pioneering achievement following the same route. Developed on the basis of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle

crossings, pedestrians, cyclists and street cars. This trailblazing success was realized not through the use of extremely costly special technology but with the help of pre-series technology.

autonomously covered the approximately 100 Kilometers between Mannheim and Pforzheim, while negotiating dense traffic and complex traffic situations. “This S-Class spells out where we’re headed with ‘Intelligent Drive’ and what tremendous potential there is in currently available technology,” says Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. For the Mercedes-Benz S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle was equipped with production-based sensors for the project.

Based on a further development of the sensor technologies already in use in the new SClass, the developers taught the technology platform to know where it is, what it sees and how to react autonomously. With the aid of its highly automated “Route Pilot”, the vehicle is able to negotiate its own way through traffic. “With our successful test drives, we have demonstrated that highly automated driving is possible without the luxury of specially closed-off sections of road and straightforward traffic situations,” says Thomas Weber, member of the Board of Management at

Processing power The onboard systems use a combination of environment recognition data and the calculated route, which is determined on the basis of navigation and topographical data, in order to compute all the vehicle’s autonomous maneuvers. The experts speak of a “tube” through which the vehicle travels.

Daimler with responsibility for Group Research and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “In line with the goal of the project, we have gained important insights into the direction in which we need to further develop our current systems in order to enable autonomous driving not just on expressways, but also in other traffic scenarios. Even we ourselves were quite surprised at just how far we have got using our present-day sensor technology. But now we also know how much time and effort is needed to teach the

vehicle how to react correctly in a host of traffic situations – because every part of the route was different,” adds Weber. This experience will now be incorporated into the engineering of future vehicle generations to be equipped with such innovative, further-developed functions. Thomas Weber stresses: “With the new S-Class, we are the first to drive autonomously during traffic jams. We also want to be the first to provide other autonomous functions in series production vehicles. We are expecting to reach this goal within this decade.” Partially auto-

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mated driving is already available to drivers of new Mercedes-Benz E- and S-Class models: the new DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist and Stop&Go Pilot is capable of steering the vehicle largely autonomously through traffic jams. This system thus forms the core of “Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive”, the intelligent networking of all safety and comfort systems on the way to accident-free and, ultimately, autonomous driving. The now successfully conducted autonomous test drives along the Bertha Benz route allowed the Daimler researchers to gather

300 GIGABYTES PER HOUR The

autonomous research vehicle S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE records the entire sensory data collected by the vehicle, which flows in at a rate of 300 gigabytes per hour from the images of the stereo camera alone. On this basis, the decisions made by the vehicle can be followed up by the Daimler research scientists.

important information on the challenges that remain to be addressed on the way to highly and fully automated driving and what, for example, still needs to be done to enable a car to navigate safely in highly complex situations. Unnoticed by the public, yet authorized by appropriate official exemptions and certificates, testing of the “Route Pilot” on the Bertha Benz route began in early 2012 with a total of three technology platforms based on the Mercedes-Benz E- and S-Class, which are equipped with all available active and passive safety systems. PRE-SERIES SENSOR TECHNOLOGY These test vehicles employed only those sensor technologies that are already today used in similar form in Mercedes-Benz standardproduction vehicles. This is because those technologies are already affordable and suitable for everyday use, which facilitates a possible transfer to subsequent standardproduction models. However, improvements were made to the number and arrangement of the sensors in order to achieve comprehensive coverage of the vehicle’s surroundings in every direction, and to obtain additional information on the area around the vehicle. Examples of specific technical modifications compared with the standard-production version of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class are the enhancement of the base width (distance between the eyes) of the stereo camera to allow more distant objects to be detected not only by the radar system, but also by the camera, and a new color camera for the monitoring of traffic lights. Based on these sensor data and determination of the vehicle’s own position with reference to information from a digital map,

an autonomously driving vehicle analyzes the available free area for driving and plans its own route. The required algorithms were developed by the Mercedes-Benz research team in collaboration with the Institute for Measuring and Control Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). For the trip along the Bertha Benz route, Mercedes-Benz collaborated with KIT and HERE, a division of Nokia specialized in the production of digital maps and location-specific services, to produce a 3D digital map of the route that was specifically adapted to the requirements of an autonomous vehicle. In addition to the road layout, this map – which must meet special requirements with regard to accuracy – includes information on the number and direction of traffic lanes and traffic signs as well as the positions of traffic lights. Digital maps of this kind are a key prerequisite for autonomous driving. The autonomously driving S-Class was monitored during the tests by specially trained safety drivers who, whenever the system made an incorrect decision, were able to intervene immediately and take over control of the vehicle. As real traffic is unpredictable – which means that no driving situation is exactly the same as an earlier one – a record was made each time it became necessary for the safety driver to take over control of the vehicle. This information was then evaluated by the development team, thus making it possible to extend the vehicle’s repertoire of maneuvers. This advances the development of the technology platform, enabling it to cope with more and more traffic situations. The test drives deliver important information for further development of the technology and the product. For Daimler, the success of the autonomous road tests lies above all in having identified those areas on which

the development team needs to concentrate in the future. “We now know where we can make further improvements and refinements to the vehicle’s repertoire of programmed maneuvers, for example how to autonomously negotiate a roundabout,” reports Ralf Guido Herrtwich, Head of Driving Assistance and Chassis Systems in Group Research and Advanced Engineering at Daimler, a role in which he initiated the autonomous driving project. A further challenge is to correctly locate the vehicle on the road, in order to determine, for example, precisely where a vehicle should stop at a junction while at the same time having a view of cross-traffic. A particular challenge for autonomous vehicles is the way in which they communicate and interact with other road users. Coming to an agreement with an oncoming vehicle on who should proceed first around an obstruction is something that requires a very great deal of situational analysis. “Where a human driver might boldly move forward into a gap, our autonomous vehicle tends to adopt a more cautious approach,” says Herrtwich. “This sometimes results in comical situations, such as when, having stopped at a zebra crossing, the vehicle gets waved through by the pedestrian – yet our car stoically continues to wait, because we failed to anticipate such politeness when we programmed the system.”

HYPERLINK Video The video on the test drive along the route taken by Bertha Benz is provided for you on the Internet at: www.mb-qr.com/0dv

HISTORIC ROUTE ON THE WAY INTO THE FUTURE

Weinheim

PIONEERSâ&#x20AC;&#x192; In August 1888, Bertha Benz

started off on the first long-distance automotive drive in history in the Patent Motor Car of her husband Carl Benz, thus paving the way for the worldwide success of the automobile. The route, which ran southward from Mannheim to Pforzheim

Mannheim

for around 100 km, was used by Mercedes-Benz developers as the real test track for another pioneering achievement in mobility exactly 125 years later: proof of the suitability of autonomous drive systems for everyday use in the highly complex environment of overland and urban traffic.

Heidelberg

S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE (2013) Bertha Benz (1888)

Rhine

Wiesloch

Bruchsal

Karlsruhe Ettlingen Rastatt

Pforzheim

»A N ew Ch a p t er i n Sa f e t y T ech nol ogy.«

Impulses How will self-driving vehicles Rodolfo Schöneburg, Head of Safety, Operating Stability and Corrosion Protection at Mercedes-Benz Cars, on passive safety and autonomous driving.

Text Rüdiger ABELE Photography Kurt HENSELER

Evolution Mr. Schöneburg, in the years to come, vehicles will increasingly enable autonomous driving to varying degrees. Are we entering a new age in safety technology? It is not a new age, but most certainly a new chapter in safety technology. We believe that autonomous driving has ushered in an evolution of the various active and passive safety systems. Development itself is never-ending. Take PRE-SAFE®, for example, which Mercedes-Benz introduced about ten years ago in order to interface active and passive safety systems. PRESAFE® uses the sensors of active safety systems such as the Electronic Stability Program (ESP®) and Brake Assist to activate passive safety systems. This gives occupants a greater degree of protection in an impending accident. The system uses active safety features to improve passive safety in critical situations. A much-improved version of PRE-SAFE® is now incorporated into almost every Mercedes-Benz series vehicle. 36

inspire new or improved safety systems? Developments in the field of safety are always based on the latest state of technology. We will use the sensors of autonomous drive systems to further optimize occupant protection, for example by improving the way restraint systems such as airbags or pyrotechnic belt tensioners are triggered. This will also give rise to entirely new systems. We are refining our PRE-SAFE® strategy with systems we first revealed in the ESF 2009 experimental safety vehicle. One product is the PRESAFE® Impulse system found in the new S-Class. In the initial moments of a crash, the safety belt moves the driver and front passenger away from the direction of the collision even before the forward displacement of occupants caused by the impact. This is tantamount to isolating the occupants from the vehicle’s deceleration during the accident. This significantly reduces the risk and severity of injury in the event of a head-on collision. The concept behind this system can be applied to any kind of accident, and as a next step could result in the simplification of side bags, doing without them completely or even switching to a completely different system. This could possibly yield reductions in weight and costs.

Transformation Are there any safety features of present-day vehicles that will become redundant? No current safety feature of today’s cars will become redundant in the foreseeable future. After all, our roads will not be filled with nothing but self-driving cars overnight. We will have to live with a very long transitional period in which self-driving vehicles and conventional vehicles will share the roads. I expect that conventional vehicles will even be around forever, for example motorbikes or classic cars. There are also situations in which drivers of self-driving vehicles will want to deactivate

some of the systems and drive themselves. Autonomous driving will therefore not reduce the number of safety features in a car, but I think that safety functions will arise that will continue to improve the protection of occupants.

SCenariOS Can you already identify accident situations in which autonomous driving would be advantageous? Initially, autonomous driving will be possible on well-built roads such as highways, where it is also likely to reduce the number of accidents. This is because driving in one direction without any traffic lights is literally a very predictable situation from the perspective of the technical systems, in which the technology can then also help prevent accidents. However, it will still be some time before self-driving cars are able to cope with ambiguous situations such as driving in cities, or at crossings. It is important to always consider the exact circumstances of an accident. Take the example of a self-driving car traveling on a road with right of way. If a conventional car suddenly turns out of a side road ahead, an accident can hardly be avoided. It could probably be prevented if the scenario were reversed, since the autonomous driving systems would prevent the vehicle from turning into the road without right of way.

Relation Why are highways already considered as safe roads? There are two main reasons. One is that all cars are driving in the same direction. The other is that they are traveling at more or less the same speed, and their velocities relative to each other are therefore low. The severity of an accident is proportional to the difference in the driving speed. If two vehicles are approaching each other on a country road and each is traveling at 60 mph, their speed relative to each other is 120 mph. In this case, all it takes is a small stone

and a twitch of the steering wheel to produce a very serious accident.

Information What other systems can you resort to in self-driving vehicles? The radar systems that are used to scan the vehicle’s surroundings, for example, are exceptionally well-suited to controlling safety systems. One next step will be Car-to-X – the exchange of information between a vehicle and its surroundings and other vehicles. This could, for example, provide us with information about the other vehicle in an impending collision, such as: What kind of vehicle is it? How heavy is it? These details allow the safety systems to be ideally calibrated to protect the vehicle’s occupants. We refer to this as vehicle classification. SEnsors How has sensor technology developed over the years? Sensor technology is an “enabler” for us, it makes things possible. Sensors feel, see, and communicate. The development of sensor technology initially started with “feeling” sensors, which measured things like acceleration, forces and turn rates in order to configure safety systems accordingly. Next came the “seeing” radar and camera sensors that scan the surroundings, which improve the systems because they can react much earlier, for example to activate braking or reversibly tighten seat belts. The next step of communication via Car-to-X will enable even more significant improvements.

words: Machines must first become as good at error prevention as people, and scientists and engineers still have to work on this for a while.

Senses What are other strengths of

curriculum vitae Rodolfo Schöneburg, born 1959 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela Diploma at Technical University Berlin in Aeronautics and Business Administration Ph.D. at Technical University Berlin (topic: Computer-aided Crash Simulations with Simplified Structural Models) Head of Safety, Operating Stability and Corrosion Protection at Mercedes-Benz Cars since 1999 Winner of the “Paul Pietsch Award” for the innovative anticipatory occupant protection system PRE-SAFE® and the “Pathfinder Award” by the U.S. “Automotive Safety Council”, the American safety association

Reaction Does technology work better and more reliably than people? We can’t make such a generalization. People themselves prevent many accidents by driving defensively and responding appropriately in critical situations. However, when accidents do occur, human error is involved in 85 percent of cases. In these situations, technology can prevent or reduce the severity of accidents. In other TECHNICITY.DAIMLER.COM

technology and people? It is safe to say that a vehicle’s systems and sensors allow it to respond faster and more precisely than people in many situations, and the vehicle does not get tired. It operates at full capacity around the clock – weather permitting, because just like people, some sensors rely on good visibility. However, in one area people clearly have the upper hand: When driving, they have a sixth sense for critical situations that technology cannot detect. Consider a situation where you are driving in the left lane of the highway, and you see a car sandwiched into a long line of trucks in the right lane. Your sixth sense and your experience as a driver help you determine what the driver of the car will do, and whether there are any signs that the driver could move out of the lane in order to overtake. Is the driver looking in the rear-view mirror? Is the vehicle already edging toward the left-hand lane? We use our sixth sense to look for subtle signs that sensor technology will not be able to detect for the foreseeable future. The technology only looks at the lane you yourself are in. People, on the other hand, assess the situation as a whole. But, I do think that technology is constantly improving in this respect, and could even have a sixth sense of its own someday.

Four out of five Chinese owners of an E- or S-Class prefer to sit in the rear.

It is not usual to be driven by a chauffeur in Europe, but rather to take the wheel oneself.

Top ogr a ph y of com fort

The expectations for the comfort zones of the vehicle interior differ greatly from country to country. That is why Daimlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interior experts are examining different world regions in conjunction with their culture and specific wishes.

Text Andreas KunkeL Photography Daimler

Keywords COMFORT INTER IOR DESIGN NEW R EAR SEAT CONCEPTS MOBILITY CULTURE W ELLBEING

he first few seconds count when it comes to “love at first sight”. With people just as with premium automobiles. The appearance alone makes the heart beat faster. And on closer inspection, more and more details awaken our interest. At the very latest, this is what decides whether a closer relationship will come about. “It is the exterior that ultimately decides whether I will fall in love with a car,” says the Head of Mercedes-Benz Design, Gorden Wagener. But whether this first impression develops into a genuine and lasting relationship above all depends on the interior. This is where a whole raft of attributes are the deciding factors: The look and feel of the materials, intuitive understanding of the controls, a sense of wellbeing, the precision with which all the details are finished, the consistency of the design, the variety of features provided or a sense of solidity are just a few examples. “All the human senses are engaged all the time when we perceive an interior,” says Götz Renner, head of the Customer Research Center (CRC) at Mercedes-Benz: “The sense of smell determines whether I am attracted to something – the ears whether I feel welcome – and the tactile sense tells me ‘I want to touch this surface again and again’.”

the senses are appealed to as far as possible, so that the general feeling of wellbeing in the vehicle interior is fully perceived and savored. The very atmosphere and feel of carefully selected leather, wood or fabric materials, as well as their finish, leave a lasting and positive impression with the occupants. Probably the most elegant examples of this are the new long-wheelbase version of the E-Class**, which was recently presented at the Auto China show, and the latest generation of the S-Class. In the E-Class, uncommon materials and cleverly subdivided surfaces with precise joints and sharp radii accentuate the overall impression of high quality in the generous interior. The two-part trim element extending across the entire width of the dashboard is available in either the Wood or Ash Tree Black design. In the S-Class too, a perfectly coordinated material and color concept underlines the serenity of the interior. There is generous use of wood trim, particularly on the dashboard and center console. As particularly high-quality features, the metalized control switches are surfaced in pearl-effect lacquer in three color tones to match the interior. FOCUSED WORK AND UNDISTURBED REST

THE VEHICLE BECOMES THE “THIRD PLACE” Accordingly the interior design of a Mercedes-Benz has always set the style for generations of cars. Another benchmark with respect to functionality, wellbeing and design will be set by the interior of the new S-Class*, for example. With its clear architecture it is already the epitome of a classic, serene and at the same time extremely modern sedan. The luxurious ambience in the interior is enhanced even further by the flowing sensuous elegance of the design lines. The horizontally arranged features and lines create an atmosphere of visual breadth and quiet calm. The interior and spatial concepts of Mercedes-Benz not only take their inspiration from enjoyable travel in an exclusive atmosphere, however – whether or not the owner drives himself or has a chauffeur. The engineers and designers also have use of the vehicle as a “third place” in mind: “Your first living place is your home, the second your professional environment, for example your workplace, and the car is the third,” Renner explains. “The car as a living space” is becoming a particularly decisive factor for Mercedes-Benz customers, because they often have a particularly demanding working environment with numerous meetings and negotiations. And owing to urbanization, they spend more and more time in the car because of high traffic density. “Anybody spending a great deal of time in a premium car has very high ‘quality of time’ expectations,” says Renner. “This is why comfort is a key value for Mercedes-Benz in addition to safety.” In the final analysis, however, a comprehensive sensual experience of a Mercedes-Benz interior, together with the exclusivity it represents, can only be obtained if all

The engineers have also raised the bar when it comes to air conditioning: Quite apart from numerous comfort-enhancing features, the system’s performance, air quality, control precision, noise level and efficiency set an example to the world. Improved filtering of the incoming fresh air is available when needed, as are special modules to improve thermal comfort, e.g. luxury seat heating or heated armrests. Moreover, the THERMOTRONIC automatic climate control system has two additional zones to improve climatic comfort in the rear. Special highlights of the “feel-good service” in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class also include seat ventilation and the ENERGIZING massage function on the hot-stone principle. These allow pleasant and effective

The special way to achieve a high-class interior For many years Mercedes-Benz has taken its own, special approach when developing an interior. This is no longer a matter of subsequently upgrading a functional interior as in the past. Instead the so-called “Appreciation Model” is used to achieve the highest possible perceived quality. In this process the designers first realize their creative ideals, then search for ways in which these ideas can be brought to series production maturity. This creates a more internally consistent and higher-quality result whose design and character set its imprint on the industry as a whole.

* Fuel consumption, combined cycle: 10.3-5.5 l/100 km, CO2 emissions, combined: 242-146 g/km, energy efficiency class: F-A ** Fuel consumption: 10.3-4.1 l/100 km (NEDC combined), CO2 emissions, combined: 242-107 g/km, energy efficiency class: F-A+ The figures are provided in accordance with the German PKW-EnVKV and apply only to the German market. They do not concern an individual vehicle and are not part of the offer; they are provided solely for the purposes of comparison between different types of vehicles.

It is a tradition in China to take business contacts for a drive in the rear and conduct negotiations there.

European owners of an E- or S-Class are on average around 20 years older than Chinese owners.

milestones in the Interior of the S-class

1950s The “Ponton” bodyshell provided considerably more spatial comfort. A heater and fan were standard equipment, and were for the first time separately adjustable for the driver and front passenger.

1990s First use of noise/thermal insulation glass and automatic climate control with CO/NOX sensors and an activated charcoal filter from the 140 series onward.

While Europeans tend to prefer firmer leather upholstery on the seats ...

2000s Multi-zone automatic climate control regulated for each seat according to the sun’s position, ventilated luxury seats with dynamic multicontour backrest from the 220 series onward.

From 2005 New control concept using a COMAND controller on the transmission tunnel, dynamic multicontour seats with massage function and SPLITVIEW monitor from the 221 series onward. Cupholder with temperature control function for cooling or heating drinks.

stimulation of the spinal area using heat and various massage techniques. There are also programs designed to mobilize the abdominal and back muscles. The seat developers gave their particular attention to the rear seats. There is a choice of five different rear seat variants including an Executive seat with a backrest inclination of up to 43.5 degrees, allowing concentrated working or undisturbed relaxation on board. Apart from feeling, it is the visual sense that above all determines the impression of the interior in a way that is typical of Mercedes-Benz. Especially the control and display concept, and the elegant information center featuring two high-resolution TFT color displays with a screen diagonal of 30.7 cm (12.3 inches) integrated into the interior of the new S-Class, are centrally positioned “eye-catchers” not only for technical buffs: The left-hand screen takes on the functions of the previous instrument cluster, displaying all the information that is relevant to the driver. The right-hand screen is for the convenient control of infotainment and comfort functions. The large screens provide new scope with respect to the depiction and animation of display content as enhanced environmental input. At the same time the features, attachment and ambience backlighting of the displays are so cleverly conceived that the entire display unit appears to be free-floating in space. Serenity, elegance and wellbeing are also enhanced by innovative lighting systems in the form of a continuous light band and elegant lighting units with stylish details in the headlining. OUTSTANDING COMFORT ALSO IN THE REAR

... customers in the USA generally like to sink into the leather a little.

To ensure that passengers in the rear can likewise enjoy maximum comfort, the design and exclusivity of the door panels, for example, and all controls are every bit the equal of those in the front. In addition, a special Business center console combines private space with a comfortable working area featuring an integrated telephone keypad, additional stowage compartments and a fold-away table. Mercedes-Benz also offers special onboard sound systems for a high-quality listening experience. These ensure that musical enjoyment on any seat is fully equal to that in a concert hall. The new S-Class is also the first sedan to be equipped with the unique Frontbass system. Its special feature is this: The space within the cross and side members of the bodyshell is used as a resonance chamber for the bass speakers or woofers. The fourth dimension of sensual impression, the pleasure of smelling fine fragrances, is another interior innovation by Mercedes-Benz. The renowned perfumier Marc vom Ende has developed specific interior fragrances for the new S-Class. “When I apply a body fragrance I am expressing my personality and the mood I am currently in,” says the creative artist, who heads a perfumery school in the Netherlands. The interior fragrance in the S-Class has a very similar role: Here too, the character of the person driving the car should be reflected and transported into the atmosphere of the interior. “It was fundamentally important to me that the fragrances reflect certain personalities and characters,” says vom Ende. “I did not want bland fragrances that offend nobody, but rather distinctive fragrances that express a particular personality – in keeping with the ideals of Mercedes-Benz.” However, the special features of the Mercedes-Benz interior not only include the sensual experience, but also the generous allocation of space and systematic upgrading of the rear passenger area. „Whereas owners of a Mercedes-Benz in Europe and North America are often behind the wheel themselves, E-Class and S-Class models in Asia are very frequently used as chauffeur-driven cars,“ says Bernd Eckstein, the Daimler product manager responsible for Components, Telematics and Modules. The tradition there is to take business contacts along for TECHNICITY.DAIMLER.COM

a drive in order to negotiate. In addition Asian Mercedes-Benz owners are very family-oriented, and use the rear to travel in comfort with parents, children or friends. “Particularly in the Asian markets, we therefore want to offer an exclusive area in the rear of the car - to ensure that also in the rear, Mercedes-Benz customers are seated in the ‘first row’,” says Eckstein. There is a long list of criteria that enhance comfort and safety in the rear: These include the seats, rear air conditioning, the controls, the design and the infotainment features. The long-wheelbase version of the E-Class offers 14 centimeters more legroom, for example. It also has a sharper focus on design, with a refined and exclusive interior atmosphere as well as enhanced comfort and interior appointments, underlining the luxurious and prestigious ambience in the rear. The growing importance of the rear section is also reflected in the fact that for the first time in its history, the development focus for the new S-Class was on the long-wheelbase sedan – the version with a normal wheelbase was derived from this. The logical consequence is a large number of new features that specifically enhance comfort and safety in the rear section of the interior. Development of the interior using the latest technical possibilities and exclusive designs has by no means reached its limits, however. Mercedes-Benz shows what is possible in its research vehicles, and tests the day-to-day suitability and attractiveness of further interior innovations. In the Mercedes-Benz F 700, for example, the rear door on the right is hinged at the rear. This makes for easier entry to the completely new REVERSE seat. This is the centerpiece of a new seating concept that does away with the previous, fixed allocation of seating space in a sedan and instead allows individual seating and resting positions – both in and against the direction of travel. The F 800 Style research vehicle not only has pivoting sliding doors in the rear for an extraordinarily high level of entry convenience. It also points the way with its futuristic control and display concept: The Cam-Touch-Pad HMI is a control panel consisting of a touchpad in the center console and a camera which records video images of the user’s hand on the touchpad. In the live image the hand is shown transparently in the central display above the center console: Users see the contours of their fingers moving across the image, but nothing is obscured. The menu functions can be controlled by light pressure on the touchpad. Thanks to this easy and intuitive operation, the driver is less distracted from the traffic situation. The direction that further developments in technology, comfort and design will take depends on the ideas of the creative people at Mercedes-Benz, as well as on the expectations of customers and continued development of the car as a living space. Nonetheless, the interior and therefore the associated ideals in terms of safety, comfort and perceived quality will always remain one thing: exclusive and typically Mercedes-Benz.

HYPERLINK Photo gallery This article and a photo gallery showing the interiors of the new Mercedes-Benz S- and E-Class vehicles are provided for you on the Internet at: www.mb-qr.com/0c6

»Interior preferences vary greatly from country to country.« Bernd Eckstein is the Daimler product manager responsible for Components, Telematics and Modules. Marcus Neumann is the product manager for all interior modules at Daimler.

Basics What is more important, the exterior or interior of a car? Eckstein Both are fundamentally important. The first contact with a vehicle is of course made via the exterior. But when we get to fundamental questions, i.e. “Is this a car that suits me?”, the interior becomes the deciding factor. Neumann Psychologists would express it like this: With the exterior I am trying to express something, while in the interior it is my intrinsic motivation that counts, i.e. the question how I wish to express myself to myself. This is why a feeling of wellbeing is also a decisive factor in the interior.

Aims What is the particular challenge in the further development of the interior? Eckstein Ensuring that different criteria interact well. For example: How do the colors and materials interact when I look at or touch the vehicle? Naturally the operation and control of the vehicle is just as elementary. Here too, the overall package must be right: It must not overload the user, but still offer every convenience.

And of course the technology must blend harmoniously into the interior. On the one hand the aim is therefore to give expression to the values inherent to the vehicle, and to demonstrate by the appearance, feel and operating convenience how exclusively we cater to the needs of our customers. In addition we need to give owners of a Mercedes-Benz options for configuring an individual interior that meets their personal preferences. Neumann Though as always, we need to accomplish the balancing act between the high expectations our customers quite rightly have, and the development and production costs. The functionality and the materials chosen must be compatible. Moreover, the design, materials and technology must fit into the overall impression, i.e. emphasize the style of the vehicle and its owner.

Culture What role does the cultural background of the customer play? Neumann Interior preferences vary greatly from country to country. We pay very particular attention to these different cultural attitudes and expectations. For example, an E- or S-Class sedan is often used differently in Germany than in China. While more than half of owners in China prefer to sit in the rear and be driven, customers in Europe usually prefer to drive themselves. Moreover, the average age of owners in China is around 20 years lower than in Europe. The expectations are often correspondingly different. Two further examples: Cars with a longer wheelbase are often preferred in Asia or North America, as they additionally emphasize the status of their owners. And while Europeans tend to prefer firmer leather upholstery on the seats, customers in the USA generally like to sink into the leather upholstery a little.

interviewees Bernd Eckstein (left), born in 1968 Daimler product manager responsible for Components, Telematics and Modules Marcus Neumann (right), born in 1973 Daimler product manager for all interior modules

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INTERactioN What will the interior of a Mercedes-Benz look like in ten or twenty years’ time? Eckstein There will be an enormous increase in ways to interact with the vehicle, as control and display features known collectively as the “Human Machine Interface” improve in performance. In the future we will therefore not necessarily be talking about the classic division between the instrument cluster and the radio display or the navigation system for instance, as the boundaries between control and display systems become blurred. In addition, technical advances relating to systems such as mobile radio communications and the mobile internet will extend the operating possibilities of vehicles. The vehicle will also increasingly become the “third place”. Apart from mobility, the vehicle will also need to meet the requirements for working on the move or use during rest periods. We have identified these developments, and we take these additional wishes of our customers into account when designing the interior. Above all this means that Mercedes-Benz must set new points of emphasis when designing the rear.

V eh icl es for Big Gu ys The Obesity Suit is a unique development tool for Daimler engineers that allows commercial vehicles to be adapted for large drivers at both the micro and macro level.

Text Rüdiger Abele

Photography Stefan HOHLOCH

Keywords CUSTOMER RESEARCH PASSENGER SIMUL ATION HEALTH ERGONOMICS

simple number that represents a very important dividing line: 30. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to measure a person’s weight in relation to body size. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), a BMI of thirty and over in adults indicates obesity. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is classified as overweight, while a figure between 18.5 and 25 is described as normal. The WHO advises that obesity can have a severe impact on general health; most importantly, it puts strain on bones and joints, triggers cardiovascular diseases and can lead to lipid metabolic disorders and diabetes. However, obesity is not exclusively a health concern. It also has economic repercussions. There’s no question that connecting the two aspects is a tricky matter. Yet a haulage company, for instance, must always

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consider them interconnected: 86 percent of the estimated 3.2 million truck drivers in the USA are overweight or obese, according to a 2007 study published by the Journal of the American Dietetic Society. Other studies have found that the condition leads to absence through illness and that it also increases accident rates. The situation in Europe is slightly better, although even there truck drivers are carrying too much weight. They perhaps don’t always see it as a major issue. To some, the extra pounds almost seem to be “part of the job” and you often hear it said that “a real trucker has a belly on him”. The resultant health problems are either ignored or simply accepted. The fact of the matter is that the very nature of a truck driver’s job can lead to excess weight or obesity. Long periods sitting, bad eating habits, inconvenient meal times

A New Perception Within minutes the Obesity Suit transforms the ergonomics engineer and helps him better understand the living situation of corpulent people. The pounds not only add weight but are also distributed on the body in a targeted manner yielding a realistically integrated body contour.

and scarce opportunity to exercise, combined with a daily routine that is subject to commercial pressures – for some, a spiral of constant weight gain can hardly be avoided. In light of these various factors, Daimler has developed the Obesity Suit, a scientific tool designed to increase engineers’ understanding and to enable them to put themselves in the position of overweight and obese drivers. “With the suit’s help, vehicle features can be designed more favourably for this customer category,” explains Richard Sauerbier, an engineer at Daimler’s Interiors and Ergonomics unit in Sindelfingen. “Features like simpler cab entry, conveniently located handles and controls positioned within easy reach.” The Obesity Suit was initially developed primarily for Daimler’s North American subsidiary Freightliner, who wanted a tool to improve the design of heavy and light goods vehicles, as around 60 percent of Freightliner drivers in the USA are obese. AN Innovative Development tool “Essentially, the engineers can use the Obesity Suit to render themselves temporarily obese,” Sauerbier says. “That way they can, to some extent at least, replicate the difficulties experienced by the target group in terms of the space they need, their balance, mobility and physical exertion.”

The results are eye-opening. Even a slender man of 60 kilograms registers an extra 25 kilos on the scales as soon as he puts on the Obesity Suit. Naturally, those who are genuinely obese carry significantly more weight around with them in absolute terms, but what counts is the relative excess weight as experienced by the individual, and that is certainly sufficient to produce an impressive effect. Not only does the extra weight put a strain on the body but it also drastically changes the wearer’s physical proportions and, therefore, their mobility. Tying up your shoelaces? Can’t be done, a colleague has to help. Lifting a crate of bottles? However you used to do it, you now have to re-think your lifting technique. Climbing into the driver’s cab? It is possible, though you’re thankful for any well-placed handles as you heave your excess weight up the steps using every ounce of muscle strength and squeeze into the seat behind the wheel before finally catching your breath. You can really feel what hard work it is. Your heart beats faster too and your sweat glands go into overdrive. This shows just how important the Obesity Suit is. Using comparatively simple methods, the engineers and decision-makers can gain an understanding at first hand of the restrictions faced by very heavy drivers. “A light goes on in the wearer’s head,” says Sauerbier, an ergonomics researcher, “and

he realises that his usual strategies won’t work any more and he has to rethink. That’s exactly the effect we’re aiming for: Old ways of thinking no longer work and have to be adapted to the way an obese person sees the world.” So a vehicle can be developed that, in terms of certain important details at least, addresses the problem. Developing the Obesity Suit was no mean feat, according to Sauerbier. The ergonomic engineers at the CRC very soon established that it was not simply a matter of putting extra pounds on the test subject. In order to produce an altogether more realistic sensation of the weight and recreate authentic mobility restrictions, the weight needed to be correctly distributed and to sit tightly against the body without any slippage. It was therefore decided to spread the weight perfectly across a purpose-designed garment that is relatively easy to put on and sufficiently comfortable. No such garment is available to buy, so it was developed in-house. A CoProduction with cinematic Make-up artists The result is a two-piece suit developed with the help and guidance of cinematic makeup artists from Bavaria Film in Munich. The dungarees contain one portion of the weight including the stomach, and the jacket the other. Together they reproduce the desired

tRUCKER ROUTINE Entering the truck with the Obesity Suit shows whether the distance between the steps should be modified or additional handholds should be positioned. The same applies at the steering wheel: Are the seat and the operating controls sufficiently adjustable, and are all switches accessible?

load distribution so as to create a realistic overall body shape. There are two variants of the suit. A 25 kilogram version imitates an obese man, while a 17 kilogram suit mimics an overweight woman, with the weight distributed slightly differently to simulate the physical feeling as authentically as possible. Both variants include specially developed expandable areas, and extra components, such as a collar, are available to reduce or increase the effect of specific mobility restrictions. Specially developed silicone foam padding on the inside of the suit ensures the physiologically correct bodily distribution of the weight. This is layered with additional padding fibers to give the suit its shape and then the entire garment is covered with an outer fabric. The developers already knew the basic physical proportions for both suits thanks to Daimler’s ‘Ramsis family’: six men, three women and three children who exist only in computer form. The name Ramsis is from a German acronym meaning ‘computer-aided anthropometric-mathematical system for passenger simulation’. This diverse family provides computer-aided vehicle design teams with a representation of virtually the entire global population. Freightliner has been using the suit since the end of 2011. One of the first projects saw the commercial vehicle company’s entire management team try out all their

own vehicles while wearing the Obesity Suit. This made them empathize with the challenges the majority of their customers face. Not only does the suit highlight for the engineers the problems that obese drivers encounter, but it also provides a general insight into the problems faced by people with severely restricted mobility, for example. It is therefore only natural that the suit, known in the design engineer profession as a design and evaluation tool, has not only been used for some time by colleagues in Europe for vehicle development, but is also coming into use in van and passenger car design. It is a unique piece of equipment, used only by Daimler. PUTTING HABITS INTO QUESTION It was well worth the time and effort. “The Obesity Suit shows developers and managers how any movement or action feels for an obese male truck driver, for instance,” says Sauerbier. “How he gets in and out, for example, how easily he can couple or uncouple the trailer, and whether he’s capable of changing a wheel.” When Sauerbier tried out the suit himself, he soon realized why so many larger people prefer to sit down: Every movement is simply a huge struggle and so they avoid any seemingly unnecessary physical tasks.

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Designing comfortable vehicle features for people with weight-related restricted mobility is only one half of the battle. The other challenge is how to spur these people, particularly truck drivers, to change their lifestyle without having to change jobs. In the USA there are several initiatives designed to show truck drivers how they can improve their nutrition and keep moving. Daimler has developed the TopFit-Truck, the latest model of which includes some exercise facilities and a much higher overall level of comfort in the driver’s cab. All this has a purpose: There have already been instances of truckers keeping their jobs because they’ve changed their habits. They got healthier in the process too. Sauerbier says there is one further effect of the Obesity Suit that cannot be underestimated. “Many of the improvements we’ve made for the target group of obese drivers can also be applied for drivers of normal weight.”

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TECHNICITY appears twice a year in German and English editions. Number 2, Year 4, 2013 ISSN: 2190-0523

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ProjeCtor

â&#x20AC;&#x192; Urban Micro E-Mobilityâ&#x20AC;&#x192; Locally emission-free, quiet and space-saving: Electromobility with small vehicles on a short route will be a pivotal trend in coming years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; either with the smart fortwo electric drive or the smart ebike. Locally emission-free and quiet vehicles can improve the quality of life by facilitating the mobile and at the same time social use of spaces and by bringing a new quality to the coexistence between man and mobility in a shared environment. technicity.daimler.com/en /micro-e-mobility

Urban Micro E-Mobility Small electric vehicles for short distances will be a central component of the mobility of tomorrow. technicity.daimler.com/en /micro-e-mobility

A Daimler publication ÂŠ Stuttgart 2013