Smart technologies, smarter cars
European funding is paving the way for the next generation of intelligent software that will be installed in everyday vehicles, increasing vehicle safety and saving lives. EuroFOT has received EUR 13.9 million in funding under FP7 and has brought together the brightest minds in the automotive industry and put them on the road to developing innovative safety systems. A quiet revolution is currently underway in Europe involving most of the leading automobile manufacturers with production facilities based in the EU. United under the auspices of the euroFOT project, 28 partners have joined their efforts. These include some of the largest European automobile producers as well as their suppliers of technology and research institutes. The central objective of euroFOT is to coordinate and validate the most up-to-date Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) utilising the latest testing methodology. Project coordinators claim that the systems developed as part of the project have 'the potential to improve the quality of European road traffic'. The Intelligent Car Initiative, i2010, has acknowledged a number of challenges facing European transport systems. These include road safety, energy efficiency, and traffic congestion. All of these issues can be countered with the latest in computer technologies, called advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Some of these systems however have yet to be installed as standard features. Part of the reason for this delay on the side of manufacturers is concern over end-user acceptance and the fact that actual real-world driving conditions are difficult to assess. In the upcoming months euroFOT plans to analyse the efficiency of various ADAS in real world conditions with normal drivers. This will be conducted over a period of time that enables the collection and processing of data in what it believes to be the most fitting way statistically. The project will recruit and train a number of end-user drivers to help them test and assess their systems. Data loggers will be installed into their vehicles and data can then be gathered as they drive under real-life driving conditions. The project will then analyse both objective and subjective data which they hope will reveal both the behaviour of the driver and vehicular dynamics. This data will then serve as a base line for what is to be considered as normal driving conditions on European roads. Based on this, the overall effectiveness of Intelligent Vehicle Systems can be assessed. In total, 8 vehicle systems will be tested in over 1 500 vehicles representing 11 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). Some of the state-of-the-art systems to be tested include Forward Collision Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot Information System and Lane Departure Warning systems. It is hoped by all manufacturers that these systems will one day become commonplace and be standard features in all cars.