Safe driving in city traffic

In future, cars with anticipatory driver assistance systems will help drivers to navigate their way through dense urban traffic without stress and above all safely. A taste of the solutions capable of transforming this vision into reality will be presented on May 14 by the 31 partners collaborating in the UR:BAN research initiative. The project, which runs to mid-2016, aims to develop new driver assistance systems and solutions for safe and efficient traffic management.

The UR:BAN collaborative research project focuses on cognitive assistance, networked traffic systems, and human factors in traffic. 31 partners – from the automotive sector and its suppliers, electronics and software companies, universities and research institutes – are developing smart, cooperative driver assistance and traffic management systems specifically tailored to the needs of the urban environment. The aim is to define a set of technical specifications for new vehicles that will permit the design of safer and more efficient mobility solutions.

Ideally, a driver assistance system enhances the driver's ability to handle critical situations and anticipate the dangers typically encountered on the road. A modern system specifically adapted to the urban environment relieves the driver through its optimized human-machine interaction, which allows the driver to concentrate on essential tasks and avoid accidents.

Fraunhofer IAO's scientists have been working together with Bosch, BMW, Daimler, Opel, and other research partners to investigate behavior prediction and intention detection, for example in connection with braking maneuvers, and how this information might be integrated into driver assistance systems. Predicting driver intention minimizes reaction times and is the key to significant advances in the urban driving environment. Optimizing systems that provide intuitive assistance based on these findings for urban traffic conditions mitigates hazardous situations and helps prevent accidents.