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Engineers plan crash-proof computer car
By Richard Gray
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 30/12/2007

Any motorist who has had another car pull out in front of him or her will know about the split-second decisions needed to avoid an accident.

But now a team of British engineers wants to take such choices out of drivers' hands. They are developing a "crash proof" car that takes control if it senses danger.

The engineers, working with DaimlerChrysler, have created a system that can sense when a car has pulled out at a junction or when traffic ahead has stopped suddenly.

The developers claim that the computer-controlled car will react faster than motorists and perform the manoeuvres needed in emergencies far better.

But some motorists will find the idea of a computer grabbing control difficult to accept, and even dangerous, while road safety groups fear that such systems may be unable to react adequately.

Geraint Bevan, who is working on the system at Glasgow University's Centre for Systems and Control, insists that a computer can control a car far better than the average motorist.

He said: "If you have someone like Michael Schumacher driving your car, he will probably be able to manoeuvre the car at its limit, but most drivers will either swerve too fast or too hard, meaning they lose control."

Major car manufacturers have been attempting to introduce crash avoidance in their vehicles for years, and systems such as anti-lock brakes are now standard on many vehicles.

The new collision avoidance controller, which is being developed as part of a Europe-wide project, combines braking with the ability to swerve to avoid an accident. Mr Bevan said that the system used collision avoidance technology similar to that found in aircraft.

Radar and cameras mounted on the front and sides of the vehicle detect obstacles while a global positioning system helps the on-board computer work out the layout of the road before taking evasive action.

The researchers now hope to test the system in a real Mercedes provided by DaimlerChrysler, the Mercedes parent company.

However, there are potential drawbacks. Mr Bevan said: "If you were in town, for example, it might be better to hit the car that has just pulled out in front of you, rather than swerve into the crowd of people standing at the side of the road."

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said: "It is important that motorists do not become overly reliant upon technology.

"It would be too easy for them to relax and believe technology can get them out of a situation, but things can go wrong."

The engineers, working with DaimlerChrysler, have created a system that can sense when a car has pulled out at a junction or when traffic ahead has stopped suddenly.

Peter Wells, a senior research fellow at the centre for automotive industry research at Cardiff University, said Mercedes had suffered in some league tables because of less serious, "initial quality" problems related to paint, fit and finish of some vehicles.

But he added: "Mercedes have also had some quite significant problems with more fundamental quality issues with electronic systems in the cars.

"One of their senior management said recently they were going to step back from being the pioneer of some of these systems.

"There’s a perception that Mercedes tried a bit too hard to push forward some of the advanced electronic systems."

These includes the "adaptive power train", which basically helps drive the car, and sophisticated communication systems.

"As an operating environment, a vehicle is a lot more demanding than a computer on a desk," Dr Wells said.

He said it had appeared Mercedes had "taken its eye off the quality ball" and tried to save money by using cheaper components a few years ago, but said that the company had since addressed this.

Well I hope it works better than Mercedes' automatic braking system where they wrote off several cars in the publicity stunt for the assembled motoring press!