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Mercedes-Benz has just presented its new Experimental Safety Vehicle to specialist circles trailblazing more than one dozen innovations.
The ESF 2019 reflects the mobility of the future with new approaches related to automated driving.
An insight into the future of automobile safety was also provided by the accompanying Mercedes-Benz exhibition and talks given by the company’s safety experts at the world’s largest conference for automobile safety which took place last week in the Netherlands.
During the technical conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV), several hundred engineers, representatives from official bodies and politicians discussed measures and technologies for further improvements in vehicle safety.
The motto of the conference was ‘Technology: Enabling a Safer Tomorrow’ and with the new Experimental Safety Vehicle ESF 2019, Mercedes-Benz offered an insight into the ideas that the company’s safety experts are researching and working on.
The key topics covered by the ESF 2019 are comprehensive driver safety for changing seat and steering wheel positions, new airbag concepts, vitalising interior lighting, cooperative communication with the vehicle’s surroundings, child safety, securing an accident scene, new PRE-SAFE functions, safety and comfort in the rear and active safety.
Four talks by Mercedes-Benz safety experts took place:
• Prof Dr Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg, centre manager for Vehicle Safety, Durability and Corrosion Protection:
ESF 2019 – Experimental Safety Vehicle meets Automated Driving
• Alexander Mankowsky, future researcher:
Informed Trust and Giving Back – an External User Interface for Highly Automated Vehicles
• Claus Geisler, strategy and innovations for integral safety:
New Driver Safety Concept for automated and manual driving mode
• Abdulkadir Öztürk, innovations for integral safety:
A step towards integrated safety simulation through pre-crash to in-crash data transfer
Among the one dozen or so innovations, some are near-series developments and some look well into the future.
One important aspect is making use of the virtual crumple zone: this term refers to the time that elapses between the vehicle’s response to sensor signals in the pre-accident phase and the impact itself.
If an object or other road user enters the virtual crumple zone, many valuable measures can already be implemented to protect the occupants and accident partner. This is possible with PRE-SAFE and PRE-SAFE Impulse systems, but also with the help of conventional restraint systems.
The ESF 2019, based on the new Mercedes-Benz GLE, is capable of automated driving in many situations and has a plug-in hybrid drive system. It will be presented to the general public at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in September.
