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ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 1 Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES Semi-automated driving: Now it all makes sense 360 degree radar: AC1000 sets the standard OSS engineering: A rolling revolution in safety The leading edge: • Rotary pretensioner aids packaging • SHI2 inflates large curtain airbags • Lane keeping now in closed loop • SDE 2 supports semi-auto driving 2013 Issue 37

Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

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Page 1: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 1

Driving Automotive Safety

ADVANCESSemi-automated driving:Now it all makes sense360 degree radar:AC1000 sets the standard

OSS engineering: A rolling revolution in safety

The leading edge:• Rotary pretensioner aids packaging• SHI2 inflates large curtain airbags• Lane keeping now in closed loop• SDE 2 supports semi-auto driving

2013 Issue 37

Page 2: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 2

When I passed my driving test over three

decades ago, I was very proud to show my

license to my father and one of the things I

remember him saying was: “Accidents don’t

happen: they’re caused.”

Even now, in the days of ABS, ESC and

advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS),

this piece of advice holds true. Accidents still do

not just happen out of the blue. According to the

Swiss insurance company Axa Winterthur, the

main reason for vehicles colliding at crossroads

in Switzerland in 2012 was simply “inattention

and distraction” (29% of cases). Not paying

attention to the right of way was the cause in

21% of these accidents.

Human beings can be exceptionally smart

and flexible when it comes to carrying out

different tasks, including driving a vehicle. We

have a tendency, however, to pay less attention

to what is happening on the road during longer

or routine journeys and when we have an

accident it is often because we made the wrong

move or did not react properly.

ADAS behaves quite differently. Systems have

only a limited scope of tasks, but they react very

quickly and reliably. For example, a radar based

adaptive cruise control (ACC) system will control

the distance to the vehicle in front, and a camera-

based emergency braking system will continuously

monitor the environment and react immediately

– even if we are chatting with a passenger, or

very briefly looking at the whining children in

the back. This is the exact time when ADAS can

support us best.

Of course, it’s a strange feeling to know that

a car can brake by itself in an emergency and

for this reason, driver assist systems also warn

before they activate (usually the brakes). However,

From ADAS to automated drivingGuest editorial by Alfred Vollmer

In this issue

The road to automated driving .....................................................................................................................4 Lynette Jackson

AC1000 radar sets the standard ...................................................................................................................8 Sascha Heinrichs-Bartscher

The system-on-a-chip that powers S-CAM 3 ..........................................................................................12 Tal Babaioff, Mobileye

Occupant safety: A rolling revolution .......................................................................................................15 Swen Schaub

The leading edge ..........................................................................................................................................18 A selection of the latest technologies emerging from TRW research & development

centers around the world

In brief.............................................................................................................................................................20

Advances is published twice yearly for TRW Automotive customers and other external audiences. Please submit ideas for articles and inquiries to:

Lynette Jackson, communications director, +44 121 506 5315 [email protected]

John Wilkerson, senior communications manager, +1 734 855 3864 [email protected]

Roger Bishop, editor

This publication may include statements about our expectations for the future. These expectations are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly release any update or revision to any of the forward-looking statements.

Quill Communications Inc, graphic design and layout

Point of view

Page 3: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 3

sometimes braking is required immediately – for

example when a pedestrian suddenly steps out into

the road, leaving no time for driver warning or any

delay in taking control of the vehicle.

It is my view that systems should intervene

if the driver is not paying attention. Interior

cameras can be a very effective means of

monitoring concentration and checking whether

a driver is actually looking ahead and has his

eyes open. If a driver is looking elsewhere

then, in the best case scenario, there is at least

a two second delay before he can understand

the current driving situation, process all the

relevant information and react accordingly.

That’s two seconds when a vehicle can travel

almost 28 meters at 50 km/h without braking. If

an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system

were to activate, or the vehicle maneuvers to

avoid an obstacle within those two seconds

without warning, this would surely be a

considerable safety advantage.

For me, being able to use those two

seconds wisely has the greatest potential

right now because the systems behind it are

already available. Driver assist systems need

to be allowed to intervene immediately while

simultaneously bringing the driver’s attention

back to the road. If a driver is not paying

attention – looking behind at the back seat for

example – then the emergency systems should

be able to take control of a vehicle to help

prevent accidents.

For now though, according to the Vienna

Convention in an agreement reached even before

Neil Armstrong walked on Moon, the driver must

have control of the vehicle at all times.

Increasing acceptanceIt is important for drivers to learn to live with

advanced safety systems and trust them. What

use is a camera based lane keeping assist

system (LKA), for example, if the driver can

turn it off? It may well be that the driver is not

happy with the system’s design or its parameter

settings but then it is up to OEMs and Tier One

suppliers to carefully tune the system so that

drivers are comfortable with how it intervenes.

Experience shows that LKA systems are applied

quite frequently (much more so than AEB,

for example). So this is an area where DAS

in general really have the potential to make

progress.

We have become used to ABS and ESC,

but apparently we still use these systems too

tentatively. Axa Winterthur revealed that only

1% of young drivers (those who passed their

driving tests within the last three years) apply

the brakes hard enough to reach the maximum

deceleration. Even though 20 times as many

experienced drivers were found to achieve

maximum braking, 80% still fail to use the full

potential of modern brakes. This is an example of

where assistance systems, such as emergency

brake assist, should intervene as standard.

ADAS for compact carsIt’s a good thing that vehicle buyers are looking

at Euro NCAP scores and want to purchase five-

star cars. Now that the bar has been raised by

Euro NCAP, it is well known that in the future five

stars will only be awarded if the vehicle is fitted

with the relevant safety assistance systems.

I am certain that driver assist systems will

continue to progress over the next five years

and that prices will fall as a result of the ever

increasing numbers being fitted. In the first

instance, (stereo) camera and radar technology

– with sensor data fusion – will enable new

systems to be produced that will be affordable

for the compact class.

In premium class cars, it is naturally easier

to absorb the cost of incorporating complex

driver assist systems but, in my opinion, the

greatest art will be in making ADAS affordable

in the sub-compact class. With an aging

population, the need to better explain the

benefits of ADAS in the showroom and on test

drives is now urgent. Money is surely better

spent on ADAS than on alloy wheels.

Relieving stressLidar – a laser-based ranging system – is a

promising technology, and combined with lane

keeping assist (LKA), electrically powered

steering (EPS) and an array of software, we have

taken a small step towards automated driving.

Working together in a traffic jam assist function,

these systems can make a significant contribution

to driver comfort and safety by relieving them in

this stop-start mode and helping them to drive

stress-free after the traffic jam.

In my view, in the next 15 to 20 years, fully

automated vehicles will only be found on public

roads in tiny numbers but during this time the

industry will gather valuable experience relating

to the automation of driving functions, and a

very exciting driving era could begin. Until then,

it is certain that ADAS will significantly improve

safety and increase comfort.

Alfred Vollmer is the editor of AUTOMOBIL-ELEKTRONIK. A qualified electrical engineer, he began his career as a journalist specializing in semiconductors 27 years ago, and then worked as a marketing engineer for semiconductors for a few years. He has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years and more recently has been focusing on vehicle electronics.

Page 4: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 4

The future of driver assistance and semi-

automated driving systems has never looked

brighter. Pressure to improve road safety is

coming from all sides – the US government,

in the form of the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA); the European

Commission; the World Health Organization; and

numerous consumer bodies, most notably New

Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs).

Regulation and new NCAP ratings are tangible

market drivers while vehicle manufacturers – and

even non-automotive companies like Google – are

ensuring there is plenty of media hype on the topic.

(See Issue 36 for more on the market drivers for

safety).

According to a 2012 J D Power survey

of 17,400 vehicle owners, 37 percent of all

responders initially said they would be interested

in purchasing a fully automated car. However, that

figure dropped to 20 percent once they learned

the technology would cost an additional $3,000.

Even at that price point 25 percent of male vehicle

buyers were willing to pay for a fully automated

vehicle along with 14 percent of women.

Now, the main questions being asked are:

what are the technologies behind the ‘semi-

automated’ buzzword; and what will the roadmap

look like that takes us, eventually, to a vehicle

that will drive us to work while we deal with the

overnight emails?

Today’s Driver Assist Systems (DAS) are

mostly independent functions using input from

sensors to support the driver or respond to

an emergency situation. There is a difference

between emergency or safety functions such as

automatic emergency braking (AEB), and comfort

functions like lane centering assist (LCA) or

lane keeping assist (LKA). And there is another

distinction between systems that respond for a

limited time period of time, such as LKA which

‘nudges’ a vehicle back when an unintended lane

departure is detected, and those that provide

The road to automated drivingBy Lynette Jackson

AbstractAutomated driving is a key topic of discussion in the automotive safety arena and, with the enabling technologies on production vehicles today, the road ahead for its development is clear. TRW has strong experience in three core areas that can help to make semi-automated, highly automated and fully automated driving a reality – sensors, electronic control and actuation.

Page 5: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 5

continuous support, like LCA helps ensures

vehicles remain in the center of

the lane.

Semi-automated driving describes situations

when support is applied for an extended time

period. For example, adaptive cruise control (ACC)

and LCA could work at the same time to control

longitudinal and lateral driving in a highway

driving situation to enable a Highway Driving

Assist (HDA) function (see panel). What makes

semi-automated driving functions attractive is that

they support the daily driving experience. In other

words, the consumer has made an investment

that is not there simply as an emergency back-up

but provides tangible value every day.

The semi-automated functions in production

today will become mainstream in the next

five to ten years with technology advances

accommodating greater levels of intervention

and driver support at higher speeds. Fully

automated driving will require a complete

vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure

network. These technologies continue to evolve

and global experts agree that the time is right to

begin introducing them to world roadways. This

is planned to begin in the next three years, and

should accelerate as applications mature and

driver acceptance is achieved.

The principal components of semi-

automated driving technologies – sensors,

controllers and actuators – could be described

as the eyes, brain and muscle of systems.

TRW’s focus todayAlongside global vehicle manufacturers, TRW

is currently using these components to develop

semi-automated driving technologies that will be

in production in the next three to five years. These

will cover the three phases of driving supported

by active systems – ‘normal driving’ involving

comfort features such as ACC Stop & Go, traffic

jam assist (TJA) and HDA (see panel on page 5);

the ‘emergency’ phase that uses the same sensor

configuration at a higher level of intervention to

provide AEB and emergency steering assist (ESA);

and the ‘pre-crash’ scenario that covers the

timeframe where an accident is unavoidable and

occupant safety systems (OSS), like active buckle

lifter (ABL) and active control retractor (ACR), are

prepared for the oncoming crash.

The industry is moving in the direction

whereby data fusion between a forward-looking

camera and radar will be virtually a standard

requirement in support of advanced longitudinal

control functions. Today, the industry norm is for

this processing to take place in the radar unit

because all the decision-making and arbitration

in forward-looking longitudinal control functions

are classically in that sensor. (The camera can

have its own connection to the steering, through a

Key semi-automated driving developments

Two developments, requiring high levels of data fusion, look set to make important contributions to

coming generations of vehicles fitted with semi-automated driving systems.

Traffic Jam Assist (TJA)In the near future, the combination of longitudinal vehicle control (such as ACC Stop & Go) and

lateral vehicle control (such as lane centering assist) will help drivers in heavy traffic situations at

low speeds down to a complete vehicle standstill – Traffic Jam Assist. This function will enable a

car to follow the vehicle in front while keeping in its lane, up to a specific vehicle speed. The driver

may overrule the function at any time.

This will be a first step towards semi-automated driving, although still limited to specific low-

speed scenarios. The benefits are a high comfort level in monotonous situations and the potential

to reduce accidents caused by inattentive drivers. The Human Machine Interface (HMI) will be

designed to keep the driver in the loop as the ‘master controller.’ TRW’s TJA uses the same sensor

configuration (the video camera and a radar with sensor data fusion) as automatic emergency

braking (AEB) and emergency steering assist (ESA).

Highway Driving Assist (HDA)Highway Driving Assist will involve the integration of radar, cameras, and GPS map data. The

forward looking radar is shared with the ACC Stop & Go ACC feature that keeps a vehicle at a

set speed while slowing if the car ahead slows, or if another car cuts across the lanes in front of

it. Braking can be strong but, typically, not emergency braking. The forward-looking camera that

makes up today’s lane centering assist (LCA) keeps the car within a few centimeters of the center

of the lane. The driver can easily override steering inputs at any time. Additional side-looking

radars complete the 360-surround-view and enable HDA to monitor traffic in neighboring lanes as a

prerequisite for a Lane Change Control (LCC). This allows the vehicle to change lanes in a semi-

automated mode if requested by the driver. Integration of these features – ACC Stop & Go, Lane

Centering and Lane Change Control – will enable highly automated driving in specific scenarios.

Page 6: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 6

separate CAN connection, providing lateral control

functions that are purely camera based.)

However, semi-automated driving requires

the integration of additional sensors – perhaps

navigation data and outputs from ultrasonic

sensors – in which data fusion becomes much

more complex. At this level, TRW engineers

recommend a change in architecture to a Safety

Domain ECU (SDE). SDE is a separate ECU that can

allow the extension of DAS and semi-automated

driving functionality and handle the increased

bandwidth of data. For example, if it is required to

fuse some ultrasonic outputs on top of a forward-

looking radar and a camera in an ACC Stop & Go

system, or if a car manufacturer wants to move

towards 360 degree sensing, a centralized data

fusion unit is the most effective option.

The challenge for highly automated driving –

besides the legal aspects – is to bring the driver, who

may be driving hands off and possibly be distracted

by non-driving-related tasks (such as reading

or typing) back into the loop within a specific

timeframe, if necessary.

Redundancy issuesDuring this delay, which might be in the range of 5

to 10 seconds, all systems need to remain working

in a way that safety is assured for all road users.

So, on top of enabling system features, highly

automated driving raises considerations of

Safety systems and the three driving phases

The ‘emergency’ driving phase uses safety features working with the same sensor configuration as the comfort features in the ‘normal’ driving phase. The ‘pre-crash’ phase is the timeframe in which an accident is unavoidable and occupant safety systems (OSS) are prepared for a crash

▲ ▲LPB LPS

Last point to brake Last point to steer

Forw

ard

colli

sion

w

arni

ng (F

CW)

Hap

tic w

arni

ng

Brakeprefill CMB AEB

Normal Driving Phase (DAS like TJA, ACC, HDA)

• Driver assist features like – ACC Stop&Go – Traffic Jam Assist – Highway Driving Assist

Emergency Phase(AEB, Emergency Steering Assist)

• Collision Warning (optical, haptic, acoustic)• Brake Prefill for immediate braking support• Maximum brake support when reaching the last

point to brake (full deceleration applied)• Last point to steer: Emergency Steering Assist (ESA)

supports the driver in an emergency situation where the driver initiates an evasive steering maneuver

• Additional steering torque is applied to assist the driver during evasive maneuvers and assist the driver in stabilizing the vehicle

Pre-CrashPhase

• Crash unavoidable• Preparation of OSS

systems, eg – Active Buckle Lifter – Active Control Retractor

Page 7: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 7

system redundancies, fall-back strategies, safe

stop scenarios and last, but not least, the legal

responsibilities of drivers and car manufacturers.

The process for testing future DAS and

semi-automated functions at TRW begins with

software simulations. These are then integrated

into a complete build using existing hardware. In

this hardware-in-the-loop set-up, the system is

injected with data – either artificially generated

or recorded from a real-life scenario – to enable

it to replicate a vehicle’s behavior. This is then

taken forward onto a vehicle.

Real world testing takes place on the

road. For example, TRW uses ten ‘reference

roads’ near its R&D center in Koblenz, Germany.

These roads all have different characteristics

in terms of traffic density, bends, curvature,

number of lanes, rural and urban environments

and so on. TRW has defined tests which are

repeated two or three times during a program to

arrive at a statistical statement on the

development’s progress. By repeating

the tests, engineers are able to

calculate the number of false alarms, as

well as how many critical observations

have been reported correctly.

The final, vital, element is to test

the systems in a broad mix of countries

and at extremes of temperature. This is

to cover, for example: left-hand and right-hand

driving conditions; the winding roads of the

Italian Alps; the arid environment of a desert;

and the cool of an arctic region. Cameras, in

particular, need to be tested in a wide range of

light and weather conditions.

The future is nowTRW is working with a number of vehicle

manufacturers in several regions globally to

determine the most effective way of introducing

semi-automated driving functions. However,

it is certain that they will come and will be

on mainstream vehicles. The challenge is to

manage consumers’ expectations and introduce

technologies in a consistent way to encourage

their wide acceptance. The most significant benefit

of moving from emergency assistance to semi-

automated driving is that customers will experience

the benefits every time they get into their cars.

MidTraffic jam, city driving HighRural roads, highway

Max. speed for system usage

Assis

ted

Sem

iau

tom

ated

High

lyau

tom

ated

Fully

auto

mat

ed

Degr

ee o

f aut

omat

ion

LowParking maneuver

Traffic jamassist

ACC Stop&Go

Park assist(lateral only)

Park assist(lateral + longitudinal)

Lane keeping assist

Highway driving assist

Highway chauffeur

Highway pilot

Automated driving vs traffic conditions

The technologies needed to achieve different levels of automated driving in a range of traffic conditions

Page 8: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 8

Safety systems using radar are poised to

become readily available technologies on even

the most modest of vehicles thanks to advances

in radio frequency technology and electronics

that have led to the development of AC1000. It

will help car manufacturers achieve the highest

NCAP ratings for vehicles across their ranges,

including the smallest which have traditionally

been highly sensitive to the cost of sophisticated

safety features.

AC1000 has been designed as a 77

GHz scalable radar family which will enable

functions including lane change assist, blind

spot detection, cross traffic alert, side impact,

pedestrian sensing and collision warning.

Sensors can also be integrated with the vehicle

Xenoy front housing

EMC screen

RF PCB

DSP board

Aluminum rear housing

AbstractLeading edge technologies, imaginative design thinking, proven experience and good ‘cost cycle’ timing have converged to result in an advanced radar sensor family – AC1000 – capable of bringing superior features such as automatic emergency braking to cars at a cost that will appeal even to manufacturers of A and B segment vehicles.

AC1000 radar sets the standard

Page 9: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 9

powertrain, braking and electric power steering

systems to provide automatic emergency

braking (AEB) and traffic jam assist.

The significant technical developments

involved are the substitution of the gallium arsenide

(GaAs) chip with a much simpler and lower cost

silicon germanium (SiGe) chip and integration

of the voltage controlled oscillator, or VCO – the

‘heartbeat’ of the radar – on the SiGe chipset. In

addition, the forward-looking AC1000 sensor uses a

technique called ‘digital beamforming,’ or DBF (see

panel overleaf) which, in simple terms, gives it a

capability comparable with much larger and more

expensive scanning radar systems.

Technology migrationLooking back at the history of automotive radar

systems developed by TRW, AC1000 has its

roots in the AC10 77 GHz system that went into

the Volkswagen Phaeton more than ten years

ago, followed by the AC20 developed first for the

Passat. Both were based on GaAs technology.

Even at this time TRW realized that radar

technology would migrate towards vehicles

in the C and B segments and even A segment

cars. At that point, TRW decided not to pursue

exclusively the development of long range

radar, capable of detecting objects at 200 m and

beyond, but instead focus on further developing

its shorter range 24 GHz narrow band radar for

city and inter-urban active safety applications.

AC100, launched in 2012, was the first TRW

radar to use a SiGE chipset and a pioneering

microprocessor that allowed significant

efficiencies in building a radar product and were

therefore key to its competitive price.

Euro NCAP is one of the drivers behind

the specifications that led to the evolution of

AC1000. Progressively raising the bar on the

requirements for a five-star safety rating has

accelerated the development not only of radar

systems, but also the fusion of radar with

camera systems and the complex algorithms that

enable them to detect and distinguish objects. In

truth, 24 GHz (AC100) radar offers a comparable

performance to 77 GHz (AC1000) systems for city

and inter-urban automatic emergency braking

(AEB) applications. However, to optimize a

set-up for detecting all types of pedestrian in

all circumstances requires a radar with a very

high resolution. This is where a 77 GHz (AC1000)

system with its higher bandwidth and eight

times higher resolution, comes into its own.

A scenario exemplifying this requirement

is that of a child running out from behind a

stationary vehicle who needs to be detected and

tracked as quickly as possible. The challenge

here is separating the child from the car

(which is a much stronger reflector) as early as

possible. This requires a radar with a very wide

field of view, or aperture ‘opening angle’, and a

high bandwidth. With this in mind, 24 GHz narrow

band radar technology has its limitations

Against this background, it is fortunate for

the industry that 24 and 77 GHz systems have

been more widely adopted. The effect has been

to see the cost-down-curve-over-time for 24

GHz systems flatten out over the last few years.

The 77 GHz cost reduction gradient has fallen

steeply towards it to the point where its higher

resolution, wider bandwidth and reduced cost

are of great interest to vehicle manufacturers.

AC1000 has been developed across multiple

locations. The antennas are being developed at

TRW’s technical center in Brest, France; with

the hardware design taking place at Solihull, in

Dual mode operation: Adapted field of view

TRW engineers are exploring two ‘opening angle’ settings in order to maximize AC1000’s capabilities to meet Euro NCAP requirements

Sensor FOV is adjusted with vehicle speed

Page 10: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 10

the UK; and algorithm development, testing and

project management being coordinated from

Koblenz, Germany.

The first product in the AC1000 product family

will be a forward-looking sensor using the digital

beamforming technique and will be available from

2015. This will be followed by a side and rear-

looking sensor.

Concealed sensorThe forward-looking sensor would typically be

mounted at the front of a vehicle, preferably in

the center or offset by up to 0.5 m to the side. It

could be concealed behind a logo if desired or

hidden behind a bumper provided it is made from a

material that minimally attenuates the transmitted

or received signals. On its own (without fusion with

a camera), the sensor can be used for adaptive

cruise control (ACC), forward collision warning

(FCW) and automatic emergency braking (AEB).

The rear/side-looking radars would be

mounted in pairs at the rear edges of the vehicle,

looking to the side and rear. Most of its core

components are shared with the forward-looking

sensor. Anticipated applications are lane change

assist, blind spot detection, and a rear cross traffic

alert function.

Testing and refinementCurrently, TRW engineers are testing and

refining the forward-looking sensor in the

AC1000 family for its anticipated first application

on a mainstream European vehicle. The system

has been designed so that the ‘opening angle’

can be changed in response to

the vehicle speed to optimize

radar field of view according

to the situation. For example,

at high speed the long range

mode is selected to achieve

maximum detection range

with a reasonable opening

angle. On the other hand, at

low speed adapting to urban

scenarios is achieved with

a maximum opening angle

– for example to detect a

Fusion architecture with optional CAN

Euro NCAP is progressively raising the bar for a five-star safety rating, accelerating the fusion of radar with advanced camera systems

AC1000 manufacture at Brest in France

pedestrian stepping out in front of the vehicle

and triggering AEB.

At the moment, TRW engineers in Koblenz

are exploring two operational modes to maximize

AC1000’s capabilities in line with Euro NCAP

requirements for pedestrian protection.

The final production calibration of the first

AC1000 application will, of course, be decided with

the vehicle manufacturer. However, even now it is

apparent that the AC1000 family is destined to make

an extremely important contribution to high end

active safety systems on all classes of passenger

car over the next few years.

For more informationSascha [email protected]+49 261 895 2762

Page 11: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 11

Key techniques make the difference

Two techniques within AC1000 are critical to its accuracy and reliability – the modulation scheme and

digital beamforming. Together, they contribute to a product that has some unique characteristics.

FMFSK modulation Frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar (FMCW) resolves both distance and speed of the

detected object by transmitting a signal that varies in frequency over a fixed period of time. This so-

called frequency ramp, running up and down, is absolutely linear. Detected objects are associated

with frequencies and not directly with range and velocity, so in order to resolve

these parameters, groups of detections, in a process called ‘matching’, need to be

analyzed by the system electronics. During the matching process there is potential

for errors which, in the worst case, can lead to the appearance of ghost objects

which are clearly undesirable in a system that, in the case of AEB, could fully apply

the brakes.

For AC1000, TRW has taken a different approach. The FMCW ramp, for this

purpose, is overlaid with small steps (frequency shift keying, or FSK). The direct

measurement of distance and speed from a single ramp can therefore be achieved.

In this way, the AC1000 avoids detecting ghost targets already identified by the

tracking algorithm. This results in minimal object confirmation time which is key to a

high Euro NCAP score.

Overlaying FMCW is a technique called frequency modulated frequency shift

keying (FMFSK) which, in simple terms, puts steps on the linear ramp, turning its

profile into a staircase.

Digital beamformingThe AC1000 radar integrates ‘digital beamforming’ (DBF) technology which allows

multiple directional beams to be transmitted and received simultaneously and

therefore allows the system to track multiple objects at the same time. DBF is

computationally very efficient as it allows the beam to be adapted according to the application which

is relevant at the time. DBF integrates antenna technology and digital technology. The beamforming

is achieved via a processor used in conjunction with an array of antennas to provide a versatile form

of spatial filtering. With this technique, the operations of phase shifting and amplitude scaling for

each antenna element, and summation for receiving, are done digitally.

Digital processing requires that the signal from each antenna element is digitized using an A/D

converter. For beamforming, the complex baseband signals are multiplied by the complex weights to

apply the phase shift and amplitude scaling required for each antenna element.

77 GHz RF module architecture

• Multi-static operation: 1 transmit (Tx) and 4 receiving (Rx) antenna

• Digital Beamforming algorithm to calculate target angle and obtain high angular resolution

• Flexible SiGe transceiver to address different modulation schemes

• Low cost planar antenna technology

Page 12: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 12

Driving today is an increasingly complicated task.

Traffic has become more dense, it moves faster

and there are many potential driver distractions in

the modern ‘connected’ world. Market pressures

– led by New Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs)

around the world – and legislation are encouraging

technologies that make driving safer and, among

these, are Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

(ADAS) that can help to dramatically reduce

accidents, or their seriousness.

Mobileye develops and provides the

automotive industry with ADAS capabilities

based on monocular vision. The technologies

include object detection (vehicles, trucks,

motorcycles and pedestrians), lane detection,

traffic sign recognition and high/low beam

control.

These technologies are powered by the

company’s system-on-chip (SOC) – EyeQ – and

allows multiple applications to run in parallel (see

panel). For example the lane detection technology

supports lane-departure-warning as well as lane-

keeping (on the Hyundai I40 and Kia Optima using

TRW’s S-CAM 2 video camera) and traffic-jam

AbstractVehicle manufacturers and their suppliers are seeking the most advanced and reliable technologies to support the latest – and future – generations of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Among these are the vision systems powered by Mobileye’s EyeQ system-on-chip.

System-on-a-chip powers tomorrow’s cameras By Tal Babaioff, Mobileye

EyeQ is a family of highly integrated chips supporting intensive processing using specially designed processing modules, general purpose CPUs for control and IO capability for video input and car interface

• 2 x floating point hyper-thread 32bit RISC CPUs

• 5 x Vision Computing Engines (VCE)

• 3 x Vector Microcode Processors (VMP)

Mobileye’s EyeQ2 system-on-chip

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ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 13

assist. Object detection is the enabling technology

for forward-collision-warning as well as collision

mitigation by braking (with radar fusion on Chrysler

Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty, also using

S-CAM 2). Object detection is also addressing

pedestrian protection – such as the world’s first

automatic pedestrian emergency braking system.

ADAS based on Mobileye technology first entered

the market in 2007 with car manufacturers including

BMW, Volvo, GM, Ford, and PSA. The current

installation base exceeds 2 million vehicles.

During 2013 new applications based on

Mobileye technology have been going into serial

production, most notably vision-only adaptive

cruise control (VO-ACC) and Automated Emergency

Brake (AEB). Current AEB applications allow for

limited braking force but, in 2014, a full braking

EyeQ is a family of highly integrated chips supporting intensive

processing using specially designed processing modules, general

purpose CPUs for control and IO capability for video input and car

interface (including high speed CAN). The architecture and computing

engines were designed to allow the processing of images to extract

interesting regions and features combined with support for powerful

classification and tracking engines. It comprises (in EyeQ2) two floating

point, hyper-thread 32 bit RISC CPUs, five Vision Computing Engines

(VCEs), and three Vector Microcode Processors (VMPs). The MIPS34K

CPU manages the five VCEs, three VMP and the direct memory access

(DMA), the second MIPS34K CPU and the multi-channel DMA as well

as other peripherals. The five VCEs, three VMPs and the MIPS34K CPU

perform all the intensive vision computations required by the multi-

function recognition bundle. This gives the EyeQ2 exceptional computing

power, enabling the high functionality bundles to run on a single

processor based camera.

The original EyeQ supports vehicle detection (forward collision

warning, adaptive headlight control) and lane detection (for lane

departure warning or headway monitoring & warning). Alternatively,

EyeQ runs a combination of lane departure warning, traffic sign detection

and adaptive head beam control.

The second generation processor (in production since 2010), is

more powerful by a factor of six than the first and supports all the above

algorithms (and more) on a single platform as well as video input from two

high-resolution image sensors and ‘video out’ capabilities with graphic

overlay. The third generation – EyeQ3 – is more powerful by factor of six

than EyeQ2 and allows processing of multiple high resolution sensors in

parallel, resulting in range extension and enhanced features.

Working with customersEvaluation platforms are critical to the applications engineering process

conducted by tier one suppliers and automotive manufacturers as they

build ADAS capabilities into new car models.

Mobileye’s EPM2 evaluation platform, for example (based on EyeQ2),

is designed to run multiple bundles of Mobileye’s Image Processing

Applications for technology evaluation in a series-like environment. It is

capable of running the following vision applications: vehicle detection,

lane and road analyses, traffic sign detection, intelligent headlight control

and pedestrian protection.

EPM2 supports the Micron MT9V024 CMOS sensor based camera

module, RCC version. The typical horizontal field of view for capturing

video images is 40°.

The evaluation platform can be run in two modes – standalone and

PC HOST-controlled, with EPM2 accepting video packets downloaded

over an Ethernet bus from an external PC via the SIM.

The basic platform includes: EPM2 plus SIM development boards,

camera module and power supplies. The offline system includes:

PC notebook with CAN interface, Mobileye EyeQClient application

(incorporates Mobileye Off-line application), SIM Board, optional CAN

card and cables. The package can also be expanded as a software

development platform. A board support package (SW) enables engineers

to port their own code onto the MIPS processors.

A unique image processing architecture

TRW’s compact S-CAM 3 camera, using the powerful Mobileye EyeQ3 chip, was being unveiled at IAA, Frankfurt

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force, vision-only AEB will be introduced. These

advances are being driven by Euro NCAP’s new

scoring system that will make it impossible for

cars to achieve a five-star safety rating without

active ADAS capabilities. Vision-only solutions or

systems based on the fusion of radar and camera

sensors are key technologies. TRW is winning a

significant share of new business to meet these

requirements with S-CAM 2 and the latest S-CAM

3 being formally unveiled at the international

automotive show, IAA 2013, in Frankfurt.

S-CAM 3 uses Mobileye’s latest EyeQ3

technology. It has six times the processing

power of the current generation, providing

a higher level of performance and several

advanced new functions. The camera will be

launched early in 2015 and feature on a number

of 2016 model year applications.

Delivering all the functions of its

predecessor – lane departure warning, forward

collision warning, headlight control, traffic sign

recognition and pedestrian detection – S-CAM

3 has an increased vertical and horizontal field

of view (horizontal 52°and vertical 39° compared

Mobileye’s third generation SOC – EyeQ3 – is more powerful by a factor of six than its predecessor. This is particularly important in advanced pedestrian protection applications

with 42°and 27° in the current generation)

and a higher definition imager (1280 x 960

pixels compared with 752 x 480).

The enhancements bring more

advanced features into S-CAM 3’s

range of capabilities including: AEB,

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) for

highway conditions, Advanced Traffic

Sign Recognition, Object Character

Recognition, Lane Centering, Large

Animal Detection, Active Body Control,

Construction Zone Assist, Traffic Light

Detection, and General Object Detection.

Laboratory to roadResearch, development, testing and

validation are central to Mobileye’s mission and,

to this end, the team has engineered a highly

automated vehicle that allows the driver to

delegate full control for a limited time. The solution

is unique in being based on current core series

hardware and technologies in series production

today, or soon to be introduced. Apart from the

front-looking camera, the Mobileye vehicle makes

use of a bumper camera and top view cameras

around the vehicle. This combination is used to

keep the vehicle a safe distance from parallel

driving vehicles and any other objects.

The biggest challenge in providing AEB

systems is the ability to properly detect all

required objects (vehicles and pedestrians) and

provide accurate measurements – for example

distance or relative velocity – in all weather

conditions, day or night, and in any geographical

location.

To validate this process and ensure

no ‘false positives’ are signaled, Mobileye’s

research team checks both the true positive

performance (against ‘ground-truth’ and on

test tracks) as well as against clip databases.

A complete validation against large scale

databases involves tens of thousands of hours

of driving. These databases include real-life

driving scenarios. Then there are separate and

extensive validation campaigns conducted with

both Tier One suppliers and car manufacturers.

For the future, Mobileye is well advanced

with the development of new technologies

such as: general object detection; 3D world

representation based on motion; animal

detection; road profile reconstruction; and

traffic light recognition. These systems are being

engineered for sourced business so applications

based on them could be launched as early as

2014 to 2016 by car manufacturers.

Tal Babaioff is senior director business development at [email protected]+972 2 5417 340

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While many of the basic components of

occupant safety systems (OSS) remain in

the form of seat belts and airbags, these

technologies continue to be transformed both

as individual restraint systems and as part of

integrated systems working in harmony to help

protect passengers.

Much has been learned in the five decades

that have passed since the introduction and

subsequent widespread adoption of the seat

belt. Laws requiring seat belts are becoming

universal in the motoring world with good reason

– they are still the first line of defense when a

crash occurs and all children and adults in a

vehicle should be properly buckled up before

their journey begins.

Inflatable restraints added an important

enhancement to the occupant safety landscape,

and over the past 20 years engineers have

learned how frontal, side, knee and new airbag

concepts can help protect passengers through

adaptive technologies. Dual stage inflators were

a great step forward and now there are vented

airbags that can adjust depending on passenger

size and how close the passenger may be to the

deploying airbag. Special tethering devices, bag

shapes and even how the airbag is folded can

also help systems adjust to specific occupant

sizes and crash characteristics.

Adding seatbelt innovations such as

pretensioners and load limiting retractor designs

that help manage occupant energy and work

together with the adjustable aspects of airbag

systems, has resulted in advanced adaptive

AbstractToday’s occupant safety systems feature adaptive functions that are tailored to occupant size and position, and that perform active functions that help to better position passengers before a crash even happens. They can even help you buckle up, make the ride more comfortable, and serve as warning functions when danger may lurk.

Occupant safety: A rolling revolution

TRW airbag technologies are adaptable to different vehicle sizes, types and the characteristics of the occupant cabin. The modular kit approach to the curtain airbag, shown, enables the company to cover vehicles from compact cars to Sport Utility Vehicles or vans with three rows of seats

Page 16: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

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occupant safety systems that can help protect

passengers across many crash scenarios.

And now these systems are going beyond

just the role of protecting passengers in a crash;

they are an integral part of the evolution of safety

systems and are playing a role in helping to warn

drivers and assist them in avoiding crashes.

Versatile beltsFor example, TRW makes two active, reversible

seat belt technologies – the active buckle lifter

(ABL) and the active control retractor (ACR).

Both utilize a motor to provide specific functions

such as making buckling up easier and more

comfortable, or rapidly removing seat belt slack

Normal driving condition

Accident avoidance phase Crash phase Rescue phase

Comfort systems Assistance systems Pre-crash systems Restraint systems Rescue systems

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Integration of active and passive safety systemswhen active safety sensors indicate that a crash

may occur due to vehicle instability or rapid

closing speed on another vehicle or object.

Beyond the opportunity to better position

the occupant prior to a crash, systems like these

can be used as a haptic feedback mechanism

in which the belt is vibrated to get a driver’s

attention. Haptic feedback that works through

direct contact with drivers has been shown to

be more effective than external warnings such

as flashing lights or audible buzzers that need

to be seen or heard and then interpreted. These

warnings alert only drivers and allow them to

better concentrate on the task at hand.

This capability can be particularly valuable as

new safety systems such as Automatic Emergency

Braking (AEB) are introduced. Combining ACR

with AEB is a natural evolution as sensors such as

cameras and radar pick up impending targets and

first look to warn drivers, and if they fail to react,

apply full seat belt slack removal to better position

them in case of a crash. In low speed urban

situations the use of the haptic feedback could

warn drivers of issues such as a potential collision

with a vehicle ahead or at the side, or a pedestrian

entering the vehicle’s pathway.

Lateral controlSeat belt technologies can also help drivers

stay in control during dynamic driving situations.

Taking cues from active systems, such as the yaw

rate sensors in the electronic stability control

(ESC) system, it is possible to determine when

a vehicle is losing lateral control. When this

happens, drivers tend to be thrown from side to

side, making vehicle control more challenging. In

this situation a management algorithm in the ACR

(or ABL) system will remove seat belt slack to

assist drivers in controlling their vehicles by better

fixing them in their seats.

TRW technologies also work in additional

pre-crash scenarios and assist passengers in

reducing the likelihood of being out of position

in a potential crash. Locking the belt retractor

helps to keep passengers fixed to the seat,

reducing the forward excursion of the body

towards hard objects like the instrument panel or

the steering wheel. This is important when hard

braking occurs, such as in higher speed AEB

maneuvers, as the head and body will naturally

move forward if not restrained and may not be in

an ideal position if an airbag is deployed.

Occupant safety systems can also be

pre-armed to reduce the time-to-fire (TTF) of seat

belt pretensioners and airbags in imminent crash

situations. Additional systems such as active seat

structures and external side pre-crash airbags

can be triggered before the crash to further

mitigate the impact.

Variable elements in the restraint system such

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ADVANCES 2013 Issue 37 Page 17

as seat belt load limiters and airbag venting can

be pre-adjusted depending on pre-sensed crash

parameters such as impact direction, location,

predicted delta-vs-severity, actual occupant

position and posture and available occupant

classification data, such as size and weight of the

passenger, belted or unbelted, and so on.

In addition to the lateral pre-crash

external airbag TRW has developed a pre-

crash thorax side airbag with high energy

absorption capability. Tests have shown that

firing this airbag 15 ms before the collision

allows the airbag to be fully deployed and, when

combined with the movable seat structure that

rotates inboard 50 ms before the crash, can

significantly reduce the injury values retrieved

from biomechanical dummies, including chest

deflection.

Taking the wheelTRW is also a leading developer and supplier of

steering wheels – the primary human-machine

interfaces in vehicles. The steering wheel offers

prime opportunities for detecting various data

on which to base safety decisions. For example,

hands-on detection can help define driver

awareness and readiness during acceleration

or braking and can also indicate whether drivers

are maintaining a hand-on-the-wheel when

using systems like adaptive cruise control or

semi-automated systems.

Driver feedback can also be provided by

vibrating the steering wheel to support systems

such as lane departure warning, lane keeping,

automatic emergency braking and more. Another

innovation in the steering wheel is the use of a

small display area in the wheel’s rim that provides

a visual warning or indicator for various speed

assistance and Driver Assistance Systems (DAS).

The company has also researched sensing

systems within the rim that can monitor driver

wellness, including vital signs like heartbeat and

blood pressure.

TRW has been a pioneer and leader in the

area of active and passive safety integration

drawing on the company’s long experience in

both technology areas and its groundbreaking

ACR seat belt technology introduced more than a

decade ago.

Enhanced valueToday’s occupant safety technologies are more

innovative than ever before and are moving

ahead into exciting new territories as they

support the growth of active safety systems.

Whether its safety, comfort, convenience,

support of vehicle design, changing modes of

transportation, or semi-automated driving, TRW’s

occupant safety systems are evolving to meet

the needs of vehicle markets everywhere.

For more informationSwen [email protected]+49 179 232 7419

The steering wheel can both detect data, such as when a driver’s hands are on or off the wheel, and provide feedback through vibrating mechanisms and built-in displays

This large airbag deploys from the external side structure of the vehicle, covering doors, sill and B-pillar. It helps to absorb the energy of a side collision and reduces intrusions into the struck vehicle

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The leading edgeRotary pretensioner solves packaging problems

SHI2 hybrid inflator family extended for large curtain airbag applications

A new anchor seat belt pretensioner in a rotary configuration – known

as the APR1 – has been designed to help vehicle manufacturers

faced with challenging packaging situations. It will launch on

several European vehicle platforms in 2015.

APR1 is light, compact and designed to allow an easy

integration in vehicle interiors. There is no linkage element

necessary and only the normal seat belt webbing is visible in the vehicle

cabin. It is designed to deliver pretensioning forces of more than 3kN, which can help to

remove some seatbelt slack within milliseconds of a crash being detected.

When combined with TRW’s occupant protection seat belt and airbag options,

the APR1 helps form the basis of advanced adaptive occupant technologies designed

to help manage occupant energy in an unavoidable crash scenario. For example it can

be combined with TRW’s Active Control Retractor (ACR) system or Active Buckle Lifter

(ABL), that help to remove seatbelt slack before a crash occurs if a potential accident is

detected by a vehicle’s active sensors.

Norbert Kagerer, vice president Occupant Safety Systems engineering, TRW,

said: “The APR1 design offers vehicle manufacturers a number of options and

advantages compared with existing systems.

“We are seeing strong interest globally for APR1 due to its packaging, weight

and performance attributes. The rotary design helps deliver enhanced pretensioning

functionality and TRW is uniquely positioned to combine this technology with other

occupant safety and active safety technologies to sense and react to the unique

characteristics of a crash.”

TRW Automotive is extending its highly successful

SHI2 airbag inflator family to large curtain airbag

applications. The flexibility in package size and the

ability to deliver warm gas is now available for a bag

size up to 75 liters.

A small amount of propellant is used to heat the

gas to augment the airbag system energy. It produces

clean warm gas that allows the airbag to achieve

pressure requirements for first impact conditions and

cools to pressure requirements that help keep the

airbag inflated for rollover protection. The innovative

shock wave design enables rapid time to first gas fill

while the physical properties of the gas provide quick

deployment performance. A shock wave generated

by the combustion chamber travels the length of the

inflator to rupture a membrane on the opposite end.

This allows cold gas to initiate the bag fill process,

followed with warm gas that fills the bag to its desired

operating pressure.

The inflator delivers warm, clean gas, which

provides bag pressure retention desired in side impact

systems. Now, the SHI2 construction kit is extended

to three bottle diameters (25, 30 and 35 mm). Outputs

can be tailored from small thorax bag applications

to large A-D curtain applications. Serial production

of the 35 mm diameter versions will start in 2015 at

TRW´s North America inflator plant in Mesa, Arizona.

North America is the initial target market for such high

performance large curtain airbags due to the number

of larger SUVs currently sold.

Wolfgang Tengler, project manager SHI2 Inflators,

said: “Currently the standard product for large curtain

airbags is a cold gas inflator type, which is relatively

high in weight. With the SHI2 design we applied the

most effective warm gas principle. This combines

a high energy level of the delivered gas with the

increased requirements regarding rollover capability.

Compared with cold gas inflators, we are able to save

approximately 10% of weight and package size while

maintaining the performance level. ”

TRW’s SHI2 inflator family offers an inline design

to minimize the module attachments costs. The gas

exits opposite the electrical connection to

simplify fastening options.

This innovation will contribute to TRW’s

future as a leader in automotive safety

technology.

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Lane keeping assist gains closed loop control

TRW is launching a lane

keeping assist system with

closed loop control for the

first time on two vehicle

platforms for the European

market. The system will

go into production this

autumn.

Lane Keeping Assist

(LKA) integrates data from

a video camera sensor

with Electrically Powered

Steering (EPS) to apply a short counter-steer torque via the steering

system to assist the driver in preventing the vehicle from unintentionally

leaving the lane.

In conventional LKA systems, the technology is only active when

the vehicle is close to the lane borders, but with this closed loop version,

the steering angle is controlled more closely and the driver is ‘coached’ to

steer the vehicle away from the lane border back to the center of the lane.

In other words, the counter-steer torque is applied much more ‘gently’

than for conventional LKA systems. As for all LKA systems, the induced

torque generated by the EPS system can be easily overridden by the driver

at any time.

This technology is the first step toward a full lane centering system

where the EPS would help keep the driver in the center of the lane at all

times. Such technologies are starting to form the basis for future semi-

automated driving functionality.

TRW’s second generation Safety Domain ECU (SDE 2)

can integrate multiple driver assist system, chassis and

suspension functions within a single unit. It has greater

performance, compared with the earlier generation, and will

be a key technology in supporting semi-automated driving

and car2car communication.

Dr Hans-Gerd Krekels, portfolio and engineering

director, TRW Global Integrated Electronics commented:

“We have seen exponential growth in electronic systems

in cars – a trend that is set to continue with the further

penetration in active safety systems and increasingly

automated driving functions. As the number of sensors

increases in a vehicle, having a central safety ‘domain’

controller is vital in order to cope with the increase in

complexity and help to simplify electronic architectures.”

SDE 2 has a flexible, open architecture

structure to integrate software control

algorithms from both suppliers and third

parties including vehicle manufacturers, using

AUTOSAR 4.0 and beyond as a basis. The

scalable architecture can integrate functions

like driver assist or vehicle dynamics arbitration

and process data from multiple sensors (radar,

video camera and digital map information) to

enable 360 degree environmental sensing. It has

a high performance multicore microprocessor

architecture and, in addition to interfacing

on CAN or FlexRay, can support Ethernet

communication for high speed, high volume data transfer.

“Such developments are the first of their kind in the

industry today,” said Dr Krekels. “SDE 2 uses leading edge

electronics technology to support next generation vehicle

requirements. We are continuously looking at how we can

integrate a wider range of features into this single unit and

enable a higher degree of functionality and actuator control.

“To achieve the necessary high level of performance,

we can integrate performance micros, usually used in graphics

applications, as well as the Mobileye chip from our video

camera sensors. It can be directly embedded within SDE.”

TRW anticipates that its SDE 2 will be ready for

production by 2017. The first generation technology

started production this month with a German luxury car

manufacturer.

SDE 2 supports semi-automated driving

Page 20: Driving Automotive Safety ADVANCES

Steering wheel plant opens in Romania Employees and guests have celebrated the

opening of a new steering wheel leather

wrapping plant in Baia Mare, Romania. Some 300

people work at the facility with plans to increase

the workforce to up to 650 people by the end of

the year.

Ovidiu Ambrus, manager for TRW facilities

in Romania commented: “We have opened the

plant to meet current and growing requirements,

primarily for Audi. We have an excellent

workforce with the right skill set in this area.”

Belt drive EPS launches in ChinaWith TRW’s belt drive electric power steering (EPS)

technology being used for the first time on a global

vehicle platform launching in China, manufacture

of the system has begun at a new state-of-the-art

facility in Anting. Line capacity is expected to reach

around 400,000 units annually by 2014.

“Electric steering is a rapidly growing

technology globally due to the many advantages

it can provide,” said Peter Lake, TRW

executive vice president for sales and business

development. “Creating a regional production

base for our customers will provide a cost-

effective source for these fuel-saving and

emission reducing technologies. It will enable us

to expand our EPS footprint for the production of

global platforms and help to make it available to

our broader customer base in China and Asia.”

Safety.trw.com launchedA new internet site – Safety.trw.com – provides

the latest information on TRW technologies

and business developments, alongside wider

industry news.

The site can be viewed in TRW’s core business

languages and is regularly updated. Articles are

categorized under the headings of TRW News,

Technology and Industry, with the most popular

stories automatically featuring on the homepage.

New video material is also uploaded regularly.

Hybrid Ferrari has TRW steeringTRW is supplying electrically powered hydraulic

steering (EPHS) technology to La Ferrari’ – the

super car manufacturer’s first vehicle to have

hybrid propulsion.

Giorgio Marsiaj, president, TRW Italy,

explained: “TRW’s role as the official partner for

technological innovation on the new La Ferrari

super car demonstrates our ability to support

one of the most prestigious brands in the world.”

With more than 20 million systems in the

field, TRW’s EPHS is a proven solution for both

conventional and hybrid vehicle platforms,

delivering fuel economy and CO2 reduction

benefits comparable with full electric power

steering solutions.

Next generation SPR4 now readyNext generation SPR4 (snake pretensioner

retractor) seat belt assemblies are now ready

for worldwide customers with the product being

launched in North America, Europe and China.

The device uses a snake-like plastic piston,

instead of conventional metal components, to

transfer tensioning torque, resulting in a simpler,

lighter design and compact packaging.

Norbert Kagerer, TRW vice president

Occupant Safety Systems engineering, said:

“Tensioning force is generated more quickly

than with conventional systems and the damping

behavior of the plastic snake allows the initial

peak force, when impacting the pinion, to be

significantly lower compared with conventional

systems where two rigid steel elements impact

on each other.”

SPR4 will launch on a range of vehicles from

A segment cars up to sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

Driving Automotive Safety

In brief

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www.trw.com© 2013 TRW Automotive