Continental reveals predictive ESC

Electronic stability control is one of the great safety advances to appear in recent years, helping drivers pull up in a shorter distance even if the friction available changes markedly over the stopping distance.

Now Continental has found a way to improve ESC using connectivity and communications with a central data base.

A system called PreviewESC harnesses the on-board ESC system together with information gathered by swarm intelligence to anticipate whether there will be enough friction at the next corner if the car continues at the current speed.

Swarm intelligence gathers information about road surfaces and other conditions from the vehicles on the roads, which are transmitting the data to a central data base.

This is added to a system called eHorizon, which knows the road configuration and the friction levels available on a dry road. The swarm intelligence data is used to adjust the anticipated friction levels.

The modified friction levels are then transmitted to a vehicle approaching the affected area and sends a warning if the vehicle is travelling faster than the friction levels will permit.

The transmitted data is then used to anticipate trouble and slow the car down even before the driver stamps on the brake pedal to initiate the ESC system.

In a demonstration at the company’s recent TechWeek exhibition in Hanover, one car drove through a corner where water was streaming across the road.

Following a few seconds later, a second car with Preview ESC turned off entered the corner too quickly for the conditions and, with the standard ESC system operating, slid across the road into the (imaginary) oncoming traffic.

On a second run, with PreviewESC in operation, the second car received a warning and the system actually applied the brakes even before the driver slammed them on and activated the ESC. In this instance, the car was able to keep to its lane during the ESC braking.

While eHorizon is a valuable aid, using the swarm intelligence data makes eHorizon more useful, modifying its advice in real time according to the changing conditions.

But instead of relying on data from the on-board sensors on one vehicle, it uses cloud computing to harness data from many vehicles.

This allows the central data base to know the exact road conditions on many roads at the one time.

“Think of eHorizon as an additional, virtual sensor that networks data from various sources, assesses it intelligently and relays it to other vehicles,” said Continental engineer Anton Kloster.