Intelligent cars for a safer tomorrow: Mercedes-Benz

The automobile industry is going absolutely head-over-heels in making cars so intelligent that cars developed by Mercedes-Benz "Intelligent Drive" will be able to appear for an IIT-JEE competition paper on its own! The “Intelligent Drive” program is a bag of sophisticated networking of systems, sensors and algorithms for vehicular comfort and safety.

International models like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Plug-In Hybrid and the new Mercedes-Benz C 350 e are an example of combined dynamism and efficiency. The reason for focussing so much on safety is because human life is precious and manufacturers are taking it on themselves to ensure occupants are relaxed while travelling in their products.

A sea of technically advanced systems and smart sensors has made newer Mercedes-Benz cars much safer and comfortable. The intelligent operating strategy working on Plug-In Hybrid models very smartly handles the interaction of internal-combustion engine and the electric motor in the background. And it is not just keeping an eye on the battery charge status, but the system also anticipates the road or traffic conditions on its own. Superior electronics in the vehicle sensing technology features multi-stage radar sensors and enhanced cameras employed for this job. Efficiency controls like haptic accelerator pedal help drivers save fuel under certain driving situations.

But the most attention is grabbed by the company’s autonomously driving research vehicle F 015 Luxury in Motion. This is the future of motoring through “Intelligent Drive” by the company. A car that will take you to your destination in absolute comfort and safety without you on the driver’s seat! With this concept it may be concluded that the motor car's role has evolved from a means of transport to a comfortable retreat. But the few with a tiny beacon of the love of driving may not despair, as they can choose at any time whether they wish to drive themselves, of course with support of intelligent systems.

The amount of time you spend inside a car will be shifted from steering, accelerating and braking to having a pleasant conversation with the occupants. Hence raises the need to drastically transform the interior! Six high-resolution displays are installed along the interior, in the dashboard, the back and sides of the car so that occupants may interact with their F 015 by eye-tracking, gesture control or touching the screens.

This will provide them information about the surrounding environment, use the entertainment system or make video calls. The massive change to the interior is the variable seating system which incorporates four rotating lounge chairs inside the vehicle. This face-to-face configuration for all passengers will allow them to communicate with each other and enjoy the mobile living space while being driven by your car.

But some connection with the outside world is necessary when you are in a car. For this purpose, the F 015 has high-resolution sensor technology which continuously scans the outside to bring some effective communication between the car, the passengers and the world outside. The interactive LED fields at the front and rear and the high-precision laser system informs the driver of specific traffic conditions at an early stage.

Mercedes-Benz boldly announced that it will bring out 10 new Plug-In Hybrid models by 2017 in its portfolio. Plug-In Hybrid system is based on the company's modular parallel hybrid system. These will come with a common system-specific feature as the additional clutch integrated between the combustion engine and the electric motor. It decouples the combustion engine while running on battery power, and allows it to use the combustion engine to move off, drawing on the performance of a wet start-up clutch.

Prof. Dr Herbert Kohler, Head of Group Research & Sustainability, Daimler AG, states "Every Mercedes-Benz already incorporates a great deal of intelligence. This makes our cars among the safest in the world. And the drive system also benefits from the intelligent sensor technology on board. The anticipatory operating strategy spawns noticeable improvements in the efficiency of plug-in hybrids, for example".