1. PRE-SAFE brake: world premiere of the first autonomous braking system

2. Field Trials and Testing in the simulator

3. Operation and function in detail

Field trials and testing in the simulator: One million test kilometres on the road and two years in the laboratory

• Over 500 drivers test the system in Germany and the USA
  
  
• Cutting-edge test facility simulates critical on-road situations in real time
  
  
• 70 participants take part in a series of tests in the simulator

Stuttgart, Jun 21, 2006
The new radar-based safety systems for the S-Class have completed an unprecedented test programme. Mercedes-Benz has a total of 30 test cars in operation in Germany and the USA, helping to assess the technology in everyday traffic. To date over 500 drivers have cover around one million kilometres in these field trials. Cameras and computers on board the test cars log critical traffic situations and enable precise analysis of how reliably the systems work and how they support the drivers.

In the laboratory the cutting-edge “hardware in the loop” test procedure combines the advantages of field trials with those of computer simulation. Brake Assist PLUS and the PRE-SAFE® brake have completed intensive endurance tests on the test rig – in a virtual world but using data from real traffic situations. The method allows the hardware intended for use in series-produced vehicles, in other words the system components such as control units, hydraulic units and sensors, to be included in the test runs. Powerful computers feed the units with sensor data from simulated traffic situations and log the control commands with which the components respond.

This allows the control electronics of the PRE-SAFE® brake to be confronted with thousands of real traffic situations over a short period of time and, proving their reliability in the process.

As they progress towards use in series-produced vehicles, Mercedes safety systems regularly undergo an extensive test programme on the DaimlerChrysler Research simulator in Berlin. The new PRE-SAFE® brake was tested by 70 drivers here over the course of four weeks. They drove along a virtual road with queues of traffic at around 80 km/h.

After some time, the site of an accident appeared on the left-hand side of the road. The cars involved, people on the road and a police car briefly distracted the test drivers, and at this precise moment the car in front braked – at first gently, but then suddenly will full braking force. The S-Class drivers were immediately given visual and audible warnings.

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