At the 2016 IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover, Germany, WABCO, a global supplier of technologies and components for commercial vehicles, has announced several new partnerships and launched new systems, all of which are aimed at the move towards autonomous trucks.
WABCO announced that it is working with Peloton Technology to advance an innovative system for truck platooning, integrating commercial vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and other automation technologies that further improve safety and fuel efficiency. By electronically linking two or more tractor-trailers to form virtual road-trains on highways, platooning increases fuel economy by more than 7%, up to 4.5% for the lead truck and up to 10% for following trucks, due to improved aerodynamics, according to independent evaluation by the North American Council on Freight Efficiency. WABCO will contribute to this work with its portfolio of braking, advanced stability and emergency braking systems, including predictive cruise control. Peloton will bring its proprietary platooning technologies, which are currently under testing on US highways. WABCO’s OnGuardACTIVE collision mitigation system, with its 77GHz radar sensor, is a key enabler of the platoon’s trucks. When necessary, it provides active braking to avoid or mitigate impending rear-end collisions.
WABCO reports that it has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an un-named global tier-one automotive industry supplier headquartered in Asia to bring active steering and other technologies to the commercial industry through a new joint venture (JV). The MoU sets a framework to establish a JV agreement for a new business that will develop, manufacture and sell electronically controlled active steering systems for the global truck and bus market. The JV will use WABCO’s braking, vehicle control and advanced driver assistance systems expertise, with its partner’s world-class steering system technology and capabilities. This integration will result in significant innovation for advanced safety-enabling solutions that support automated driving through intelligent control of both the longitudinal and lateral movements of vehicles.
WABCO has also joined forces with Mobileye, a global leader in advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies. They intend to develop solutions for commercial vehicles that will combine Mobileye’s leading vision system and mapping technology with the control and actuation technologies from WABCO’s portfolio of electronic braking, stability and emergency braking systems, in combination with capability for active steering control. The WABCO-Mobileye system will benefit commercial vehicle manufacturers and operators through more advanced safety capability to help reduce the risk of accidents.
WABCO introduced its OnGuardMAX advanced emergency braking system (AEBS) for trucks and buses, which provides up to full braking when confronted with both stationary and moving vehicles ahead. Equipped with state-of-the-art 77GHz radar and a high-resolution camera, OnGuardMAX detects impending rear-end collisions with vehicles ahead and alerts the driver with distinct acoustic, visual and haptic warnings, and then performs up to full braking.
WABCO has also launched its OnCity Urban Turning Assist system to help protect pedestrians and cyclists in city traffic. OnCity is a unique and convenient single-sensor solution that is the commercial vehicle industry’s first collision avoidance system that uses lidar technology for the purpose of object detection.
