Combined Sensor Power for Autonomous Vehicles

Cameras are indispensable for object detection. They supply the vehicle with the necessary information by using artificial intelligence to detect objects, such as pedestrians or garbage cans, along the side of the road. Furthermore, the camera’s greatest strength is that it can measure angles precisely. This allows the vehicle to recognize early on whether an approaching vehicle will turn. If city transport requires a wide angle of vision to record pedestrians and traffic, a long range of up to 300 meters and a narrow angle of vision are necessary on highways. ZF’s broad assortment of different camera systems is important for adaptive cruise control, for the automated emergency braking system and the Lane Keeping Assist function.

Unlike cameras that passively record image information, radar systems are an active technology. These sensors emit electromagnetic waves and receive the “echo” that is reflected back from the surrounding objects. Radar sensors can therefore determine, especially, the distance and the relative speed of these objects with a high level of accuracy. That makes them ideal for maintaining distances, issuing collision warnings or for emergency brake assist systems. Another decisive benefit of radar sensors, compared to optical systems, is that they function regardless of weather, light or visibility conditions because they use radio waves. That makes them an important component in the sensor set. Like its camera systems, ZF also offers a broad assortment of sensors with different ranges and opening angles (beam width) The imaging Gen21 Full Range Radar, for example, is a good option for highly automated and autonomous driving due to its high resolution.

Lidar sensors also apply the echo principle, however, they use laser pulses instead of radio waves. That’s why they record distances and relative speeds equally as well as radar, but recognize objects and angles with a much higher level of accuracy. This is also a reason why they oversee complex traffic situations in the dark very well. Unlike cameras and radar sensors, the angle of view is not critical because lidar sensors record the 360-degree environment of the vehicle. The high-resolution 3D solid state lidar sensors from ZF can also display pedestrians and smaller objects three dimensionally. This is very important for automation as of level 4. The solid-state technology is considerably more robust than previous solutions due to the lack of moving components.

“It is good to see that solid-state lidar is hitting the road together with our partner Ibeo. And we have shown here on the Consumer Electronics Show the new full-range radar. That is a high-resolution radar technology that overcomes limitations of previous generations”, says Martin Randler. He is Director Sensor Technologies and Perception System.

As its advertising slogan “see. think. act.” implies, ZF’s technological solutions allow vehicles to see. In addition, the company equips vehicles with the “Sound.AI” application so they can also hear. The system recognizes, among other things, approaching emergency vehicles, such as police cars, ambulances and fire trucks, by their acoustic signals. When fitted with Sound.AI, the vehicle will also subsequently pull over to the side of the road.

Combined into one sensor set, the above-mentioned technological solutions also prevent blind spots from emerging when perceiving the vehicle’s surroundings, even in complex situations. To merge the sensor information from the lidar, radar and camera systems to create one complete picture, a “brain” is also needed. ZF’s solution to this is its “ProAI RoboThink” computer. It is currently the world’s most powerful mainframe computer in the automotive industry. Once vehicles are equipped with this artificial brain, drivers will soon be able to close their eyes or do something else and leave the driving up to their autonomous vehicles. This is not science fiction, says engineer Gollewski: “Our concentrated sensor power can already help cover future requirements through fully integrated technologies.”