Connected Driving

What does it mean and how it works

Germany wants to become one of the leading countries in the field of autonomous and connected driving. To achieve this, communication systems should be primarily developed and tested, above all, in traffic. According to this, the leading initiative of the VDA (Association of the Automotive Industry) in the area of autonomous and connected driving relies on well-interconnected large projects and increased transparency in basic research. A broad base of competencies is being built up, in order to establish Germany as the leading provider in this area. Connected driving is primarily based on the exchange of data. Data transmission is the starting point for successful communication among all road users and for safe traffic of the future.

How safe is automated and connected driving?

Completely automated ad connected driving is currently not permitted in Germany. The risk of hacker attacks or technical failures that could lead to traffic accidents is too great. Nevertheless, the technical performance of the security systems is constantly improving, so that they can guarantee traffic safety even without a cloud connection. In automated and connected driving, the technological strategy is primarily based on safety as the foremost priority. Thus, development focuses on improved redundancies, in the event that the most important sensors fail, and on developing a secure hacker wall.

Programs such as the lane keeping system and the automatic emergency braking function have reduced the accident rate by 29%, thus proving that assistance systems ensure more safety on roads. Software programs already facilitate and improve traffic today.

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With ZF Bus Connect, we ensure greater safety in bus operation and connect your fleet with a network of fault-proof technology:

Reaction in real time

Thanks to our live view function, you get real-time monitoring of your fleet on all routes:

it displays selected vehicle details and offers an extended list of vehicle information, such as driving line, geocoding, list of signals.
the dashboard supports multi-tenancy that allows the vehicle to be assigned to multiple customers.
The broad range of the features of live-view cover all necessary monitoring and diagnostic requirements.
Our vehicle inspector app saves you time and money by making it easier to identify defects, so that you can preventively avoid major damage or total failure.
The profi-driver app offers immediate display of critical system deviations from pre-configured threshold values.

Learn from the past

With our e-logbook and connected driving, you get completely transparent route history and history of the repetition of routes.

Its AI-based advanced algorithm and trip model approach can support various vehicle types (ignition signal, e-drive signal, time-based).
The logbook is integrated with an ITCS (Intermodal Transport Control System).
It informs you about the SoC (State of Charge), the current status of the battery.
It provides interfaces and APIs for IT connection with the bus to avoid double procedures.
The e-logbook provides you with detailed statistics of the individual trips, especially about: the average fuel consumption, the driving speed, the distance and duration of the trip. Connected driving gives you a complete overview of the trips of each individual vehicle in you fleet.
The trip definitions can be set individually in the master data.
As a bus operator, you have fast and easy access to historical trip data of individual vehicles in a well-organized online summary.
Moreover, you can visualize multiple trips on the map along with the relevant data.
With our e-logbook, you can check exactly how much your drivers have worked and then pay them accordingly.

Optimize operations on the basis of data

Use the real-time monitoring of vehicles by means of our digitacho (Digitaler Tachograph). It offers a detailed overview of the fuel consumption in various driving situations. In addition, it evaluates the driving performance and driving behavior of the bus driver with a final score evaluation in real time.
Get real-time proactive notifications and error messages from the vehicle inspector. With connected driving, you can keep track of all processes, even with a larger fleet.

With our assistance systems, such as e-logbook, digitacho download, consumption monitor, etc., you can digitize, optimize, and even link processes for smooth and connected driving.

Accurate forecast based on collected vehicle data

With our vehicle connectivity unit – VCU Pro, you get a single in-vehicle connectivity gateway. This allows data to be stored locally in the bus, from which they can be transmitted, as necessary.
With our ZF Bus Connect solution, the same data that are stored in the bus can be shared with the regulatory authority and you as the fleer operator. They provide the technical basis for future connectivity functions (BAV, Diagnosis, ...).

Analytics Report – customized solutions with Pro Analytics

Our connected driving solutions include a dashboard for live data with a customized BI solution for R&D and monitoring purposes.

Pro Analytics offers also predefined datasets to create self-service reports as well as user-defined analyses with raw datasets.You can manually change threshold values and warnings and create paginated reports. Export is done as XLSX or PDF.
predefined: You can manually change threshold values and warnings and create paginated reports. Export is done as XLSX or PDF.
user-defined: Using raw datasets, you can create designs and implementations of user-defined reports and define threshold values and warnings. These are also paginated and are exported in PDR or XLSX format.

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