Delphi Automotive PLC, in association with Ottomatika, a new company focusing exclusively on automating driving functions of automobiles and other transportation, will demonstrate the full capabilities of its active safety technologies with the longest automated drive ever attempted in North America. The coast-to-coast trip was launched near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on March 22 and covered approximately 3,500 miles.
The journey, embarked on a driver-less Audi Q5, allowed Delphi engineers to gather critical data and further advance the company’s active safety technology development in this rapidly growing segment of the auto industry. During the cross-country trek, the vehicle will be challenged under a variety of driving conditions from changing weather and terrain to potential road hazards — things that could never truly be tested in a lab.
Recently demonstrated on the streets of Las Vegas at CES 2015, Delphi’s automated driving vehicle leverages a full suite of technologies and features to make this trip possible, including:
- Radar, vision and Advanced Drive Assistance Systems (ADAS)
- Multi-domain controller: High-end microprocessor to seamlessly drive multiple features and functions
- V2V/V2X: Wireless vehicle communication technology extends the range of existing ADAS functionality
- Intelligent software that enables the vehicle to make complex, human-like decisions for real-world automated driving, which include:
o Traffic Jam Assist
o Automated Highway Pilot with Lane Change (on-ramp to off-ramp highway pilot)
o Automated Urban Pilot
o Automated Parking and Valet
Delphi’s active safety technologies enable the vehicle to instantaneously make complex decisions, like stopping and then proceeding at a four-way stop, timing a highway merge or calculating the safest maneuver around a bicyclist on a city street. Many of these driving scenarios have been a limitation for much of the current technology on the market today.