The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) hosted a ride and drive demonstration event at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. this week to showcase the development and deployment of a host of vehicle safety systems – especially truck-focused safety technologies such as automatic emergency braking (AEB).
“We think it’s important for legislators, regulators, and advocacy groups to come to a demonstration like this to see what these technologies can do – and what they can’t do,” Fred Andersky, director of customer solutions & marketing for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, explained to Fleet Owner at the event.
“We want them to understand such technologies, to experience them in action, before they decide to mandate them,” he added. “And from an educational standpoint, it’s good to know what’s out there.”
Bendix demonstrated its Wingman Fusion AEB system, which “fuses” forward-looking camera and radar technology together to provide what Andersky called “more robust” interventions with fewer false alerts and false interventions.
Bendix also showed off an automatic parking brake system dubbed “E-Park” that is currently under development; a technology that uses a sensor array in the driver’s seat to automatically engage a bus or truck parking brake if the driver leaves his or her seat without applying it, thereby preventing rollaway and runaway crashes.
[To view photos of MEMA’s event click here.]
Rebecca Carter, Bendix’s product manager for E-Par, said the system is currently undergoing a battery of real-world tests that will continue through 2017. She expects the technology to be commercially available in 2018.
Other technologies displayed at MEMA’s ride and drive event included:
- Bosch showed off its AEB system at the event; a system equipped with a “predictive pedestrian protection” feature that prevents passenger car collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists.
- The company also debuted its brand-new “home park assist” package at MEMA’s event; technology that allows car owners to park their vehicles via their smart phones, from up to 100 meters away.
- Continental showed off its AEB package, backup assist technology, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications array for passenger cars.
- Delphi displayed its V2V offering as well as “predictive software” feature that allows safety systems to “learn” from experience.
- The company also demonstrated how its new driver state monitor systems, using three infrared cameras, detects and issues alerts when drivers sow signs of fatigue and/or distractive behavior while behind the wheel.
- Magna Electronics showed off its AEB and rear-view camera technologies, as well as cybersecurity protections to prevent the hacking of various vehicle systems.
- Valeo demonstrated its “Sightstream” camera monitoring system on a vehicle at the ride and drive; a system that replaces the traditional rear-view mirror with cameras.
- The company also displayed its Park4U automatic parking assist system at the event.
- ZF TRW brought its pedestrian-tuned AEB package to the MEMA demo, along with its automated emergency steering control system.
