Car Radar Is Something To Be Seen

Autos could avoid accidents with ultra-wideband technology

March 18, 2002

WASHINGTON: ASSOCIATED PRESS: "The scene on the video is familiar to anyone who has navigated a supermarket parking lot: A man gets into his car to leave and an absent-minded shopper abandons a cart behind the vehicle. The driver, unaware, begins to back up.

Normally, the next scene would show the car hitting the cart. But in this DaimlerChrysler AG video, the car stops just before hitting the car -- even though the driver never applies the brakes.

He doesn't need to.

An onboard computer does it for him, with help from a radar system mounted on the bumper that uses "ultra-wideband" technology.

DaimlerChrysler and other automakers have been experimenting with the technology, and the Federal Communications Commission recently gave them the green light to put it on the road.

"It's going to allow us to move forward with a system that will help avoid collisions and will detect pedestrians and other objects or other hazards," said Dennis Fitzgibbons, director of public policy for DaimlerChrysler. "These are things we hope to make available as quick as we possibly can."

Instead of traditional radio sine waves, ultra-wideband radio broadcasts millions of digital pulses each second over a wide spectrum of frequency bands at very low power.

A transmitter and receiver on the front and rear bumpers are coordinated to send and receive pulses with an accuracy of trillionths of a second. The result: the radar can "see" the location, size and distance of objects in the vehicle path and tell an onboard computer to react before the driver can.

The applications could extend well beyond supermarket parking lots. The sensors might detect a child running behind a minivan backing out of the family driveway and prevent a tragedy.

Or the sensors might measure the speed and angle of a drunken driver swerving into the car's lane. The computer could tense the seat belt and deploy the air bag to the appropriate level to reduce injuries.

"Through sensors, vehicles sharing the road in the more distant future would be able to speak to each other," said Ford Motor Co. spokeswoman Sara Tatchio. "The possibilities are amazing."

Roy Sumner, vice president of the transportation engineering firm PB Farradyne Inc., said researchers are examining whether the technology can be used to determine a driver's body size and position in front of the air bag to adjust its deployment rate. Or if it could update the onboard mapping system as the vehicle passes new landmarks.

"These are all products under development, but they aren't things you can buy," Sumner said. "It's a useful tool that's potential hasn't been realized yet."

Many consumer advocates are unfamiliar with how the technology will affect auto safety. But some are skeptical.

"Often these new technologies over-promise safety benefits," said Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "They may perform great on the test track, but they often fall flat on a real highway."

It's also unclear whether drivers will embrace technology that removes some of the human element from driving. Automakers say the driver still will control the vehicle and the technology will serve only as an aid.

Still, they believe the sensors will be so accurate, and the computer so reliable, that vehicles won't react to objects that don't pose a danger. So, for example, the technology would apply the brakes to keep a vehicle that is parallel parking from bumping another car, but would recognize when other objects -- such as light posts and street signs -- are not in the vehicle's path.

Likewise, if a driver is applying the brakes while approaching people in a crosswalk, the system will not interfere. But if the system detects the vehicle is approaching too quickly, the brakes could be applied automatically.

DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Renault, Audi, Ford, Volvo and several automotive suppliers worked together to encourage FCC approval of ultra-wideband for automobiles. The commission voted last month to allow vehicles and some other commercial applications to use these radar systems without a license.

Other applications for ultra-wideband would allow a home computer to network with other appliances in the home, or detect objects behind a wall, buried underground or even inside the human body. The military has used the technology to "see through" trees and beneath ground surfaces.

Automakers have been secretive about their specific plans for introducing ultra-wideband technology in their vehicles for competitive reasons. But industry officials say most of the development is already complete and the FCC's decision will allow the technology to be introduced in the next couple of years.

Some vehicles already use radar to detect objects in a vehicle path, but the measurements are less precise and are not integrated with vehicle mechanics. The systems simply warn the driver that an object is approaching, either with beeping sounds or a dashboard light.

Those systems can cost $2,000 to $3,000, but ultra-wideband technology will start at about half that cost, industry sources said.