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Daimler-Benz Driving Simulator Honored By Smithsonian Institution

10 June 1997

    WASHINGTON, June 10 -- Daimler-Benz was honored last night as
one of the nominees for the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in the area of
transportation.  This nomination is for the Daimler-Benz driving simulator
which is one of the most outstanding computerized research instruments in the
world.  The Daimler-Benz driving simulator permits testing of cars, trucks and
buses and their components even before a prototype is created, resulting in
shorter development time in the automotive industry and greater safety on the
road for all.
    Each year, the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program identifies and
honors men and women whose visionary use of information technology produces a
positive social, economic and educational change.  These innovators are
nominated by a committee of 100 CEOs of the country's leading information
technology companies.  All nominations become part of the Smithsonian
Institution's permanent research collection and World Wide Web site at
 http://innovate.si.edu.
    Daimler-Benz Board Member for Research and Technology Klaus-Dieter
Voehringer remarked, "When we embarked on this project in the early eighties,
the project was not without risk.  After all, nowhere in the world was there
any experience using a large facility of this kind.  Today, our driving
simulator plays a pivotal part in our product development process and in
enhancing both vehicle and traffic safety."
    This honor caps a series of recent technology announcements from Daimler-
Benz, including the first demonstration of a car with full internet access
(April 30) and an agreement with Ballard Power Systems to combine their
efforts to further develop their industry leading fuel cell engine technology
for production vehicles (April 14).

    About the Simulator
    Since 1985, Daimler-Benz has been operating the most advanced driving
simulator in the world in Berlin to research driving dynamics and handling,
test user acceptance, and conduct road safety studies.
    For example, tests in the driving simulator led researchers to the
awareness that drivers often do not brake hard enough in emergency situations
to avoid a collision.  From this, engineers developed the "Brake Assist
System," available in many 1998 Mercedes models, which provides shorter
stopping distances during emergency braking.  Another project involves an
unorthodox "joystick" driving control system which may help drivers of the
future maneuver more safely.  Featured in the widely publicized Mercedes-Benz
F200 concept car, the joystick concept could allow future cars to be designed
without a steering wheel or pedals, in itself a safety benefit.  Other
projects have studied driver behavior when entering tunnels, driving under
stress and driving while fatigued.  These often could not have been safely
conducted on an actual highway.
    The Daimler-Benz simulator has been used in more than 150 research
projects to date, including the pan-European research program PROMETHEUS
(Program for European Traffic with Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented
Safety) and America's NHSTA (National Highway Safety Traffic Administration)
in association with the German Federal Office for Roads and Traffic to
investigate the influence of pharmaceutical products on the driver.

    About Daimler-Benz
    Daimler-Benz is the world's most comprehensive provider of technologically
advanced transportation products, traffic systems and services, and has
290,000 employees and revenues of approximately $70 billion.  Daimler-Benz is
focused on the development and manufacture of Mercedes-Benz cars and
commercial vehicles, Freightliner trucks as well as rail systems, diesel
engines and microelectronics.  Daimler-Benz Aerospace builds aircraft and
space systems and Daimler-Benz InterServices provides leasing and sales
financing, mobile communications and information technologies.  North America,
where Daimler-Benz employs more than 18,000 people, is the largest regional
market outside of Europe and accounts for approximately 20 percent of
worldwide revenues.  In 1993, Daimler-Benz became the first German company to
list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: DAI).

    Image and text information available at
 http://www.daimler-benz.com/presse/foto.htm

     Smithsonian Foundation at http://innovate.si.edu

SOURCE  Daimler-Benz