Continental's Active Passive Integration Approach (APIA)

Shapes the car of the future to help prevent accidents and to mitigate injuries

DETROIT, March 9 -- Addressing the SAE World Congress today on advances in vehicle safety, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board Continental AG Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart said, "We are in the midst of a revolution in active and passive vehicle safety systems. We will be able to link the information generated both by existing systems and those yet to come and put them to the task of saving lives."

"The car of the future will have electronic reflexes that will network both active and passive vehicle safety systems, and will provide operating support to the driver by monitoring traffic situations, recognizing circumstances that require responsive action, and initiating staged hazard response strategies."

Ziebart pointed out that on average, one person is killed every minute in car crashes around the world -- more than half a million deaths annually. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in the year 2002, there were 42,815 auto-related deaths and nearly 3 million auto-related injuries in the U.S. alone.

Continental's primary focus is crash avoidance, along with the potential reduction of fatalities and injuries on the highways of the world. Electronics are the key to delivering a much higher-functioning vehicle in the future.

"Today, vehicles have equipment that can help prevent crashes from happening. Sophisticated anti-lock brake systems (ABS) with brake assist functions, active rollover protection (ARP) and adaptive cruise control (ACC) give the driver greater control over the forward dynamics of the vehicle. And, by intervening automatically, modern electronic stability control (ESC) systems can help prevent a large number of accidents caused by a vehicle reaching its lateral handling limits. As we move forward, these electronic control systems are becoming networked with other vehicle components."

Ziebart explained that focusing on passive systems such as airbags and seat belts to reduce the severity of injuries once accidents occur is important, but active systems like ABS, ESC, ARP, ACC and lane departure systems (including lane departure warning and lane keeping support (LKS)) must be of equal focus so accidents can be prevented in the first place.

Continental's Active Passive Integration Approach (APIA) project has the objective of linking existing active systems such as ABS, ESC, ARP, ACC, LKS and passive systems such as restraint systems, seat adjusters and window controls into an integrated network. Continental also plans to provide for future active and passive safety components that may be added in the future, such as road sign detection. This centrally-controlled system will allow the driver to recognize and master impending hazards and to use what time is available to minimize the risk of injury if an accident becomes unavoidable.

"We've based our APIA project on data interchange among all systems collecting information on the activities of the driver, the behavior of the vehicle and the status of the driving environment," said Ziebart. "This also allows us to eliminate redundant sensors that are duplicated in the various systems. For example, the same yaw rate sensor in the ESC system can also provide the signals for ACC or side airbags."

The key component of APIA is the Danger Potential Calculator that detects traffic hazards and determines the probability of an accident for the current traffic situation and, if necessary, initiates a staged hazard response to protect the vehicle's occupants and other road users.

These new systems are not "gadgets" or "accessories" that complicate the driving experience, but rather enrich it. The safety advances that the "smarter vehicles" bring are crash avoidance benefits. Active and passive safety measures must be networked in order to reach the objective we all seek -- the avoidance of crashes, if possible, and when crashes are not avoidable, significant reduction of fatalities and injuries.

With 2002 sales of approximately $12 billion (US), Continental AG is a major supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical rubber products. Continental Automotive Systems' North American operation is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich. For additional information, visit these websites: www.conti-online.com and www.contitevesna.com .