S60 Concept: charisma with promising high-tech
Prove again the complete difference of Volvo's luxury (3/4)

Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and pedestrians detection - The S60 Concept presents a major safety innovation that, among other functions, can detect a pedestrian who steps out into the path of the car. If the driver does not respond to the danger, the car's full braking power is automatically activated to help protect the pedestrian.

The Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and pedestrian detection technology will be introduced in the all-new Volvo S60 in 2010.

Thomas Broberg, Volvo Cars safety expert explains: "Up until now, we have focused on helping the driver avoid collisions with other vehicles. Now... new sensor technology... makes it possible to advance from fifty percent to full automatic braking power."

Broberg adds: "If speed drops from 50 km/h to 30 km/h, the chance of a pedestrian's survival dramatically increases... this new technology should help the driver avoid collisions with pedestrians at speeds below 20 km/h. If the car is being driven faster, the aim is to reduce the impact speed as much as possible. In most cases, we can reduce the collision force by about 75 percent."

Collision Warning... how it works? The system consists of a new dual-mode radar unit integrated into the car's grille, a camera behind the inside rear-view mirror and a central control unit.

The radar and camera continuously monitor the road in front of the car. The radar detects objects and measure the distance to them, while the camera determines what type of objects they are.

The function is programmed to respond to cars in front that are at a standstill or moving in the same direction.

Thanks to the state-of-the-art radar, which has a widened field of vision, the unit can also detect the moving pattern of a pedestrian.

Automatic brake activation requires that the object is confirmed by both the radar and the camera. "Thanks to the state-of-the-art sensors, it is now possible to engage full braking power," explains Broberg.

But as the system is built along the same principles as the human eye, vision is impaired in the dark and in poor weather.

Rear-end collision avoidance - This technology is also beneficial in the event of rear-end impacts with other vehicles. Studies indicate that half of all drivers who drive into another vehicle from behind do not brake prior to the collision. In such cases, Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake can help entirely avoid a rear-end collision with other vehicles if the relative speed difference between the two vehicles is less than 25 km/h.

In an emergency situation, the driver first gets an audible warning with a flashing light in the windscreen's head-up display. To prompt an immediate reaction, the visual warning looks like a brake light coming on in front. If the driver does not respond and the system assesses that a collision is imminent, the car's full braking power is activated automatically. The main objective is still for the initial warning to be sufficient for the driver to brake or manoeuvre away from the hazard. Full automatic braking is an emergency measure that is only activated when the collision is imminent.

ACC - Volvo's Adaptive Cruise Control has also been upgraded with a queue assist function. The radar-based ACC maintains the set time gap to the vehicle in front, all the way down to standstill, making the system usable in slow-moving queues, with repeated starting and stopping. The previous version could not fulfil such a mission as it was not active at speeds below 30 km/h.