BMW's global launch of its new 5 series includes a new advanced driver assistance system: The advanced Lane Departure Warning. The company is the first European automotive manufacturer to provide an intelligent forward-looking camera technology for driver assistance — warning motorists before they drift inattentively across a marked lane.
The intelligent Lane Departure Warning (LDW) technology was engineered for BMW through a partnership between the automotive supplier Siemens VDO and Mobileye N.V., a world leader in the development of vision-based driver assistance systems. The two companies have collaborated over the past few years in the development and testing of the LDW system on a wide range of weather conditions, road types and lane markings. The system consists of a high dynamic range digital CMOS camera and a high performance electronic control unit with advanced algorithm technology for video based lane marking recognition.
According to statistics from the U.S. Transportation Research Board approximately 40 percent of all road fatalities occur when a single vehicle departs from the road and crashes. Rumble strips have reduced lane departure fatalities by up to 90 percent, and at times even more. "By using tactile warnings, BMW's new lane departure warning system creates an intelligent rumble strip imitation that provides drivers with an advanced lane departure warning even when there are no physical strips on the shoulder of the road,” explains Dr. Jürgen Goetz, CEO of the Chassis and Safety Division of Siemens VDO.
“The advanced LDW intelligence is superior to basic lane departure warning systems that tell you that you’re crossing the lane marking,” says Amnon Shashua, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Scientist of Mobileye N.V. “The BMW LDW prevents accidents by alerting drivers prior to lane change that they are edging close to the lane mark without using their turn signal. If you’re already crossing the line, it may be too late for a warning.” The BMW LDW vision system warns of potential lane departure by providing haptic warnings through simulated “rumble strip” vibration in the steering wheel. Lane marking availability is shown through a display in the instrument cluster and the head-up display if ordered by the customer. The LDW technology is one of the few systems that demonstrate “single lane marking availability” where a single lane marking is sufficient for detection, in contrast to systems that require lane markings on both sides. It can also detect construction areas or other situations where lane markings are ambiguous.
According to Dr. Shashua, LDW will help motorists stay safe in diverse driving conditions including monotonous highways, where driver inattention is commonplace, as well as on curved roads. The system’s warning duration varies depending on the speed that the vehicle crosses the lane marking, providing a short warning of under one second for quick lane
changes, and in the case of a very slow drift across the lane marking, the warning will be longer—even up to several seconds.
The new feature can be ordered as an option in the new BMW 5 Series.
