Bosch, the global supplier of automotive technology and services, is set to expand its range of driver assistance systems in the years to come and will play a growing role in guiding vehicles through traffic jams. The traffic jam assistant will brake, accelerate and steer completely autonomously and will step in when the vehicle is moving at speeds of up to 50km/h and will operate in most stop-and-go traffic situations. The first generation of the traffic jam assistant is expected to enter series production in 2014.

“The traffic jam assistant helps drivers arrive more relaxed at their destination, even in dense traffic,” says Gerhard Steiger, president of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division.



A step closer to autonomous driving



In the next few years the traffic jam assistant will be enhanced to cover even faster speeds and more complex driving situations. ‘Eventually the traffic jam assistant will serve as a highway pilot, making fully autonomous driving a reality’, according to Bosch.

Today, Adaptive Cruise Control already tracks vehicles ahead and adapts the distance and speed of the vehicle accordingly. Acting in combination with the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) system and with the additional support of lane-detection cameras and electromechanical steering, this forms the technical basis for autonomous driving. Automatic lane changing is the next logical step and calls for two additional features including a rear-mounted radar sensor that detects fast-moving vehicles and a dynamic navigation map which keeps the driver informed of current roadwork sites and local speed limits. Although drivers remain responsible for driving, they can limit themselves to monitoring the actions of the driver assistance system.

However, two major challenges remain, with the first being-inner city driving, since automated vehicle functions have to deal with dense traffic involving a large number of road users travelling in every direction. Secondly, a concept needs to be developed to ensure that the system’s functions operate reliably in all types of driving situations.



“Fully autonomous driving will come about one step at a time,” Steiger says.