[SystemSafety] a public beta phase ???

[Mike Ellims]

I sort of have one of these... we just brought a new(ish) Ford Mondeo (Fusion in the USA) and it has a camera in the same place the Tesla does that picks out speed signs and displays them on the dash, apparently it has lane keeping as well probably enabled via the same camera but I have no idea how to use it... 

 

Out of curiosity I went and got the manual to see what it said about some of the “driver aids”...

 

TRAFFIC SIGN RECOGNITION

Warning: The system does not relieve you of your responsibility to drive with due care and attention

Warning: At all times you are responsible for controlling your vehicle, supervising the system and intervening if required.

Warning: If the sensor becomes blocked the system may not function.

 

Note: in cold and severe weather conditions the systems may not function. Rain, snow spray and large contrasts in lighting can all prevent the sensor from functioning correctly

Note the system may not detect all traffic signs and may not read signs correctly.

Note the system is designed to automatically detect traffic signs meeting the Venna convention.

 

ACTIVE CITY STOP

Warning: You are responsible for controlling your vehicle at all times . The system does not relieve you of your responsibility to drive with due care and attention. Failure to take care may result in the loss of control of your vehicle, serious personal injury of death.

<snip>

Warning: The system does not react to cyclists, motor cyclists, pedestrians, animals or vehicles that are driving in a different direction. Failure to take care may result in  <as above>

<snip>

Warning: The system may not operate during cold or severe weather conditions <more or less as above>

Warning: The system may not operate when driving around shape curves.

Warning: The system may not operate detect objects with surfaces that absorb reflections. Failure to take care <as above>.

 

COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM

Warning: You are responsible for controlling your vehicle at all times . The system does not relieve you of...<snip>

Warning: The system does not react to cyclists, ...<snip>

Warning: The system may not operate during cold or severe weather conditions <snip>

Warning: System performance mat reduce in situations where the camera’s detection capability is limited. These situations include, but are not limited to DIORECT OR LOW SUNLIGHT, vehicles at night without taillights, unconventional vehicle types, pedestrians with complex backgrounds, running pedestrians or pedestrians which cannot be distinguished from a group. Failure to take care... <snip>

Warning: The system cannot prevent all collisions. Do not rely on this system to replace driver judgement and the need to maintain distance and speed.

 

I’ll stop there but it goes on and on and on in much the same way for every driver aid.

 

From: systemsafety [mailto:systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf Of Philip Koopman
Sent: 18 July 2016 03:57
To: Peter Bernard Ladkin; systemsafety at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de
Subject: Re: [SystemSafety] a public beta phase ???

 

On 7/18/2016 12:38 AM, Peter Bernard Ladkin wrote:

If I can step back from an unspecified level of automation and just talk about a reliable automatic speed limiter, I would imagine a few of us could see how to approach that. 
And once we've done the speed limiter, we could try doing other specific functions, one by one.


Or you could just buy a Ford S-MAX with an automatic speed limiter built in.  I found this on a 30 second web search in response to PBL's comment.  I have no idea about the safety argument for this feature. 

The point is more that all sorts of things are being automated or semi-automated in cars.  The world is changing.  This change will happen with us or without us.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2015/03/23/all-new-ford-s-max-first-to-offer-intelligent-speed-limiter-amid.html




Intelligent Speed Limiter
Breaking the speed limit can be costly in terms of escalating fines, and driving bans, as well as playing a significant role in some road accidents.  Across Europe there are more than 35,000 safety cameras, and in some countries speed limits are being reduced.

Ford Motor Company is now launching a new technology that could automatically help prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits – both when driving in their own country, and while driving abroad.

Intelligent Speed Limiter combines the functionality of two Ford technologies:

·         Adjustable Speed Limiter – enables drivers to manually set a maximum vehicle speed

·          <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJfa2HsTtlg> Traffic Sign Recognition – provides drivers with the latest detected speed limit, cancellation signs and overtaking restrictions via the instrument cluster display

Drivers can choose between speed limiting systems in the vehicle menu using the steering wheel controls, and activate them using the speed system controls. Maximum speed for Intelligent Speed Limiter can be set and then raised or lowered in 5 km/h (5 mph) increments. Between 30-200 km/h (20-120 mph) the technology utilises speed limit information from the Traffic Sign Recognition system. In vehicles equipped with onboard navigation, Intelligent Speed Limiter also uses map data for improved accuracy.

Intelligent Speed Limiter allows drivers to set a speed tolerance of up to 10 km/h (5 mph) above the detected speed limit. The system does not apply the brakes but smoothly controls engine torque by electronically adjusting the amount of fuel delivered. If the S‑MAX overruns the set maximum speed because of a downhill gradient, an alarm is sounded. Drivers can temporarily override the system by pressing firmly on the accelerator.

“Speed limiting technology was last year specified on around two-thirds of Ford vehicles for which it was available – proving popular with drivers who want to ensure they avoid incurring speeding fines by unintentionally exceeding the speed limit. Intelligent Speed Limiter makes that even easier,” said Stefan Kappes, active safety supervisor, Ford of Europe.





-- 
Phil Koopman -- koopman at cmu.edu -- www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/mailman/private/systemsafety/attachments/20160718/511d5dc1/attachment.html>