Advanced Auto Safety Technologies to Be Explored at Detroit Conference
12 September 1997
Advanced Auto Safety Technologies to Be Explored at Detroit Conference
DETROIT, Sept. 12 -- New technologies to augment the
capabilities of drivers of diverse ages and skills will be the topic of the
1997 Automotive Enhanced Driving/Night Vision Conference at the Westin Hotel
in Detroit next Tuesday and Wednesday (September 16-17.)
The conference will bring together more than 200 experts and specialists
from industry, government, and research institutes who are developing advanced
systems to help civilian and military drivers control their vehicles in normal
driving and critical situations.
Participants will review latest technical developments, human factors
research, and progress to commercialization of systems that can provide
automatic warning and assistance to help drivers interpret and react to road
situations, especially at night or in adverse weather.
Topics will include radar and video-based devices for night vision,
collision warning, obstacle detection, rear and "blind spot" vision, and
drowsy driver detection. Also reviewed will be technologies to sense
emergency situations and automatically augment the driver's braking effort,
and systems that integrate braking, suspension, steering and powertrain
functions under difficult driving conditions.
The conference is presented by the U.S. Army's Tank-Automotive and
Armaments Command (TACOM) and its National Automotive Center (NAC), based in
Warren, Michigan, and by ERIM International, Inc., a research institute based
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
"The program is designed to bring together the researchers who are
developing new technologies and the automotive engineers who will
commercialize systems and integrate them into new vehicles," said Michael
Dudzik, director of ERIM International's automotive and transportation
programs.
"At this conference, the Department of Defense and the automotive industry
will be working together to share developments and promote commercialization
of new technologies to make driving safer," pointed out Dennis J. Wend,
director of TACOM's NAC. "Traffic accidents are the peacetime Army's leading
cause of injuries and death, so finding solutions is a dual need of defense
and commercial industry."
Conference speakers will include Dr. David E. Cole, director of the Office
for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan, Dr.
Fenner Milton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and
Chief Scientist of the Department of the Army, Phillip Howard, of the Boeing
Company, and Bob Bondurant, president of the Bondurant School of High
Performance Driving.
Technical presentations will be made by participants from Carnegie Mellon
Research Institute, Communications and Control Electronics Ltd., Daimler-Benz
AG, Delphi Automotive Systems, Dynamic Safety Resources, Eaton-VORAD
Technologies, Echelon Corporation, ERIM International, the Federal Highway
Administration, Freightliner Corporation, Motorola, Inc., OSRAM Sylvania,
Raytheon, Robert Bosch Corporation, TACOM and the Army's National Automotive
Center, Texas Instruments, UT Automotive, and the University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute.
The conference will close on Wednesday afternoon with a blue-ribbon panel
discussion by experts from auto makers and suppliers, academia, and
government, chaired by Michael Dudzik. Participating will be William Swihart,
of Eaton-VORAD Technologies, Gerdt Wanielik, Daimler-Benz AG, Scott Badenoch,
Delphi Automotive Systems, Steve Sidwell, OSRAM Sylvania, Tim Smith, UT
Automotive, Dennis Wend and Bob Bondurant.
SOURCE ERIM International
