Four brands ADAS system cross review traditional car companies to catch up with Tesla

Car Stuff

Wen? |James

Car Stuff, Jan. 21 - In recent years, major car companies around the world have been developing ADAS (Level L1/2 Autopilot) systems, and one of the most important parts of these systems is the Lane Keeping Assist and Lane Departure Warning systems.

However, the driver assistance systems of different automakers vary in function and use, so how exactly can these systems assist driving, and can they improve driving safety? Recently, the foreign media Digital?Trends on Honda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla and other car companies, such as lane-keeping assist and lane departure warning system conducted a side-by-side review, to facilitate everyone to understand the role of different car companies and differences in the role of safety assistance systems.

Car Stuff compiled the review from Digital?Trends, a foreign media company, with slight deletions without changing the original intent of the article.

I. The two main lane-assist features available today

Lane-keep assist and lane-departure warning are new automotive features that have appeared in recent years. Lane-departure warning systems can alert drivers when a car is drifting out of its lane, while lane-keep assist corrects the direction of the car's travel and prevents it from pulling out of the lane. These systems often work in conjunction with other safety systems*** in the vehicle, such as with adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking, and can enhance the safety of the vehicle on the road.

Lane departure warning systems operate by scanning the roadway in real time to recognize the location and direction of the lane. If the car strays from its lane position, the vehicle can beep or display a warning message to alert the driver, and the alert will stop only after the driver corrects the driving lane.

The Lane Keeping Assist feature automatically corrects the lane and is therefore a development of the Lane Departure Warning System. This feature is implemented in two different ways, one of which involves braking on one side of the vehicle, which allows the car to steer due to the different speeds of the left and right tires.

The other is direct intervention in the vehicle's steering system, which allows for fine-tuning of direction in the event of a lane departure, or full intervention in the steering system in the event of danger of loss of control. Certain automatic steering systems can assist the driver in smoothing out turns on the highway, and there are also lane-keeping assist features like those offered by Tesla and Mercedes-Benz that can directly help the driver change lanes.

However, these lane-keeping features aren't perfect, and they don't yet completely replace driver operation, so it's still up to the driver to stay focused while driving.

Two, Honda Lane Departure Suppression System

Most of Honda's models are now fitted with Lane Keeping Assist or Lane Departure Warning. In addition, Honda has developed the Lane Departure Inhibition System, a feature that also monitors lane drift, alerting the driver via steering wheel vibration and dashboard warning lights at the same time if the driver's inattention causes the lane to drift.

With Lane Departure Inhibition, the steering wheel works on its own to correct the lane. If the lane drift is too severe, the vehicle can brake to maintain its original lane. Honda says the Lane Departure Inhibition feature is an upgrade to the Lane Keeping Assist feature, and also works at any time, allowing for a wider range of scenarios than the Lane Departure Warning feature.

▲Honda's Lane Departure Suppression System

Some Honda models also come with the LaneWatch blind-spot display system, which has a camera mounted on the passenger-side mirror. When the driver is changing lanes or making a right turn, what the camera captures is presented on the center display. This feature reduces the visual dead space in the vehicle caused by the small angle of the rearview mirror, and can assist the driver in improving driving safety.

Three, Infiniti DAS Steer-by-Wire System

Infiniti's DAS Steer-by-Wire System minimizes the impact of the road on the steering wheel. With DAS Steer-by-Wire, the steering wheel won't shake or drift on uneven roads, inclined surfaces, or in windy conditions, and DAS Steer-by-Wire can also be used in conjunction with Lane Keeping Assist to help correct the vehicle's course and keep it in the center of the lane.

▲Infiniti DAS Steer-by-Wire Diagram

In addition, Infiniti also equips some models with Active Lane Control (ALC), which keeps the vehicle in the center of the lane at all times. However, Infiniti's DAS steer-by-wire system and Active Lane Control (ALC) do not work together, but are two separate systems.

Four, Mercedes-Benz Steering Wheel Control System

Mercedes-Benz offers Lane Keeping Assist for many of its models, a system that brakes individual wheels. Because of the difference in wheel speed, the car can steer slightly to drive back into the lane.

▲Mercedes-Benz Steering Wheel Control System

In addition, Mercedes-Benz has a steering wheel control system that keeps the car in the center of the lane. Both of these features can intervene to assist at speeds of up to 124 mph (about 198 km/h), which goes a long way toward improving driving safety. The steering wheel control system relies heavily on lane recognition to keep the car in the center of the lane, as well as to follow the vehicle in front of it.

Mercedes-Benz's Steering Wheel Control also assists drivers of approaching other vehicles. When a steering wheel control system-equipped vehicle pulls into the blind spot of an approaching other vehicle, the vehicle will allow the steering wheel control system to intervene to move the vehicle out of the other vehicle's blind spot.

V. Tesla Autopilot

Tesla's Autopilot has attracted a lot of attention. Currently, Tesla already has the function of automatically assisted navigation and driving, and the vehicle can change lanes in advance before arriving at the intersection. In addition, Auto-Assist Lane Change can automatically assist in changing lanes on the highway.

▲Tesla Autopilot

For these two autopilot functions, Tesla suggests that drivers should hold the steering wheel tightly and be ready for manual intervention.

Currently, most lane-keeping assist systems assist the driver in staying in the lane, but Tesla's Autopilot automatically assists the driver with the ability to also change lanes when needed.

Conclusion: assisted driving? Enhancing safety

Lane Keeping Assist and Lane Departure Warning can enhance the driving experience in a number of ways, as well as keep drivers safe in critical moments. These two technologies have been in development for years, and many automakers have been developing iterations with more features and improved safety.

As autonomous driving technology continues to improve, Lane Keeping Assist will become one of the many "capabilities" of autonomous driving, rather than a selling point for cars. In the future, vehicle safety assistance will be more comprehensive and more user-friendly.

This article was written by the author of Automotive Home, and does not represent the views of Automotive Home.