Mercedes gets AV approval for German roads

Mercedes-Benz said it was the to start with automotive organization in the earth to fulfill the demanding legal needs of UN-R157 for a Stage 3 AV technique.

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has granted technique approval for this on the foundation of the technological approval regulation UN-R157, consequently paving the way for giving these kinds of a technique internationally, delivered that national legislation will allow it.

Germany has taken a revolutionary function in this with the opening of the Street Visitors Act (StVG) for Stage 3 systems in 2017. German customers will be ready to obtain an S-Class with Push Pilot in the to start with half of 2022, enabling them to travel in conditionally automated manner at speeds of up to 60km/h in heavy traffic or congested scenarios on ideal stretches of motorway in Germany.

The special gear requires the strain off the driver and will allow him or her to execute ancillary tasks on the central display screen these kinds of as on line procuring or processing e-mails in the in-motor vehicle place of work. The technique approval also applies to the EQS.

“For several decades, we have been performing to realise our vision of automated driving. With this LiDAR primarily based technique, we have developed an ground breaking engineering for our cars that provides customers a exclusive, luxurious driving expertise and offers them what matters most: time. With the approval of the authorities, we have now achieved a breakthrough: We are the to start with company to set conditionally automated driving into collection manufacturing in Germany,” said Mercedes CTO Markus Schaefer.

“With this milestone, we are as soon as all over again proving our revolutionary do the job in automated driving and also initiating a radical paradigm change. For the to start with time in 136 decades of automotive history, the automobile requires in excess of the dynamic driving task under specific circumstances. At the exact same time, we are happy that Germany is continuing its revolutionary function in automated driving with this approval.”

The technological approval regulation with which these kinds of a technique can be licensed came into power at the beginning of 2021. Germany was the to start with country to develop a legal foundation for the intended use of these systems.

Mercedes-Benz is at first giving Push Pilot on thirteen,191 kilometres of motorway in Germany.

As soon as there is a national legal framework for conditionally automated procedure in more marketplaces, the engineering will be rolled out step by step.

On ideal motorway sections and where by traffic density is higher, the technique can supply to just take in excess of the driving, at first up to the lawfully permitted velocity of 60km/h. The controls wanted for this are located in the steering wheel rim. The technique controls the velocity and length, and guides the automobile inside of its lane. The route profile, situations happening on the route and traffic signs are taken into consideration. The technique also reacts to unanticipated traffic scenarios and handles them independently by evasive manoeuvres inside of the lane or by braking.

Push Pilot builds on the encompass sensors of the driving support offer and comprises more sensors that Mercedes-Benz considers indispensable for protected conditionally automated driving. These include LiDAR, as properly as a digital camera in the rear window and microphones, in particular for detecting blue lights and other special indicators from emergency cars, as properly as a wetness sensor in the wheel properly.

The technique gets info about the highway geometry, route profile, traffic signs and unusual traffic situations (incidents or roadworks) from a electronic High definition map. This is manufactured offered and up-to-date by using a backend link. The S-Class also has redundant steering and braking systems and a redundant electrical technique so it stays manoeuvrable even if a single of these systems fails and the protected handover to the driver can be ensured.

If the driver fails to just take back again command even right after progressively urgent prompting and expiry of the takeover time, owing to a critical wellness trouble say, the technique brakes the automobile to a standstill in a managed way and with ideal deceleration. The hazard warning lights are activated and, as soon as the automobile has occur to a standstill, the emergency phone technique is activated and the doorways and home windows are unlocked, to make obtain to the interior simpler for to start with responders.