The next step is the detection of obstacles

Show after show, automotive confirms his relationship passionate with electronics. In Paris, the two technologies still led new innovations, to assistance in the conduct. Edge chips do more simply remind drivers in order to complete their belt, they offer to compensate for their failures. The first is the loss of vigilance. Nissan Infinity helps the American driver to not succumb to the monotony of the "motorways". A camera in the back and another front monitor the trajectory of the vehicle from the white stripes. If he deviates, he is sanctioned coup ring or vibration in the seat. The S-class Mercedes knows the limits of human vision: thanks to its infrared headlights, the front camera brings richer images of night, that it renders on a Dashboard screen.

Valeo, for its part, will soon market a system which automatically switched code or road lights on the crosses of cars, the entry in a tunnel or the arrival in the city. The OEM, the system is performing beyond the 200 metres. At the Japan, cars offer long of cameras offering a panoramic vision, to avoid reversing a child in falling. Sensors ultrasonic integrated in the rear shield facilitate the niche by measuring the distance of garage.

The next step is the detection of obstacles. Honda already offers two cameras, which identify pedestrians by stereoscopy, invoiced equipment 5,000 euros. European laboratories are working on a system, but at more competitive rates of a few hundred euros. Reluctant on these complex systems, equipment suppliers and manufacturers finance now work under the threat of a European directive. The commission has actually imposed the generalization of pedestrians for 2011 detectors.

The first generation of this system is based on the analysis of images provided by a frontal camera. In France, the more involved research laboratory is CEA-List. Its Director, Riadh Cammoun, to the challenge. Its researchers first optimized image interpretation software to minimize the performance required of the associated calculator. Laurent Letellier, CEA, explains that the software is ten times less greedy than at the beginning of the project. He correctly identifies pedestrians and surrounds them immediately by a red rectangle on the visualization of the driver. It uses for this recognition of the contours of pedestrians in infrared image. Computing efforts now on the reduction of the rate of false alarms, which shall not exceed an erroneous detection per day. "In the car, philosophy is to not disturb the driver with reports of false pedestrians." We prefer to miss a few alerts to lose his confidence. "These systems are designed as an aid: the driver wants to remain master of the vehicle", explains Joël Lelevé, Director of research at Valeo driving assistance.

Researchers at the ECA with the help of STMicroelectronics now end point of the camera and its associated calculator. "The goal is to achieve a complete equipment does not exceed the centimeter in width", according to Laurent Letellier. A sacred challenge, knowing that the initial system was 30 centimetres wide. Further recognition pedestrians, these systems provide other functions less sophisticated as the follow-up to the white lines or the detection of blind spots. In parallel, other equipment promise to invade vehicles such as the multimedia systems or communication terminals. Longer term, researchers announce even more sophisticated sensors such as radar or laser LiDAR.

A sacred asset

Many engineers in the industry wonder of the explosion of these new features while the car has not yet digested his "electronic". On average, the electronics weighs 20 of the price of a car. The cars are between 30 and 70 computers, who manage up to 2.500 functions. A single engine control represents 250,000 lines of code and 2 megabytes of memory. The vascular system of a modern automobile, it is also 5 km of cables, one of the major sources of trouble, said Christian ball, Assistant to the Director of the electronic advanced in Renault.

Yet, air or rail, automobile is on the edge in the embedded computing. A few years ago, cars were still a calculator function. The number of cases, since that time, was reduced, and a function can be divided in several sensors. Thus, a part of the air conditioning can be found in motor control. Manufacturers recognize the need to go further and stabilize the number of computers, which implies a higher concentration of functions. For two reasons: "bus addressing capacity is limited, and also to the place", summarizes Christian ball.

Manufacturers believe to be the same small revolution as aircraft manufacturers, become integrators. This is more to add equipment, but to merge them. In particular, when new functions include mechanical systems, it is the field in vogue of Mechatronics. However, for the moment, only the ABS enjoys a good integration: his block is in one hand with the pump, the solenoid valve and its calculator. Among the future building, talking about the removal of the steering column, costly space. "He must expect changes in the distribution of masses and volumes." "The appearance of the cars should change", argues Christian ball. French industrialists to developed an asset for their part in investing in the pole Systematic in the heart of the challenge of automotive electronics.