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Administrator
6D Vision - Milestones of vehicle safety
The Daimler research team's 6D Vision project opens up whole new possibilities for future assistance systems that will make our roads safer for all road users. Using a stereo camera and new algorithms, 6D Vision is able to identify moving objects such as vehicles or pedestrians quickly and calculate their position as well as their moving direction and velocity. The calculation of the position (three dimensions) and motion (additional three dimensions) of relevant image points is what gave the new process the name “6D Vision”.
For extreme weather conditions
Mercedes-Benz has inaugurated two new climatic wind tunnels at its Sindelfingen site, designed to bring extreme weather conditions indoors. The opening of the new driving simulator in October 2010 marked a further important milestone. Daimler is investing over 230 million euros in cutting-edge technology at the plant, thereby safeguarding its long-term future.
New driving simulator taken into operation in Sindelfingen: Investment in cutting-edge technologies
Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Science, Research and Art, and Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Group Research and Head of Development, Mercedes-Benz Cars, ceremoniously opened the new Daimler AG driving simulator in Sindelfingen with a virtual excursion. The first milestone in the expansion of the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center has therefore been reached.
Nowhere in the world of automobile production are research, development, design, planning and production so directly intermeshed as at the location in Sindelfingen.
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With its 360° screen, fast electric power system and a twelve-metre long rail for transverse movements, the dynamic simulator is the most advanced in the automobile industry. As an equally advanced feature, part of the energy required to drive the simulator is obtained by means of energy recuperation when braking, and fed into the power network of the Sindelfingen plant.
The facility is not able or intended to replace real test drives completely, but the simulator makes it possible to test the systems and components of future Mercedes models in all development phases. The facility is not able or intended to replace real test drives completely, but the simulator makes it possible to test the systems and components of future Mercedes models in all development phases. |
The simulator cell is a hexapod mounted on six moveable supporting legs. Inside there is a complete Mercedes model in which the test driver is seated, as well as the 360° projection screen showing a realistic image of the traffic scene, with moving pedestrians, oncoming traffic and houses. The vehicle controls are linked to the computerised control system of the driving simulator by data lines. When the test driver turns the steering wheel, accelerates or operates the brakes, these reactions are registered by the computer control system and have the same effects as in real traffic situations. The scenery on the screen changes constantly, and the moving cell simulates the vehicle's attitude on the road, for example front-end dive when braking or body roll during fast cornering. |
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Daimler AG driving simulator in Sindelfingen | |
The computer calculates the driving behaviour of the car more than 1000 times per second, issuing the relevant commands to the electrics. It is able to move the cell transversely by up to twelve metres at a maximum speed of ten metres per second (36 km/h), so that e.g. double lane-changes can also be simulated.
Mercedes-Benz has played a pioneering role in the use of simulators for a long time. The first driving simulator, an in-house development, was already taken into commission at the Daimler-Benz research centre in Berlin-Marienfelde 25 years ago, on 10 May 1985.
