Braking Requirements for Optimizing Autonomous Emergency Braking Performance

Vehicle technology new developments have contributed to improve vehicle structural performance and therefore passive protection, but also the inclusion of electronic control units has provided new opportunities to expand active safety systems. This is the case for systems like anti-lock braking systems (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC) and brake assist (BA) among others. A more advanced generation of active systems includes sensorial units that monitor vehicle’s surrounding and detect potential hazards, such as an imminent collision, and performs an automatically and commanded emergency braking to lessen or mitigate the consequences of the impending accident. For this latest system, the so-called autonomous emergency braking (AEB), various consumer testing protocols, such as Euro NCAP protocols [1], propose and periodically update test catalogues in order to evaluate the performance of such systems and later to inform potential consumers.

The aim of this study is to investigate the means of improving AEB performance in terms of efficiency and driver acceptance. For this, performance of current AEB system will be studied and compared with the limits of vehicle’s braking capabilities.