Magna showcases self-driving car tech

Magna international has begun work on developing autonomous car tech in a bid to reduce fatalities on the road.  Magna’s self-driving car tech is a group of various small systems some out of which are already available on production vehicles sold globally while some are concepts which could be adapted for production vehicle use.

Magna has developed an all-in-one product that comes with a VGA imager, an image processor and a co-processor system called Gen 2.0. This system detects objects, traffic signs, lane markings and light sources and also determines the threat level that issues a warning inside the vehicle using chimes and displays to alert the driver of a pending or upcoming collision. This product is part of Magna’s EYERIS technologies which also includes Lane Departure Warning System, Lane Keeping Assist, Forward collision warning system, Adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition system.  Some of the vehicles that use these technologies are Cadillac SRX Crossover, the Honda Accord sedan, Chevrolet Malibu and Impala to name a few.

Here’s some more info about the above mentioned systems that are part of the EYERIS technologies portfolio at Magna.

Lane Departure Warning System: This system (pictured above) is already in use on various production vehicles sold in international markets. This system ensures the vehicle stays between the two lanes marked on the road. It works on various road surfaces and has the ability to recognize road markings globally regardless of the colour, especially the blue lane markers used in countries like Korea or the raised pavement markers in some countries and even the yellow lane markings used in North America.

Lane Keeping Assist: This system works only on vehicles that come with a standard EPS (Electric power steering system) or electro-hydraulic steering systems.  The Lane Keeping Assist system works in conjunction with the Lan Departure Warning system; it is a radar based system that helps the vehicle to stay in its lane at a particular speed.  This system is activated when the Radar-based cruise control is on and this system senses the vehicle deviating from its lane, the system ensures the vehicle stays on course near the centre of the lane and if required it applies a small amount of counter steering force.

Forward Collision warning system: This system also works with the Radar-cruise control system. This system can work on all vehicles including two-wheelers and can be customized as per the OEM need.  It also has a pedestrian forward collision warning system available on demand.  This system scans the road ahead and gives warnings to the driver incase of the vehicle ahead suddenly stops so that the driver is alerted before hand in order to avoid a collision.

Adaptive Cruise Control system: This system is widely used on various mainstream vehicles sold globally. This system is again camera / radar based and is affordable solution that can be applied to various high volume vehicle segments globally.  The Adaptive Cruise control system when activated senses the speed of the vehicle ahead of you and calculates the safe distance between two vehicles and maintains the speed between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead. As the vehicle ahead moves faster or slower, the adaptive cruise control system increases or decreases its speed accordingly.  This system can even help bringing the vehicle to a stop if the vehicle ahead decides to do so.