Audi piloted driving research car displays social manners

Audi, which is among the automakers playing a leading role in the field of piloted driving, has reported that its latest research car, the Audi A7 piloted driving concept nicknamed ‘Jack’, has not only learned how to autonomously perform all of its driving manoeuvres on the expressway but also how to show consideration for other road users.

Jack exhibits a driving style that is adaptive to the given situation, safe and especially interactive – a research car with social competence. According to Audi, Jack is now driving more naturally. This is illustrated by the way it confidently deals with hazardous points on the road. Jack now passes trucks with a slightly wider lateral gap. It also signals upcoming lane changes by activating the turn signal and moving closer to the lane marking first – just like human drivers would do to indicate their intentions.

Jack’s cooperative attitude is especially apparent when other vehicles want to merge into the lane, such as on an expressway. Here the test car decides – based on the selected driving profile – whether to accelerate or brake, depending on which is best suited to handling the traffic situation harmoniously for all road users. Another new feature: Upon request, the navigation system can compute a route with the largest proportion of piloted driving sections.

The super brain of piloted driving is the central driver assistance controller, or zFAS. It uses state-of-the-art, high-performance processors to evaluate the signals from all sensors in real-time and create a model of the car’s surroundings. This model represents the prevailing traffic situation as accurately as possible. It lets the zFAS calculate upcoming maneuvers in advance, taking a look into the future, so to speak.

Piloted driving offers greater safety, more efficient utilisation of the transportation infrastructure and more relaxation time for the driver. Audi says it has already derived systems for assisted driving from the tested technologies. The German carmaker is currently offering production car technologies such as the function for assisted driving in traffic jams in the A4 sedan and Q7 SUV.