A solution that achieves a comparably high reliability than available multi-signal systems will make several driver assistance functions affordable for all vehicle classes, the company claims. For the system that meets safety level ASIL B in the ISO 26262 ranking, Bosch uses its latest model stereo video camera that currently is the smallest implementation of such a device on the world market. The system is already available at the market - Land Rover offers the camera-based emergency assistance system in its new Discovery Sport as standard. For the development, both companies worked closely together.

If the camera detects other vehicles ahead in the same lane, the system prepares for an emergency braking. In the case the driver does not react, the system automatically carries out a full emergency braking. The system seems to be rather effective: The Land Rover Discovery Sort received good marks in the AEB city and AEB interurban categories of the Euro NCAP test. To achieve the highest valuation of five stars, cars must have a forward-looking pedestrian protection from 2016 onwards. Such as system can also be implemented with the video camera at hand, Bosch said.

Besides the emergency brake assistant, the Discovery Sport comes with several more camera-based driver assistance systems from the German supplier. They include traffic sign recognition and a lane departure warning system.

The camera itself features a horizontal viewing angle of 50 degrees. Its 3D image sensing capability covers up to 50 meters of distance. Its spatial acquisition enable the downstream image processor to compute the distance to the vehicle ahead. The two highly sensitive image sensors in CMOS technology have a resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels and can acquire images even ath very high contrast. The downstream processor (which is also integrated in the camera box - is flexible enough to integrate additional software and functions. With these features Bosch regards the camera as an important building block for