ZF has launched its S-Cam4.8 ADAS camera to enhance automated emergency braking, lane keeping and semi-automated vehicle functions. Initial OEM inclusion begins with the Nissan Rogue in the USA.
The camera, ZF said, is among the first-ever to offer the capability of a 100° horizontal field of view, and represents another important step forward in meeting future Euro NCAP 5-Star Safety Ratings and IIHS Top Safety Pick+ requirements, as well as General Safety Regulations that require increasingly stringent test protocols for safety critical systems.
“The S-Cam 4.8 will offer ZF customers the opportunity to further refine systems like automatic emergency braking for pedestrians and cyclists while offering best-in-class lane keeping system performance,” said Christophe Marnat, executive vice president and general manager of ZF’s Electronics and ADAS division.
“It will also offer the prospect of more semi-automated driving convenience functions like Highway Driving and Traffic Jam Assist, and ZF can provide these technologies across the full spectrum of light vehicles.”
ZF, in collaboration with its long-time partner Mobileye, designs, develops and delivers advanced camera systems based on Mobileye’s EyeQ4 processor for advanced object recognition technology that can be particularly effective in helping protect vulnerable road users. The hardware includes an industry-first premium three lens Tri-Cam4 version to support advanced semi-automated driving functions, adding a telephoto lens for improved long-distance sensing capabilities and a fish-eye lens for improved short-range sensing with a wider field of view.
“Mobileye continues to lead the industry as it transitions toward wider FOV cameras which enhance the capacity of automatic emergency braking to address a wider range of scenarios where objects are crossing into the car’s path or where the car is turning,” said Tomer Baba, Mobileye vice president for sensing algorithms. “The wider FOV also allows lane-keeping and lane-centering applications to better handle sharp curves.”
ZF supplies more than a dozen vehicle manufacturers globally with advanced ADAS sensor technologies including front-facing cameras, mid- and full-range radar and lidar. These technologies are designed and tested according to rigorous automotive and customer requirements. In this way, ZF is enabling vehicle manufacturers to help improve vehicle safety and to make advanced comfort functions available to their customers.
For light passenger vehicles in the near-term, ZF is focusing on Level 2/2+ systems that utilize advanced camera technologies like the S-Cam4.8 and Tri-Cam4 for leading global auto makers and will launch its co-assist Level2+ system with an as-yet unnamed major Asian auto maker later this year.
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The wider field of view of the S-Cam 4.8 has advantages especially in sharp curves or at crossroads: As the picture shows, significantly more vehicles are identified, and importantly vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists are detected.