Continental Develops Intelligent Solutions for Automated Driving in the City

Up to now, when people talk about automated driving, they usually mean assisted driving on the highway or highway-like routes. "Parked and narrow streets, cyclists and pedestrians who also use the roadway or cross it, traffic lights or roundabouts – in the city, traffic is many times more complex. Continental has brought together and further developed prototype technologies under defined boundary conditions that also enable automated driving in urban environments," says Marc Simon, one of the project managers for @CITY at Continental. The innovations developed as part of the joint project bring automated mobility in the city much closer.

This is made possible, for example, by merging data from a car's environmental sensors – such as the front camera, surround-view cameras, long- and short-range radars, and lidar – with other external data. This allows digital maps or weather and traffic information to be used to further sharpen the vehicle's "senses". This enables the vehicle's electronics to determine the exact position of the car, for example, independently of external sources such as a GPS – an essential prerequisite for being able to react optimally in unclear or critical situations.

But it is not only its own position that an automated vehicle needs to know precisely, but also that of all other road users around it: especially cyclists and pedestrians. As an additional technological pillar, Continental has developed an infrastructure sensor concept that recognizes weaker road users even when they encounter other objects – such as a parked truck or an advertising pillar. This involves installing additional sensor technology at neuralgic, unclear urban junctions such as intersections, which reports road users to the vehicle via radio technology. This is a measure that significantly increases safety, especially in unclear situations. Prototypes of these systems are already being tested in Frankfurt during regular trips on public roads.