Honda has announced its latest advanced driver assistance systems suite, Honda Sensing 360+, which the manufacturer calls an “omnidirectional safety and driver assistive system” that works to remove blind spots around the vehicle to aid collision avoidance and reduce the driver’s workload when driving.
Honda Sensing 360+ builds on the feature set brought by the existing Honda Sensing 360 suite of systems with the addition of a driver monitoring camera to monitor the driver’s condition and high-definition maps to control the vehicle, with the aim of reducing collisions due to health-related causes or those triggered by human error.
At a glance, the key features of Honda Sensing 360+ are:
Advanced In Lane Driving with Hands-off Capability
Active Lane Change Recommendation
Predictive Curve Departure Warning
Exit Warning
Driver Emergency Support System
Advanced In Lane Driving with Hands-off Capability helps in highway driving, where the system reduces the workload on the driver by taking over operation of the accelerator, brakes and steering to maintain vehicle speed and to stay within its lane, even while the driver takes their hands off the steering wheel.
This employs high-definition maps and global navigation satellite system to locate the vehicle’s position. This will drive the vehicle in the middle of its lane, at the preset speed when there are no other vehicles in front of it.
When there is another vehicle, the system will follow the vehicle in front while maintaining a set following distance, and it will detect the road curvature in advance and decelerate, or accelerate the vehicle according to the detected curvature of the road.
Active Lane Change Recommendation complements the aforementioned Advanced In Lane Driving with Hands-off Capability, by assessing the vehicle’s surroundings under certain conditions, and will notify the driver if it determines a lane change is possible.
The driver can then approve the recommendation to change lanes by pressing a button on the steering wheel, and the system will control the turn signal, acceleration and deceleration actions as well as steering to overtake the vehicle in front and return to its lane afterwards.
When operating in navigation mode, this system will recommend the necessary lane change based on route guidance to a destination, such as to enter the proper lane to approach a junction, or an exit lane to leave the highway. Once the driver approves, the system will automatically operate the vehicle’s movement for the entire process of the lane change.
Predictive Curve Departure Warning works to alert the driver that immediate deceleration is required to avoid the risk of carrying too much speed and leaving the road as a result. This will first provide a visual warning by displaying “Caution curve ahead” should the car be about to enter a curve at high speed, to help the driver recognise the risk.
Should the driver continue to approach the curve and reaches the point where the system deems the driver must take action to slow down, the system will emit audible warnings and visual warnings on the head-up display the alert the driver.
If the driver is about to enter the curve and immediate deceleration is required, the system will provide ‘stronger warnings’ and slow the vehicle down to reduce the risk of it leaving the road.
When the vehicle is stationary, Exit Warning can detect a vehicle approaching from behind, and the system will light an indicator on the front pillar or side mirror to alert occupants of the approaching vehicle before disembarking.
If a risk of collision with the approaching vehicle is detected from a door that is about to be opened, the system will flash an indicator and sound an audible alarm to alert the occupants of the stationary vehicle.
Should the driver of a Sensing 360+ equipped vehicle be incapable of driving due to factors such as a sudden deterioration of health, the Driver Emergency Support System will help to slow the vehicle to a stop in the same lane.
If the driver is unresponsive to the system’s handover request to retake control of the vehicle, it will escalate alarm sounds and urge the driver to respond.
If the driver continues to be unresponsive, the system will assist in slowing the vehicle to a stop, within the same lane, and alert other road users with the hazard lights and by sounding the horn. In regions where applicable, the system will connect to the Helpnet emergency call centre service to secure the driver and its occupants.
Application of Honda Sensing 360+ is planned for the Honda Accord that will go on sale in China next year, before expanding its application on a global basis, says Honda.
The post Honda Sensing 360+ ADAS – now with Predictive Curve Departure Warning; on 2024 Accord for China appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
