CESA conference : is there still a driver in the car ?

For this day 1 of CESA congress in Paris, one round table should be very popular. It's the one about autonomous cars with driving assistance systems. Many experts from PSA, Volkswagen, Bosch, Freescale, LAB (common safety lab to PSA and Renault), STMicroelectronics and TRW will discuss the evolution of ADAS.
As some OEMs (Mercedes, Volvo) announce traffic jam assistant systems and remote control in parking lots (BYD in China), in addition to innovations becoming mainstream (LDW, ACC, emergency braking), the question is : will the technology allow the car drive by itself in the future ?
The answer may be yes, but it's not only a technical issue. So, that's why you should attend to CESA 2012 and listen to top experts. For instance, Volkswagen will mention is expertise, thanks to its ERL (Electronics Research Lab) located in the Silicon Valley) with Google as a neighbour.

Towards zero accident with Volvo in 2020

By developing several new high-tech safety solutions, Volvo Car Corporation is taking a major step toward its 2020 goal that nobody should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car.
The swedish OEM research focuses on three main areas: staying safely in the current lane, avoiding accidents at crossroads and junctions, and avoiding collisions with wild animals.

The following research projects are currently under way:
- Autonomous Driving Support Intersection Support
- Animal Detection (a system that detects and automatically brakes for animals both in daylight and in the dark, a further development of the pedestrian protection system)
- Autonomous driving in traffic queues
- Autonomous Driving Support helps the driver stay in his or her lane and follow the rhythm of the traffic if queues build up.
Volvo Car Corporation's safety approach is about getting cars to behave like people. The sensors (cameras, radar) are the eyes, the computers are the brain and the brakes are the muscles.