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Continental's Sensor Identifies the Vehicle's Precise Position within its Lane

17th November 2011

ES Admin

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By fusing driving dynamics sensor information with GPS data, Continental, the international automotive supplier, will make it possible in future to determine the precise position of a vehicle within its lane. The new M2XPro (Motion information 2 X Provider) sensor uses an intelligent fusion algorithm to provide other control units with a vehicle's motion information together with a precise time base. The ability to determine the vehicle's position precisely is essential, particularly for Car2X communication; to date, driving dynamics sensors or GPS have lacked sufficient precision and reliability, for example because the GPS connection was occasionally interrupted when crossing bridges or driving between high buildings. Since the vehicle's precise position is needed for all Car2X functions, the M2XPro has taken us an important step further in the development of Car2X systems, said Dr. Peter Rieth, Head of Systems & Technology in Continental's Chassis & Safety Division.

M2XPro can easily be integrated into the vehicle

Many driving dynamics sensors, such as inertial sensors for acceleration and yaw rate, wheel speed sensors and steering angle sensors, are already present in vehicles which are fitted with ESC, allowing the vehicle's movements to be recorded and its relative position to be determined with great precision. M2XPro combines the data from these sensors with the GPS data which acts as an external reference for determining the vehicle's absolute position. The sensor fusion within the M2XPro checks the plausibility of all the vehicle's drive dynamics data and makes it available to other control units. This redundancy improves the quality of the data generated. Since the M2XPro is designed so as to make use of the sensors already installed in the vehicle and, in addition, to link up with the GPS data, it can easily be integrated into existing vehicle architectures.

At present, the new sensor exists as a concept study for trialing in prototype vehicles. By 2015, the M2XPro will have been developed to the point that the sensor can be used in the first Car2X systems. The M2XPro can then also be combined with Continental's intelligent antenna module, allowing precise vehicle data to be made available not only to all the vehicle's own systems but to be transmitted to the surrounding infrastructure as well. By combining just two components – the M2XPro and the intelligent antenna module – we have made it possible to produce an inexpensive Car2X system while demonstrating the various options for system integration within the Continental Group, Dr. Rieth added.