Continental Successful at CLEPA Innovation Award

Brussels, Belgium, October 27, 2021. Continental won the CLEPA Innovation Award from CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, for the second time in a row. In the “Safety” category, Continental’s solution for protecting vulnerable road users placed 1st: The company’s warning system, developed in cooperation with Ride Vision, protects the lives of motorcyclists by combining two cameras and artificial intelligence (AI).

“We are particularly pleased to win a second time among all the outstanding products nominated for the CLEPA Innovation Award. The award is a fantastic recognition of our extensive expertise in vehicle electronics and pays particular tribute to the work and commitment of our global development teams,” says Nikolai Setzer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Continental AG and Chairman of the Automotive Board.

With its warning system developed in cooperation with Ride Vision, Continental helps prevent accidents and save the lives of motorcyclists. Compared with a car, there is a 28 times higher risk of accidents on a motorcycle, which is why advanced rider assistance systems for preventing accidents on motorcycles make an important contribution to road safety and can thus save lives. In the past, it was virtually impossible to correctly recognize and safely interpret complex traffic situations with the highly dynamic handling of motorcycles. Now, the Continental solution offers an answer: The innovative system is based on two cameras, facing front and rear respectively, designed to meet the kinematic dynamics of motorcycles, particularly in inclined positions. The camera data is analyzed and interpreted using artificial intelligence. The AI-based algorithms distinguish between critical and potentially dangerous traffic situations and non-critical ones. If there is a risk of a head-on collision or a lateral traffic accident, or another vehicle is in the motorcyclist’s blind spot, the rider is warned. The system outputs the warnings either visually in the mirror or via an audio signal in the helmet headset, so that the rider can start braking or taking evasive action in good time. With this, Continental addresses the three main causes of motorcycle accidents – rear-end collisions, lateral traffic accidents, blind-spot accidents – and significantly improves safety for motorcyclists as vulnerable road users.

In the “Cooperation” category, the technology company’s partnership with Sennheiser placed 3rd. With Ac2ated Sound x AMBEO Mobility, the two companies offer a first-class 3D audio experience with a scalable and adaptive sound system that completely dispenses with conventional speakers. Ac2ated Sound induces vibrations in existing surfaces in the vehicle, eliminating the need for conventional speakers. Together with Sennheiser’s integrated 3D audio algorithm, the sound concept delivers reproduction of music and speech which immerses the vehicle occupants in a lifelike sound world. Compared with conventional audio systems, Ac2ated Sound saves up to 90 percent of the weight and space required. As a result, the system not only delivers the highest audio quality, but is particularly suitable for electric vehicles, where weight and space are at a premium.