With the latest Radar Technology: Left-turn Assist for Agricultural Machines
Know-how in passenger cars and trucks is the technological springboard for making agriculture fit for the future.
According to the statistics portal statista, there were 55 fatalities in accidents involving agricultural tractors in 2018, and the official road traffic accident statistics of the German Statistical Office tell us that 57% of road deaths in 2018 were caused by accidents on country roads. Industry experts believe that the left-hand turn of agricultural machinery vehicles on public roads is particularly risky. After all, around a third of these vehicles’ operating time is spent on these roads – although they were not designed for this purpose, since they often have different dimensions than other road users in terms of length, height and width. Agricultural machines also have wide blind spots and fewer light sources on the vehicle, so their signals are often difficult to see. Other road users must also adapt to their low speeds.
Continental’s left-turn assist can detect approaching vehicles at a distance of up to 250 meters and warn the driver.
Left-turn assist warns drivers in the event of an emergency
Continental is meeting this challenge with its new left-turn assist: The system warns the agricultural machine’s driver of obstacles on the left side of the vehicle by means of an acoustic or optical signal. The system can detect approaching vehicles at a distance of up to 250 meters. This is made possible by radar technology. The system is based on 77 gigahertz technology, which captures the vehicle environment in a significantly higher resolution than before. Earlier technologies used mirrors and cameras. Radar sensors enable precise distance control; the sensor can ‘look’ back and determine the speed of the oncoming vehicles and the distance between them and the agricultural machine. More advantages: Radar sensors are independent of weather and lighting conditions, the Continental system is easy to install, and it does not overload the driver with information. The driver doesn’t need a monitor; he’s only warned in an emergency. This is in line with our Continental philosophy for the human-machine interface, which is to always give the driver only the information he really needs.
Find out more about the left-turn assist for agricultural machines from Continnetal.
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