Ford is currently designing a system that speeds up the steering in an emergency, if there isn’t enough room for the car to avoid a collision under braking alone.
The system is called ‘evasive steering assist’, and activates in a way similar to autonomous emergency braking (AEB), by using a radar and a camera to detect the car’s rate of deceleration in relation to the car in front, deciding if there is enough room for the car to stop in time and avoid a collision. It then quickens the steering to allow the driver to swerve out of the way more easily.
Evasive steering assist only intervenes if the driver decides to take evasive action, which means that unlike automatic emergency braking systems, the car will not act of its own accord.
Ford’s automatic driving and brake controls technical expert, Peter Zegelaar, explained: “As soon as the driver tries to steer around a slower car in an emergency, evasive steering assist activates to help execute the evasive manoeuvre by making it easier to perform quick steering movements.”
The carmaker is also working on a system designed to stop drivers entering the motorway in the wrong direction; essentially a development of traffic sign recognition systems already used in many vehicles. Another extension of this system is being worked on by Ford, which will alter the width of the headlight beam at junctions and roundabouts, in reaction to traffic signs.
Other technological developments of this kind from Ford include an application which alerts the driver of approaching traffic when they're reversing that they may not be able to see, and enhanced active park assist, which parks the car autonomously.