Since the early 1980’s, Mercedes-Benz has been presenting research vehicles that fascinating to look at but at the same time, Mercedes was pioneering new methods of vehicle safety and power. The range of innovative solutions found in these research vehicles, from the C111 to the F 125!, gives us a glimpse at the foresight that Mercedes-Benz engineers are able to develop.

We’ve compiled a list of the top 15 Research Vehicles over the last 30 years, which one would you consider the most ground-breaking?

Mercedes-Benz C 111:

At the Frankfurt International Motor Show in September 1969 Mercedes-Benz presented the C 111. The world queued up to see this “test lab on wheels” with its wedge-shaped body and upward-opening gullwing doors.  The color, orange metallic, originally described as “rosé wine”, also helped attract attention. Less conspicuous, but no less unusual, were the technical innovations. The body consisted of fibre-glass reinforced plastic and was riveted and bonded to the steel frame-floor unit.

Mercedes-Benz Auto 2000:

In the late 1970s the Federal German Ministry for Research and Technology launched the Auto 2000 project, in which several carmakers participated. Fuel consumption was not to exceed eleven litres per 100 km (21.3 mpg) for a vehicle with a cerb weight of up to 2,150 kilograms – a very ambitious target in those days – and the maximum for vehicles weighing 1,250 to 1,700 kilograms was 9.5 litres/100 km (24.7 mpg).

The Auto 2000, first presented to the public at the 1981 Frankfurt International Motor Show and was meant to accommodate four people.  It had an aerodynamically optimised body with a very low Cd (drag coefficient) of 0.28. As many as three different engine concepts were tested in this vehicle. An automatic cylinder cutoff system was premiered in a 3.8-litre V8 petrol engine. When only little power was required, four of the eight combustion chambers were temporarily shut down – today this is a feature of several large-displacement petrol engines built by Mercedes-Benz. The 3.3-litre diesel engine tested in the Auto 2000 had exemplary accelerating power thanks to its six cylinders and two turbochargers; it offered an excellent range of 7.5 litres per 100 kilometres (about 31.3 mpg) at a speed of 120 km/h.

Mercedes-Benz short-distance vehicle NAFA:

Congested streets, a lack of parking space, and long tailbacks raised new questions in motor vehicle research. Mercedes-Benz answered them in 1981 with a concept study labelled “Nahverkehrsfahrzeug” or NAFA for short – the short-distance vehicle. With an overall length of 2.50 metres and an overall height and width of 1.50 metres, the innovative two-seater contradicted everything the company had been known to stand for to date.

The NAFA study did not fall into oblivion. The insights it produced were incorporated into the design of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the prototype of which made its debut in 1996. In the smart city coupé, introduced in 1997, the concept of the compact urban car celebrated its coming of age. It has been manufactured in large numbers ever since.

Mercedes-Benz F100:

Daimler-Benz deliberately chose the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 1991 – the first major trade show of the year – to present a very special automobile: the Mercedes-Benz F 100. This research car gave tangible expression to the vision of engineers and market strategists for the automobile of the future. Never before had so many ideas and innovative technologies been realised in a fully operational car.

In the F100, the driver was seated in the middle.  Statistically, a car is occupied by 1.2 to 1.7 persons – driver included. So the driver deserves the safest place, which is the centre position, with its large distances to car body parts. Furthermore, the driver can always get out of the car on the off-traffic side.

With all its qualities, the Mercedes-Benz F 100 was not simply a test mule for the engineers – it represented a new type of automobile. It anticipated the future of mobility, which has partly become reality since the car made its debut in 1991. At the same time, it emphasised the fact that the customer is the focus of technical progress when a research vehicle is designed.

Mercedes-Benz C112:

In Group C, during the 1990 racing season, Mercedes-Benz, in cooperation with the Swiss Sauber team, fielded the C 11. The car proved to be a great success, and the team was crowned world champion at the end of the season. The triumph was an inspiration for the Mercedes-Benz engineers. Looking for a way to test active dynamic handling systems for series-production cars, they came up with the C 112, a high-performance sports car. It was powered by a six-litre V12 engine that generated 300 kW (408 hp) and put 580 Newton metres of torque on the crankshaft. The challenge was to stretch the physical limits while transferring this performance to the road and meeting the highest levels of active safety.

The C 112 was the first vehicle since the C 111 to feature gullwing doors. Ever since the 1950s, they have been a symbol of Mercedes-Benz sports cars. The 300 SL coupé (W 194/198 series from 1952 and 1954 respectively) was the first to have them – a car whose excellent technical qualities made it stand out in its day. The C 112, with its streamlined body, followed suit.

The C 112 was also the first car to afford active suspension labelled Active Body Control (ABC). Each wheel is equipped with a combination of a spring and hydraulic servo cylinder. Sensors detect all the vehicle’s motions – vertical displacement, roll and pitch. To eliminate the unwanted motion, computers evaluate the data and control the active suspension elements accordingly. The result: an unprecedented level of stable roadholding.

Mercedes-Benz Vario Research Car:

The Mercedes-Benz Vario Research Car is really four cars in one – variability was the design focus of the Vario Research Car (VRC) by Mercedes-Benz, a car that attracted great attention at its premiere at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show. Within just a few minutes, the VRC can be transformed into a different car.

For everyday driving, it’s a saloon. For longer journeys, the load capacity of an estate car is available. In the summer, the sun invites you to take an open-top ride in a convertible. And for heavy loads, there’s the pickup with its open cargo space.

It has a one-piece body that consists of a roof, side walls and rear section; the body can be lifted off and exchanged for another variant. All that is needed is a few simple operations that take just 15 minutes. The Vario Research Car was a vision: customers would not themselves own the bodies but would drive up to a rental station. While they drank a coffee, service technicians would exchange the body. A few minutes later, the customer would be on the road again. The driver could decide how long to use a particular body variant, because the rental system would be just as flexible as the car itself.

 

Mercedes-Benz F200 Imagination:

The Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination, presented at the 1996 Paris Motor Show, was created to test new ergonomic concepts based on drive-by-wire technology, cockpit design.  It was powered by a Four-stroke spark-ignition engine with 12 cylinders, six litres of displacement, 290 kW (394 hp), offered rear-wheel drive with a five-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission.

Small joysticks in the doors and the centre console for steering and braking – replace the steering wheel. The signals are exclusively transmitted electronically to the relevant components (drive-by-wire). The conventional mechanical control elements used by the driver are now linked to electric and hydraulic actuators, and electronic pulses carry out the desired actions.

Mercedes-Benz F300 Life Jet

How can the feel and cornering dynamics of a motorcycle be combined with the safety and comfort of a car?  This was the question that initiated the design that eventually became known as the F300 Life Jet. Motorcyclists enjoy the freedom offered by their vehicles, they’re able to lean into bends, sense the power of the engine, feel at one with the elements, and experience the unbridled pleasure of the road.  These are all things that the designers and engineers of the F 300 Life Jet strived to convey with their concept. Just as importantly however, it was also designed to offer the same advantages of a car: stability coming from three wheels instead of two. The top can be closed, and seat belts are provided. The motoring experience can be shared with a second person inside the vehicle, both unimpeded by protective clothing, helmet and wind noise. And air conditioning makes for pleasant temperatures.

Mercedes-Benz F400 Carving:

The F400 Carving, which gets its name from the sporty carvers on ski slopes, was debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2001 and was created with the plan to test novel dynamic handling systems.  This led to the most conspicuous feature of the Mercedes F400 Carving, The tilting of its wheels. When cornering, the wheels on the outside of the bend tilt by as much as 20 degrees, which distinctly improves directional stability and roadholding, and reduces the danger of skidding. Electronics have been combined with mechanics to achieve this. Sensors measure the road speed, acceleration, steering lock and yaw of the car, and send control signals to the outer wheels’ hydraulic servo cylinders, causing them to tilt at a precisely defined angle. The kerb-side wheels, like the body, remain in their normal position.

Mercedes-Benz F500 Mind:

Presented at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show, the Mercedes-Benz F500 Mind proved that the future of auto industry will never cease to be exciting. The four-door car, designed as a modern hatchback saloon, served as a research lab on wheels and demonstrated over a dozen technical ideas for enhancing the safety, propulsion and comfort of future Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.

The F500 mind was designed to utilize different propulsion energies. If a great deal of power is required, a V8 diesel engine with 184 kW (250 hp) drives the F 500 Mind – and simultaneously charges the batteries, as the car also features a 50 kW electric motor that works either by itself or in conjunction with the internal combustion engine. An electronic control unit that adapts to the traffic situation and driving style perfectly coordinates the engine and motor.

The electric motor, for instance, powers the car when it starts up, in stop-and-go traffic and in other situations where the internal combustion engine, by virtue of its design principles, does not develop optimum efficiency. Should the driver require higher engine output, the V8 engine cuts in to provide dynamic acceleration. The electric drive’s 300-volt battery, located underneath the passenger compartment, is recharged during braking.  All resulting in fuel savings of up to 20 percent.

Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car:

For the first time, the engineers specifically looked for a role model in nature, one that lends itself to an aerodynamically efficient, safe, comfortable and environmentally compatible automobile – not just in detail features, but also in its overall shape and structure. Their search led them to the boxfish.

This fish, which lives in tropical waters, has excellent hydrodynamic properties, despite its angular, cube-like body. Its shape is aerodynamically ideal. On a model representing a true copy of the boxfish body, the engineers measured a drag coefficient (Cd) as low as 0.06.

Alongside maximum aerodynamic efficiency and a lightweight concept gleaned from nature, the advanced turbodiesel engine with common rail direct injection (103 kW/140 hp) and novel SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology contributes significantly to reductions in fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. In the EU driving cycle, the concept car consumes 4.3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (54.7 mpg) – 20 percent less than a comparable production model. In line with US measuring methodology (FTP 75), the car does some 70 miles per gallon (combined) – 30 percent more than a production car. At a constant speed of 90 km/h (55 mph), the direct injection engine consumes 2.8 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres, corresponding to 84 miles per gallon in the US test cycle.

Mercedes-Benz F600 Hygenius:

The Mercedes-Benz F 600 HYGENIUS continued the series of fascinating and groundbreaking research cars. Powered by an 85 kW (115 hp) zero-emission fuel cell drive, the compact family car consumes the equivalent of just 2.9 litres per 100 kilometres (81 mpg) and has a range of over 400 kilometres on one tank filling of hydrogen.

The extensively reworked fuel cell of the F 600 HYGENIUS is some 40 per cent smaller than before, operates even more efficiently, and is exceptional for its good cold-start ability. The continuous output of the fuel cell drive is 60 kW (82 hp). Energy not required for driving the car is stored in a high-performance lithium-ion battery. The system therefore operates rather like a hybrid drive and selects the source of energy best-suited to the driving situation. The generous amount of energy made available by the fuel cell can also be used for the well-being of the passengers in the F 600^HYGENIUS. The cup holders, for instance, cool or heat beverages with electricity generated by the environment friendly unit. Via a conventional power outlet, electrical appliances can be operated at normal voltage. If required, the fuel cell can also function as a mobile power plant: its electric power output of 66 kW is enough to supply several one-family houses with electricity.

Mercedes-Benz F700:

The Mercedes-Benz F 700 presents the future of the superior touring sedan. It demonstrates innovative approaches and technologies for using resources sparingly, protecting the environment and permitting the driver and passengers to travel in a completely relaxed style.

At the heart of the F 700 is a novel powertrain. DIESOTTO combines the advantages of the low-emission petrol engine with the diesel’s fuel economy. For the first time, the diesel’s principle of (controlled homogeneous) charge compression ignition is incorporated in a petrol engine. Also, thanks to homogeneous combustion at reduced reaction temperatures, nitrogen oxide emissions are minimized. Moreover, the reduction in displacement and the number of cylinders improves the degree of efficiency. The F 700 is powered by a compact four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1.8 litres, which nonetheless delivers the superior performance typical of a luxury-class saloon. A two-stage turbocharger is responsible for the engine’s excellent response and high-torque accelerating power. In addition, on ignition, the hybrid module electric motor assists the internal combustion engine. The maximum engine output is 175 kW (238 hp); the electric motor develops another 15 kW (20 hp), and the system’s maximum torque is as high as 400 Newton metres. Acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds is testament to the dynamism of the F 700, whose top speed is limited to 200 km/h. Despite this outstanding performance, the F 700 has a fuel consumption in the EU driving cycle of just 5.3 litres (44.3 mpg), which corresponds to carbon dioxide emissions of 127 grams – an extremely low level for a car of this size.

Mercedes-Benz F800 Style:

The Mercedes-Benz F 800 Style research vehicle showed us the future of premium automobiles from a new perspective. As a five-seat upper-range sedan combining highly efficient drive technologies, unparalleled safety and convenience features we didn’t even know we needed, the F800 Style became a stylish-sporty interpretation of the new Mercedes-Benz design.  The exterior was complete with LED headlights that offered exciting, distinctive details, a spacious interiorm despite compact outer dimensions and a modern sense of lightness on the inside.

The F 800 Style is suitable for use with a variety of drive system options thanks to its flexible multi drive platform, as the following example with two technically independent variants demonstrates:

• As the Plug-in Hybrid, the F 800 Style offers electric mobility with zero local emissions in urban settings. Over longer distances, a gasoline engine equipped with the latest-generation direct-injection technology is supported by the hybrid module, thereby enabling a high-performance and efficient driving experience.
• The F-CELL variant is equipped with a fuel cell unit that runs on hydrogen for electric driving with zero local emissions. The only emission from electric cars powered by a fuel cell is water vapor.

Mercedes-Benz F125!:

The F 125! research vehicle was designed to anticipate future trends and prepared the way for implementation of an innovative premium concept for large, luxurious automobiles. In the F 125! Mercedes-Benz rigorously followed its vision of emission-free driving with hydrogen power, underlining the potential of H2 as an energy source for the future. While previous Mercedes-Benz research vehicles had “looked ahead” by roughly one vehicle generation – seven to eight years – the F 125! as the latest technological visionary went a whole step further, by more than two generations to the year 2025 and beyond.

The F 125! was created as an innovative four-seater luxury saloon with a powerful, emission-free electric drive system based on the fuel cell technology developed to series production maturity by Mercedes-Benz. This study combined pioneering and highly efficient storage, drive and bodyshell technologies with unique control and display concepts. The research vehicle also presented itself with an expressive design which transfers the classic Mercedes design idiom into the future.

Imagine you’re driving down the 405, the turn signal clicks on and your Mercedes S-Class accelerates to 65 mph as it changes into the left lane passing two slower vehicles, all while you’re focused on the latest New York Times best seller. Once arriving at your destination, your self-driving car finds a parking space, drops you off and with the push of an electronic key, parks itself in the space.

On your way home, you hit rush hour, but your S-Class keeps a safe and continuous distance in stop-and-go traffic, minimizing your accident risk and letting you focus on your phone call. Your S-Class then effortlessly finds its way home through the dense traffic of the city, navigating it’s way around other cars, trucks, buses, bicyclists and pedestrians, all unpredictable and moving at their own pace. In reduced traffic areas the Mercedes adheres to the prescribed walking pace because it can read traffic signs and thanks to radar sensors and stereo cameras it can also keep an eye on pedestrians.

This is the future of driving, this is autonomous driving.

Up until a few years ago engineers and computer scientists and movie directors developed such science fiction scenarios to provide a visionary outlook of the mobility of the 21st century. Think back to movies like Demolition Man or Minority Report. Thanks to the innovations from Mercedes, reality is catching up with those movies, all the driving described above are already possible and are being tested under real-life conditions with the help of the latest assistance systems from Mercedes-Benz. At the same time researcher and development engineers from electronics companies, automotive suppliers and universities are working on intelligent hardware and software intended to gradually make the vehicles autonomous.

Consequently, everyday life will face a profound revolution. Even though the vision of autonomous driving goes back many decades, it is only now that the combination of steadily increasing computing power, innovations in the area of sensor technology and the scanning of a vehicle’s surroundings paired with the rapid digitisation and networking of everyday life makes driverless mobility attainable. There are many possibilities to enhance traffic safety, to make mobility more efficient and environmentally compatible and to create unimaginable freedoms for all road users. However, before the goal of highly or even fully autonomous driving is reached, several development obstacles must be overcome in order to make the hardware and software faster, more intelligent and more affordable. At the same time the infrastructure, legislative bodies and society will have to prepare for this new dimension of motoring.

“Autonomous driving will gradually become reality”, states Ralf Guido Herrtwich, Head of Driving Assistance and Chassis Systems in Group Research and Advanced Engineering at Daimler. “Initially we will drive autonomously on certain classes of roads, starting with the freeways and maybe only under certain weather or lighting conditions. In the beginning the system will also have to be monitored rather than grabbing a book and tuning out completely.”

Herrtwich warns that placing too high an expectation on autonomous vehicles that manage without any human intervention would be dangerous. At slow speeds, in stop-and-go traffic or in parking situations, driverless mobility is just a few years away. But, at high speeds and in complex situations it will be necessary for the driver to be involved for at least the next ten years. Assistance systems already on the market have shown that partly autonomous vehicles are capable of lowering the amount of accidents by compensating for human errors and reacting faster than humanly possible.

Driving assistance systems, like the ones on the new 2014 Mercedes S-Class and others found as standard equipment on Mercedes-Benz models play a crucial role in autonomous driving. These technologies are responsible for merging comfort and safety, they include DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control, which keeps the desired distance from the vehicle travelling ahead. In addition, the STEER CONTROL steering assistance system, for example in the new Mercedes-Benz E- and S-Class, keeps the vehicle in the centre of the lane. However, drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times. Active Lane Keeping Assist can intervene when the driver unintentionally crosses a dotted line and the adjacent lane is occupied. The previous generation of the lane-keeping assistance system was already capable of detecting when a solid line was crossed. BAS PLUS Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Assist cannot only prevent rear-end collisions, but can also intervene in the event of impending collisions with crossing traffic at junctions, if need be even including a full emergency stop. The latest version can now recognise pedestrians walking in front of the vehicle, warn the driver visually and audibly or in emergency situations even initiate autonomous braking.

These intelligent systems are made possible by an array of sensors that provide the vehicle with a 360-degree view of what is going on. Radar sensors of different ranges can “see” for a distance of up to 200 metres. Their input is complemented by a stereo camera behind the windscreen. Thanks to its two eyes, the camera can see a three-dimensional image of the area up to about 50 metres in front of the car and from there on – similar to human eyes to infinity – two-dimensionally.

All the data constantly streaming in are processed by various on-board systems, for instance, to calculate the trajectory of crossing vehicles or a pedestrian in anticipatory fashion, “read” traffic signs and issue appropriate warnings or initiate reactions. This makes it possible, for example, to let a vehicle drive or even autonomously overtake other vehicles safely at high speeds with the Mercedes-Benz Motorway Pilot system that has already undergone successful testing under real-life conditions.

Ideally autonomous automobiles equipped with the necessary sensor package, detailed map data and sufficient computing power can travel virtually any arbitrary route. One of the milestones for autonomous driving was the DARPA Grand Challenge, which was organised by the research and development branch of the US Department of Defense in the desert of Nevada in 2004 and 2005. Only on the second try did some of the expensive and hair-raisingly retrofitted vehicles manage to complete the route that stretched over 240 kilometres of very rough terrain.

“These two competitions inspired an entire research community that went to work with passion. This led to a quantum leap in technology, for sensors as well as applications. It is astonishing how far we have come this past decade”, says William “Red” Whittaker, professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh and, together with his team, one of the DARPA winners. Pioneers like Whittaker also know about the obstacles the researchers and engineers still have to eliminate. Firstly there is the question of when the necessary technology will be powerful, compact and affordable enough to have the required potential for series production. The LIDAR laser scanners used for instance in Google’s driverless cars are too expensive for series-production use. Such precision mechanics that constantly rotate on the roof provide a detailed 360-degree view of the surroundings. But they cost several times the value of the cars on which they are mounted.

“Many of the hardware and software components are still too expensive. They are plainly and simply unaffordable for normal consumers. If I had that much money, I’d buy a great sports car and drive myself”, jokes Emilio Frazzoli, professor of aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who normally deals with autonomous vehicles travelling by land or air.

This is why Daimler researchers like Ralf Guido Herrtwich are trying to offer an intelligently assembled array of radar sensors and cameras that collects the required information even without costly lasers in order to travel safely, efficiently and comfortably. “This technology ultimately mustn’t cost any more than today’s driving assistance systems, that is to say, a couple of thousand euros”, Herrtwich stresses. This also includes a continuously updated digital map that provides significantly more detail and may also remain more up to date than those of conventional navigation systems. Otherwise an autonomous vehicle will flounder if it encounters a new, non-registered construction zone or a recorded bend that deviates from the values measured by the on-board sensors. However, vehicles can assist each other in creating such new real-time maps because theoretically every car is able to record the route it travels and to feed the route data into databases.

Experts like CMU professor Whittaker expect autonomous vehicles to see the world differently. Their navigation aids have little in common with the combination of conventional maps and superimposed images we know from today’s assistance systems. “We are already able to create three-dimensional models of our environment that are better and more detailed than the human eye would ever be able to perceive”, says Whittaker of the initial prototypes. Such super-realistic models of the environment are generated partly on board and – thanks to mobile broadband access to the internet in future vehicles – partly in the Cloud.

Not only the vehicles need to evolve, the surrounding infrastructure does as well. Companies like Daimler have long researched so-called car-to-x communications that allow vehicles to exchange data with each other and their surroundings, including road signs and traffic cameras mounted above the road.

In April the Los Angeles metropolitan area became the first city in the world to synchronise all its 4500 traffic lights. Magnetic sensors in the road and hundreds of cameras feed their data into a central computer that dynamically controls all traffic lights to speed up the traffic flow of seven million daily commuters. During rush hour the system can phase the traffic lights only for bus lanes while other vehicles have to wait. “Especially for driving in an urban area surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other vehicles we already have a wealth of information as well as the infrastructure for lowering the costs and complexity of autonomous driving”, MIT researcher Frazzoli reflects. “A car can use its surroundings and other vehicles for its eyes and ears”.

Besides all the technical advances that are happening rapidly this also requires another change that has already begun. Society at large and legislative bodies have to rethink what constitutes the nature of a vehicle and of the modern transportation system overall. Because what would be possible technically is frequently legally impermissible. The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic from 1968 determines who may steer a car: “Every driver must have control of his vehicle at all times or be able to lead his animals”. Nobody thought of a computer of whatever kind at the wheel 45 years ago. And thus questions about certification and insurance as well as liability in the event of accidents are still a grey area.

Some legislators have tackled the issue. The US states of Nevada, California and Florida were the first to pass laws that govern the certification and operation of autonomous automobiles. This provides an incentive to companies to test their prototypes there and serves as a role model for one of the world’s largest automobile markets. Should the US establish national rules for autonomous vehicles, the EU and China would soon follow suit. Until then, autonomous driving will continue to be relegated to narrowly defined areas of application where people may never really take their hand and eyes off the steering wheel.

“We build all the systems in a way that ensure the driver regains full control the moment he or she wants to take over. Our systems are fully dedicated to providing support and relief”, says Daimler researcher Herrtwich. In his mind the transition from partly to fully autonomous systems is not only a matter of the technical capabilities of the systems, but goes hand in hand with the driver’s growing trust. “Once you personally experience that such a system works, then you trust it in more and more situations.“

That is precisely what people seem to do if they are members of the group called ‘digital natives’, that is to say, all those who grew up surrounded by digital devices and services and in many cases willingly and completely count on technology. They hope that autonomous vehicles will relieve them of performing tedious routine tasks, such as commuting to and from work. People who try to talk on the phone, write something on their smartphone or even read their emails while driving will mostly be thrilled by the prospect of soon leaving the driving largely to the vehicle. The designers are already sketching driver’s seats for concept vehicles that swivel to let drivers direct their attention to a tablet computer or the newspaper instead of watching traffic.

Many senior citizens will also put their hope in the next vehicle generation or the one after that because their sensor systems and algorithms can make up for their own declining abilities. This promises to increase the mobility radius for millions of people who previously had been severely limited by old age, illness or disability.

Against this background it is understandable that Google promotes the prototypes of its autonomous vehicles with a video showing a blind man regaining his mobility thought to have been long lost. “For people with disabilities and senior citizens autonomous driving is a question of human dignity”, robotics researcher Whittaker believes. “For that we by no means need vehicles that drive autonomously under all conditions”. He envisions fully automatic people mover systems for public transportation, such as are already in existence at many airports. And some local authorities are considering their use in inner cities.

Autonomous driving also creates new freedoms in a much wider sense. For MIT professor Frazzoli, for instance, it is not about automatically steered vehicles that drive occupants from Point A to Point B, but about the opportunity to reinvent the transportation system and make it more efficient. “Today our cars are only utilised 5 to 10 per cent. The rest of the time they sit around. That is not a sustainable model”, says the scientist working in Singapore. “That’s why I believe that the ‘sharing economy’ and autonomous driving are two sides of the same coin”. ‘Sharing economy’ refers to a culture of sharing services and objects.

Instead of waiting for all-capable fully autonomous vehicles to arrive, says Frazzoli, carsharing services should be outfitted with vehicles that have a limited list of capabilities, such as finding the way to the nearest filling or charging station, picking up a waiting customer at a specific address, or if needed moving to another location. Such cars would solve several problems of autonomous driving at once, the scientist argues: “Since they’re driving without human passengers, they can always take the easiest route, for example, like a municipal commercial vehicle they could initially drive slowly at the edge of the road, and even if their steering and braking manoeuvres were a bit jerky, it wouldn’t bother any occupants. “In this way it is possible to lower the requirements on autonomous vehicles and at the same time expand their fields of application”. With growing experience the autonomous carsharing fleet could increase its effective radius.

There is still the question of how people at the wheel will come to terms with vehicles that act ever more independently. Experts agree that for the foreseeable future there will be mixed operations: some of the vehicles will be steered by people, while others drive partly or highly autonomously. Vehicles will enter and exit parking spaces at the push of a button. Or learn an oft-travelled route to derive independent actions therefrom. The urban infrastructure will increasingly exchange data with the road users. But at the same time there will be older vehicles on the road that have a lot less electronics and intelligence.

To William Whittaker this interaction of man and machine is not a problem. “When we drive on the motorway, we don’t have any direct contact with other drivers even at high speeds. You observe and interpret the behaviour of other road users. This works for all kinds of driving situations without having to draw a distinction between man and machine. Only one thing is for sure: autonomous driving is already a done deal today and will continue to advance steadily”. Via: Daimler

The Consumer Electronics show begins Tuesday (January 10) in Las Vegas and Mercedes-Benz USA and parent company, Daimler AG, will be on hand to showcase vehicle technology of today, tomorrow and the future. Think Tomorrowland for Mercedes-Benz

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will deliver a keynote address to discuss the true meaning of the connected vehicle – both what it is and what it isn’t – at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 10, at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.

mbrace2 – Mercedes-Benz’s pioneering communications platform, offering the most comprehensive cloud-based system to date, accelerating the process of empowering drivers to customize their vehicle ownership experience to fit ever-changing needs. The mbrace2 system enables an incredible range of features and services related to safety, information, entertainment, personal assistance and vehicle care. These include cloud-based apps, traffic and navigation assistance, speech recognition, Internet browsing and searching, concierge services, automatic crash notifications, and more. The new platform is being shown as it will appear inside the re-designed MY2013 Mercedes-Benz SL, the first of many vehicles which comes standard this year.

The mbrace2 smartphone app – Allows drivers to communicate and send information to their vehicle before getting inside. Drivers can use the app to find their vehicle, lock or unlock it, set valet parking protection, receive geo-fence alerts and Send2Benz, allowing drivers to socially connect with their friends and navigate to them.

Mercedes-Benz Latest Suite of Advanced Driver Assistance System- The most comprehensive active safety system which keeps drivers safe by preventing accidents before they happen.

The DriveStyle iPhone App – Coming later this year, Mercedes-Benz will offer the DriveStyle iPhone App, which allows drivers to interact with the vehicle rather than the phone, minimizing driver distraction. This technology will be demonstrated in the brand-new Mercedes-Benz C350 coupe.

F125! Research Vehicle – As a highlight marking 125 years of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz is presenting a visionary outlook on future technical developments in the luxury segment. The F125! research vehicle anticipates future trends and paves the way for innovative large and luxurious automobiles. The vehicle provides emission-free driving with a range of 621 miles.

DICE, “Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience” simulator – Take a seat into the future and wave your hands to take control of the vehicle of the future.