Kick-off event at the European Ford Research Center in Aachen

AACHEN, Germany, January 20, 2010 – Active safety systems are seen as one of the key enablers to increase road safety further in the future. To support the development and implementation of these systems, a consortium of 29 partners has joined forces in the Accident Avoidance by Active Intervention of Intelligent Vehicles (interactIVe) European research project which commenced today at the Ford European Research Center in Aachen, Germany.

During the planned 42 months duration of interactIVe, the partners will test the performance of implemented safety systems through active intervention, including autonomous braking and steering in critical situations, with the aim of avoiding collisions or at least mitigating impact severity in accidents.

Advanced driver assistance systems inform drivers about potentially dangerous situations to provide as much reaction time as possible. Whenever the driver does not react at all or react in time to the warnings provided by the different assistance systems, the collision avoidance subsystem will intervene autonomously. While the driver keeps control and responsibility using advanced driver assistance systems, the intervention systems exceed these limits and offer new potential.

In addition to collision avoidance and mitigation, new technologies for environmentally sensitive driving will be supported by the project as well.

The consortium, headed by Ford, consists of seven automotive manufacturers, six suppliers, 14 research institutes and three other stakeholders. The European Commission will cover more than half of the overall budget of 30 million Euros.

Interactive includes the following partners:
Automotive Manufacturers:
Ford Research Center Aachen GmbH, BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH, Centro Ricerche Fiat SCPA, Daimler AG, Volvo Personvagnar AB, Volvo Technology AB, Volkswagen AG

Suppliers:
Autoliv, Continental Teves AG & CO. OHG, Delphi Delco Electronics Europe GmbH, Navteq B.V., TRW Limited, Continental Automotive GmbH

Research Institutes:
Bundesanstalt fuer Strassenwesen, Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke v Praze ,Chalmers Tekniska Hoegskola AB, Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft - und Raumfahrt e.V., Fundación Para La Promoción De La Innovación, Investigacion y Desarrollo Tecnológico en la Industria de Automoción de Galicia, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, Lunds Universitet, Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek – TNO, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, Universitaet Passau, Universita degli Studi di Trento, Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus

Others:
Allround Team GmbH, Alcor di Giancarlo Alessandretti, European Center for Information and Communication Technologies GmbH