Future driver assist perspectives
Driver assist systems are in their infancy and will undergo tremendous technological advances and strong sales growth in the future. The previous market forecasts are based on normal development from luxury car entry to mid-range cars and eventually to entry level cars when prices have declined due to volume production. The previous forecasts will become too low if incentives are available to fast-track the deployment of driver assist systems. It will be interesting to see if any countries will put such incentives in place for the auto buyers and/or auto manufacturers.
Figure 3 gives a qualitative view of the likely evolution of the various driver assist system categories. Map-based driver assist or Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) are emerging and will become important in the next few years. ADAS uses the map as a “sensor”, in the sense that the digital map provides detailed information about lanes, curves, road slopes and many other useful attributes.
Conclusion
Driver assist systems have the potential to significantly lower many of the negative aspects related to automotive driving. Some driver assist systems have the potential to improve gas mileage of the automobiles. As the numbers of ACC systems reach about 10 per cent market penetration, such systems will even the traffic flow and minimise the stop-and-go pattern that wastes gas. ADAS systems that have knowledge of curves and hills also have substantial potential to improve gas mileage.
