ADAPTIVE

CRUISE CONTROL
SYSTEM
-An overview
By N i k h i l R

CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION
PRINCIPLE OF ACC
PHYSICAL OVERVIEW
DEFINITIONS/TERMINOLOGIES
COMPONENTS OF ACC SYSTEM
CONTROL SYSTEM INTERFACE
PHYSICAL LAYOUT OF AN ACC
SYSTEM
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
APPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION:-

What is Adaptive Cruise Control?

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is an
automotive feature that allows a vehicle's
cruise control system to adapt the vehicle's
speed to the traffic environment. A radar
system attached to the front of the vehicle is
used to detect whether slower moving
vehicles are in the ACC vehicle's path.
Introduced in 1970s in USA. This system is
now available in luxury cars like Mercedes Sclass, Jaguar XJ, Volvo trucks etc

PRINCIPLE:-

How does it work?

If a slower moving vehicle is detected, the
ACC system will slow the vehicle down and
control the clearance, or time gap, between
the ACC vehicle and the forward vehicle. If
the system detects that the forward vehicle is
no longer in the ACC vehicle's path, the ACC
system will accelerate the vehicle back to its
set cruise control speed. This operation
allows the ACC vehicle to autonomously slow
down and speed up with traffic without
intervention from the driver. The method by
which the ACC vehicle's speed is controlled is

PHYSICAL OVERVIEW:-

DEFINITIONS: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) An

enhancement to a conventional cruise
control system which allows the ACC vehicle
to follow a forward vehicle at an appropriate
distance.
ACC vehicle the subject vehicle equipped
with the ACC system.
Active brake control a function which
causes application of the brakes without
driver application of the brake pedal.
Clearance distance from the forward
vehicle's trailing surface to the ACC vehicle's
leading surface.

 Forward vehicle any one of the vehicles

in front of and moving in the same direction
and traveling on the same roadway as the
ACC vehicle.
Set speed the desired cruise control travel
speed set by the driver and is the maximum
desired speed of the vehicle while under ACC
control.
Target vehicle one of the forward vehicles
in the path of the ACC vehicle that is closest
to the ACC vehicle.
Time gap the time interval between the
ACC vehicle and the target vehicle. The 'time
gap' is related to the 'clearance' and vehicle

Different STATES (MODES) in ACC System ACC off mode

ACC standby mode
ACC active mode. This consists of the following 2 modes ACC speed control mode
ACC time gap control mode

COMPONENTS OF AN ACC
1) ACC Module The primary function of the ACC module is
SYSTEM:-

to process the radar information and determine if a forward

vehicle is present.
2) Engine Control Module The primary function of the
Engine Control Module is to receive information from the ACC
module and Instrument Cluster and control the vehicle's speed
based on this information.
3) Brake Control Module The primary function of the Brake
Control Module is to determine vehicle speed via each wheel
and to decelerate the vehicle by applying the brakes when
requested by the ACC Module.
4) Instrument Cluster The primary function of the
Instrument Cluster is to process the Cruise Switches and send
their information to the ACC and Engine Control Modules.
5) CAN The Controller Area Network (CAN) is an automotive
standard network that utilizes a 2 wire bus to transmit and
receive data. Each node on the network has the capability to
transmit 0 to 8 bytes of data in a message frame .

6) Cruise Switches The Cruise Switches are mounted on the

steering wheel and have several buttons which allow the driver to
command operation of the ACC system. The switches include:
On : place system in the 'ACC standby' state
Off : cancel ACC operation and place system in the 'ACC off' state
Set + : activate ACC and establish set speed or accelerate
Set - : decelerate
Res : resume to set speed
Coast: To decelerate or cancel the ACC system

Mounted on steering
wheel

Cruise control
switch

7) Brake Switches (BS) There are two brake switches, Brake

Switch 1 (BS1) and Brake Switch 2 (BS2). When either brake switch
is activated, Cruise Control operation is deactivated and the
system enters 'ACC standby' state.
8) Brake Lights When the Brake Control Module applies the
brakes in response to an ACC request, it will illuminate the brake
lights to warn vehicles behind the ACC vehicle that it is
decelerating.
9) Sensors/Radars Currently 4 types of radars are available.
They are LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
RADAR ( Radio Detection and Ranging)
VISION SENSORS
ULTRASONIC SENSOR

LIDAR- The first ACC system introduced by Toyota

used this method. By measuring the beat frequency
difference between a Frequency Modulated
Continuous light Wave (FMCW) and its reflection.

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE

ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
SENSOR PLACED BELOW THE
GRILL

RADAR- RADAR is an electromagnetic system for the detection

and location of reflecting objects like air crafts, ships, space
crafts or vehicles. It is operated by radiating energy into space
and detecting the echo signal reflected from an object (target).
Most of the current ACC systems are based on 77GHz RADAR
sensors. The RADAR systems have the great advantage that the
relative velocity can be measured directly, and the performance
is not affected by heavy rain and fog.

FUSION SENSOR- The new sensor system introduced by Fujitsu Ten

Ltd. and Honda
through their PATH program includes millimeter wave radar linked to a
640x480 pixel stereo camera with a 40 degree viewing angle. These two
parts work together to track the car from the non-moving objects. While
RADAR target is the cars rear bumper, the stereo camera is constantly
captures all objects in its field of view.

CONTROL SYSTEM INTERFACES:-

PHYSICAL
LAYOUT OF
ACC
SYSTEM:-

ADVANTAGES:1. The driver is relieved from the task of

careful acceleration, deceleration and
braking in congested traffics.
2. A highly responsive traffic system that
adjusts itself to avoid accidents can be
developed.
3. Since the braking and acceleration are done
in a systematic way, the fuel efficiency of
the vehicle is increased.

DISADVANTAGES:1.A cheap version is not yet realized.

2.A high market penetration is required if
a society of intelligent vehicles is to be
formed.
3.Encourages the driver to become
careless. It can lead to severe accidents
if the system is malfunctioning.
4.The ACC systems yet evolved enable
vehicles to co-operate with each other
vehicles and hence do not respond

APPLICATIONS: Mitsubishiwas the first automaker to offer a laser-based

ACC system in 1995 on the JapaneseMitsubishi Daimante.
In August 1997,Toyotabegan to offer a "radar cruise
control" system on theCelsior.
Mercedes Benz introduced DISTRONIC in late 1998 on the
S-Class. For 2006, they refined the system to completely
halt the car if necessary . No called DISTRONIC PLUS
available in E-class and S-class luxury sedans.
Jaguar began offering this system in 1999.
BMWs Active Cruise Control system launched in 2000 in 7series.
Volkswagen and Audi introduced their own systems in 2002.

CONCLUSION:The accidents caused by automobiles are injuring lakhs of people

every
year. The safety measures starting from air bags and seat belts
have now
reached to ACC, SACC and CACC systems. The researchers of
Intelligent
Vehicles Initiative in USA and the Ertico program of Europe are
working on
technologies that may ultimately lead to vehicles that are
wrapped in a cocoon
of sensors with a 360 degree view of their surroundings. It will
probably take

Thank you