WABCO and ZF Win CLEPA Innovation Award 2017

WABCO and ZF Friedrichshafen AG recently received the prestigious Innovation Award 2017 from CLEPA for jointly developing the Evasive Maneuver Assist (EMA) technology. EMA is a breakthrough collision avoidance system that can be used in commercial vehicles. The EMA prototype leverages WABCO’s top-notch braking, stability and vehicle dynamics control systems on trucks and trailers with ZF’s top active steering technology. CLEPA is the acronym for the European Association of Automotive Suppliers and has over 100 companies and 20 national as well as European trade associations as its members.

The CLEPA Innovation Award 2017 recognizes innovative technologies and solutions that are developed by vehicle manufacturers and automotive suppliers categories like Safety, Environment, Connectivity and Automation, as well as Cooperation. The jury of industry experts chose to honor the two companies for Evasive Maneuver Assist in the category Safety and Cooperation. They received 56 entries from 31 companies spread across Europe and ranked them on the basis of criteria like impact, quality, ambition, and market relevance.

Speaking about the award, Roberto Vavassori, President, CLEPA said that road safety is the main criterion when speaking about mobility. He added, “The innovation presented by WABCO and ZF proves that road safety goes way beyond cars and motorcycles to include commercial vehicles. It also demonstrates that cooperation between automotive suppliers can pave the way to success and better mobility for all.”

Dr. Christian Brenneke, Vice President Engineering, WABCO said that the company was deeply honored to receive the Innovation Award 2017 from CLEPA for Evasive Maneuver Assist as it is a globally recognized and prestigious industry organization. He added that the Evasive Maneuver Assist prototype highlights WABCO’s and ZF’s leadership in developing advanced safety technologies for commercial vehicles. The technology connects WABCO’s braking and stability control systems with ZF’s active steering solution thus moving one step further to making autonomous driving a reality in the commercial vehicle industry.”

“A win for the Evasive Maneuver Assist technology jointly developed by ZF and WABCO shows how safety could be increased for all road users, “ said Dr. Harald Naunheimer, Head of Research and Development, ZF. “It also emphasizes the commitment ZF has made to its Vision Zero of an accident-free future of mobility.”
Evasive Maneuver Assist was demonstrated for the first time in June 2016 and leverages the capabilities of OnGuardACTIVE, Wabco’s advanced, radar-only collision mitigation system. A radar sensor is used to identify moving or stationary vehicles ahead and to alerts the driver through visual, audio and haptic signals of impending rear-end collisions. If the driver feels that the system cannot avoid a rear-end collision by driver-initiated or autonomous braking alone, Evasive Maneuver Assist engages to help the driver to safely steer around an obstructing vehicle and to bring truck and trailer to a complete and safe stop. In such a situation, EMA’s collision avoidance function connects Wabco’s electronic braking system (EBS), advanced emergency braking system (AEBS), electronic stability control (ESC) and vehicle dynamics control systems to ZF’s electrohydraulic ReAX power steering system.