ZF and WABCO Win CLEPA Innovation Award 2017 for Evasive Maneuver Assist Technology

CLEPA recently recognized ZF Friedrichshafen AG and WABCO Holdings Inc with its prestigious Innovation Award 2017 for their joint development of Evasive Maneuver Assist (EMA), a breakthrough collision avoidance system for commercial vehicles. The EMA prototype combines WABCO’s world-class braking, stability and vehicle dynamics control systems on trucks and trailers with ZF’s top active steering technology. CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers and has more than 100 member companies and over 20 national as well as European trade associations.

The CLEPA Innovation Award 2017 is meant to recognize innovative technologies and solutions which are developed by leading automotive suppliers and vehicle manufacturers in categories like Safety, Environment, Connectivity and Automation, as well as Cooperation. The Evasive Maneuver Assist technology received the award in the category Safety and Cooperation. The jury of expert judges assessed 56 applications from 31 companies across Europe, and ranked all technology innovations based on criteria like market relevance, ambition, quality, market relevance and impact.

Commenting on the award, Roberto Vavassori, President, CLEPA said that safety is the main concern when it comes to mobility, both from a political and technological standpoint. He said that the innovation developed by ZF and WABCO proved that road safety is not limited to motorcycles and cars but can also extend to include commercial vehicles. He said that the award demonstrated that cooperation between automotive suppliers can pave the way to success and better mobility for all.

“A win for the Evasive Maneuver Assist technology jointly developed by ZF an WABCO shows how safety could be increased for all road users” said Dr. Harald Naunheimer, Head of Research and Development at ZF. “It also emphasizes the commitment ZF has made to its Vision Zero of an accident-free future of mobility.”

Dr. Christian Brenneke, Vice President Engineering, WABCO said that the company was deeply honored to receive the Innovation Award 2017 for Evasive Maneuver Assist from CLEPA, as it is a globally recognized and prestigious industry organization. He highlighted that the Evasive Maneuver Assist prototype highlights WABCO’s and ZF’s leadership in developing advanced safety technologies for commercial vehicles. For the first time, EMA technology serves to connect WABCO’s braking and stability control systems with ZF’s active steering solution thus taking the company one step further towards autonomous driving in the case of commercial vehicles.

The Evasive Maneuver Assist was demonstrated for the first time in June 2016 and uses the capabilities of WABCO’s industry-leading OnGuardACTIVE its radar-only collision mitigation system which involves using a radar sensor to identify moving or stationary vehicles ahead and alert the driver through visual, audio and haptic signals of impending rear-end collisions. If the driver feels that the system cannot fend off a rear-end collision through driver-initiated or autonomous braking alone, he can use the Evasive Maneuver Assist to safely steer around an obstructing vehicle in order to bring truck and trailer to a complete and safe stop. What happens in such a scenario is that 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 the ZF’s electrohydraulic ReAX power steering system in order to enhance the safety of the vehicle.