Safety is the number one priority for any driver. Our safety does not only depend on our driving but others’ driving as well. A recent NHTSA survey reported 660,000 drivers using cell phones or electronic devices while driving at any day1. Distracted driving significantly increases the chance of crashes resulting in injury and loss of life. Today, there are a number of technologies categorized under Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) that create a safer driving experience. These technologies include surround-view, lane departure warning, pedestrian detection, collision warning and traffic sign recognition, among others. Unfortunately, adaptation rate of ADAS systems is still fairly low (mostly premium car segments have these systems, or it is an optional feature) for two main reasons:
1. Most car buyers have not experienced these systems. Anecdotally, one of my colleagues, using lane departure warning technology on his car told me that he would never buy another car without this technology. He could value the safety feature first-hand, and came to rely on it. During my own travels, I once rented a car with radar rear collision warning system. I become accustomed to the functionality after a few days. Back home, driving my own car, I wished I had the same feature in my car.
2. The cost of the ADAS systems is still relatively high as each of ADAS functionality requires a separate box in the car, increasing cost.
To reduce cost and enhance the experience, existing infotainment systems can integrate some of the ADAS algorithms that can be categorized as "informational ADAS." These categories of ADAS algorithms inform and warn the driver, but the ADAS system does not take control of the brakes or drive-train. Surround-view, lane departure warning, pedestrian detection, traffic sign recognition are some examples of such “informational ADAS” algorithms.
TI's popular “Jacinto 6” family of infotainment devices is an ideal platform to integrate informational ADAS and Infotainment functionality into the same system. The newly-announced TI “Jacinto 6 Ex” processor contains vision co-processors, called embedded vision engines (EVE), and an additional DSP that perform the complex ADAS processing alongside the “Jacinto 6” powerful CPU, superb graphics, multimedia and radio cores critical for infotainment systems. Furthermore, “Jacinto 6 Ex” allows ADAS algorithms to run concurrently within the infotainment system and still meet the system’s robustness requirements. The heterogeneous multi-core architecture in the “Jacinto 6 Ex” provides an optimal performance, power and cost mix to enable ADAS integration into an existing infotainment system with minimal additional cost. Such integration enables wide adaptation of ADAS systems not only in the premium car segment but also in a broader range of affordable automotive systems.
With all of the potential distractions in the car (phone calls, text messages, etc.), every one of us will benefit having cars with improved and integrated ADAS systems.
1http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/NHTSA+Survey+Finds+660,000+Drivers+Using+Cell+Phones+or+Manipulating+Electronic+Devices+While+Driving+At+Any+Given+Daylight+Moment