[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Pal

Absolutely Class. This is a must! I wonder though I didnt hear any squeals from the tires under such heavy braking. Howzzat? If it is due to the ABS, shudnt the ABS actually increase the braking distance? Interesting right?

Also agree with above, the truck must have a pre-warning brake llights at the rear of the trucks too.

Originally Posted by condor

I wonder if they have included a feature to flash the (rear) brake lights of the truck as soon as the red /warning lights start flashing for the driver. This can warn the vehicle behind the truck that something is wrong ahead, and help prepare the people behind the truck also for an emergency braking.

Yes, they do flash their rear stop lights and their hazards when the vehicle is into emergency braking. (see in the instrument panel, the hazard blinking sign comes up (both indicators start to glow)).

1. ABS simply stops/avoids the wheels from locking, in wet conditions, the results will be more dramatic and yes, in wet conditions the stopping distance with ABS increases but significantly less than simply skidding out of control.

2. Under normal dry braking conditions, distance will be less if we pump the brakes rather than just slamming it. ABS does exactly that (not pump the brakes) but slams it and releases it at short intervals.

Correct me on point 2, if I am wrong!

Regarding the loading of the truck, I assume these tests must have had some loading, secured safely in the cargo bay or with no cargo at all. But either way, in real-life scenarios the cargo is well secured (its mandatory in Europe!), so least possibility of inertia pushing the cargo into the front cabin.

[PC77]

Here is a video on Mercedes Benz - Pre Safe brake with pedestrian recognition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL0mcvw1_Oo

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by smartcat

The persons driving the cars in front of the Volvo/Merc trucks barreling down at 80 kmph with experimental automatic braking technology - I wonder what salary package is being offered to them!

Well come to think of it, anyone who has driven on Indian highways and seen the State transpost buses and Volvos appearing on his rear view mirror all guns blazing, should be able to manage just fine

Conversely, it wouldn't be a bad idea to put all Volvo drivers in India in this car for one day. Will help them gain some perspective

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

I am curious to know if these trucks were carrying substantial loads for this test ? i assume the dynamics of the truck on braking changes a lot with the load.

Video description in you tube states that it was loaded with 40MT of cargo while this test was done.

[Shridhar]

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

especially when one of the safety demonstrations of Volvo cars failed in front of journalists !

I am curious to know if these trucks were carrying substantial loads for this test ? i assume the dynamics of the truck on braking changes a lot with the load. From the video it appeared that the MB trucks brake at 100% after the warning whereas the Volvo's slow down a bit before going full on the brakes. I guess that gives some time for the drivers to react.

The vehicles are loaded to the max permissible load called Gross Vehicle Load (GVW) during testing. The dynamics do change with the load as full blown braking on lesser loads might cause the wheels to lock and skid. These vehicles have load sensing functions to regulate the braking force depending on the load they're carrying. In any case, the ABS ensures that no wheel lock happens.

If you notice in the MB video, they decelerate by 3m/s2 before applying full brakes, pretty much similar to the Volvo. You wouldn't want your vehicle to apply full brakes without warning; the partial braking acts as a third kind of warning beyond accoustic and visual.

Originally Posted by Gandhi

One more question that sprung into my mind is the effect of such braking on tires. How would the tires bare such extreme braking on these big trucks? Do they need special grade tires like those in airplanes?

Again, since they have ABS, the tires are relatively safe as they are prevented from skidding :hence from wearing out in patches. The discs might get pretty hot is all. Still, its always wise for the driver to have a look after such a drastic braking experience as AlphaKilo says.

Airplane tires are also subjected to super high impact loads as they land, in addition to the rolling friction. Hence, special grade tires IMO.

[YaeJay]

Great technology. Must say pretty much idiot proof. The days of the mad trucks in india are long gone. ( we do have the dumpsters running around a few Km radius of each city or town, ferrying sand) Most truckers have sobered down. We do have to watch out for the buses. These days there are plenty of volvo buses connecting almost anywhere. I have looked at the instrument cluster every time I board one of these from various operators and almost always I see the 'service brake' light on.

And also happen to have this habit of checking out the tyres, ive seen a lot of retreads.

Point is if someone can be careless about tyres and brakes even with a warning system, this has no relevance to this part of the world.

[ecenandu]

Volvo Trucks has developed new technology that can do a 360 degree scan of its surroundings and suggest actions to avoid incidents. The technology is developed specifically to protect vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVwmYUrfOP0&sns=fb

[volkman10]

Volvo Trucks - Demo of features in the Live Test

The Volvo FMX is designed to handle rough treatment. Otherwise it wouldn’t stand a chance against Sophie. In this film, shows some of the key features built into our toughest truck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPP0pow8pMY

[bblost]

No words to describe it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ4qhLNYKf4

[GTO]

Originally Posted by bblost

No words to describe it

That heavy truck weighing thousands of kilos braked like a performance car! Hats off to Volvo .

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by bblost

No words to describe it:

That was simply amazing. That kid could have got seriously injured had he not run but atleast he wouldn't have been run-over! Had it been some other vehicle, he would have surely been gone. This video also shows how we have similar type of people around the world, moving into an incoming lane from behind a vehicle. Volvo is great.

I had come across this video on YouTube, not sure if it's from India but goes on to show the emergency braking capabilities of a Volvo. That driver was busy drinking water.

https://youtu.be/RRJG38MjGM8://

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by bblost

No words to describe it:

That looks unreal! Amazing as to how such a massive truck is able to stop without any drama at all. Have to give it to Volvo their innovations in safety.

[apachelongbow]

The driver managed to brake because of the well lit brake lights of the scania bus ahead. In India most trucks, almost all RTC buses have no brake lights so no wonder rear ending is quite common.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by bblost

No words to describe it:

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

That looks unreal! Amazing as to how such a massive truck is able to stop without any drama at all. Have to give it to Volvo their innovations in safety.

The marvel of this system is that in this scenario, the ADAS system in the truck would have detected the running child much earlier than the driver would have seen it and triggered a visual and audible warning initially. Depending upon the speed, even autonomous braking would have been initiated. Hence, the driver hits the horn even before the child comes in his path. Thats where such systems really show their worth. If not for that, the child would have met a really bad tragedy.

Every time I see such a scenario, I can relate to some incident in India which could have been avoided by the implementation of such systems. Sadly, I guess its still a long way down the timeline.

EDIT: It seems to be the horn of the vehicle carrying the dashcam. My bad.

[Ashley2]

This is not the result of AEB, its 100% human effect.
Driver has responded at the right time and saved the kid.

Reference from CVNews.in

The report shows that distance between the truck and the child, who suddenly appeared on the road, was critically short. Moreover, the child was running and appeared on the road unexpectedly. Thus, in that particular situation, it was impossible for the Volvo FH emergency braking system to recognize the child as an obstacle, and stop urgently

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

This is not the result of AEB, its 100% human effect.
Driver has responded at the right time and saved the kid.

Reference from CVNews.in

The article sounds too vague to me, and they haven't even shown the source of the investigation report. Most of it is a general info of what is what and looks like a typical click bait. Of the whole article, 90% is general info about various topics, and the 10% hidden in the middle states that its 100% Human effort based on an article. Would be curious to read the report. Of course, I will believe it only if the manufacturer themselves claims that it was only human effort. But what they have missed out is that their theory is only based on the child being too close to the truck when it appears in front of it. Agreed with this. If an object appears out of nowhere in front of the vehicle so close to it, the AEB systems cannot respond. However, the underlying fact is that the current gen vehicle radars can detect objects which is hidden behind another vehicle. This is a typical use case of the system. Imagine you have a child running into the road from between two cars right into the path of a car. This is one of the scoring parameters for the Euro NCAP. The system must be able to detect a child between two parked cars and initiate braking in case the movement of the child is such that it will result in a collision with the system vehicle. The same thing would have happened here. Of course, like I have said earlier, it would not have initiated braking on its own, but there is a provision to pre-charge the brakes or rather prepare the brakes for full braking effort.

Typically, in such a scenario, the radar would have detected the child right after it starts moving towards the lane of the truck. However, the camera would not have detected the same. Hence, the system confidence would be less since it relies upon confirmation from multiple sensors. When system confidence is less, it usually does not perform any action on its own, but usually warns the driver and expects a deceleration. When this happens, if the truck driver had just started to apply the brakes, the system would have provided full braking effort and stopped the truck so quickly.