Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC announced truck OEM availability of its electronic stability control system and a joint program with Knorr-Bremse to co-develop driver assistance systems for commercial vehicle applications.
The company's ABS-based electronic stability control technology will be available on 60-70 percent of all Class 8 tractor configurations sold by Mack, International, Kenworth, Peterbilt and Volvo, Bendix said. The systems will be standard equipment for Volvo and optional for Mack, Kenworth, Peterbilt, and International.
The joint program involving Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and its European affiliate, Knorr-Bremse, will be conducted in phases. In the first phase, Bosch will provide components, software and related engineering knowledge for its radar technology to Bendix and Knorr-Bremse to adapt and develop for application in commercial vehicles.
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) identifies vehicles on the road ahead, computes their speed and maintains a speed-related following distance through automatic engine management. The radar will also initially provide warnings to the driver when a forward collision is impending. ACC by Bosch has been in use on passenger vehicles since 2000.
Additionally, Bendix and Knorr-Bremse are planning to develop, manufacture and market an active collision mitigation system for commercial vehicles. This system builds on the technology of ACC and, when combined with Bendix ABS-6 Advanced with ESP stability system, assists drivers in emergency braking.
By “predicting” the situation, the system can automatically apply a certain amount of braking power and engine throttle reduction to help reduce the impact of vehicle collisions. The technology is currently in use on passenger vehicles, and systems are running on commercial vehicles. Bendix plans to make the product commercially available in 2007.