With series introduction of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems, automotive industry at present makes a step towards a new category of vehicle control systems. For the first time in automotive history these systems make use of information about the surrounding traffic situation. This information is provided by new kinds of sensors and is being processed using intelligent algorithms. Thus new driver assistance functions are integrated in the car, ACC being the first representative of such kind of functions.
This contribution describes possibilities and also limits of today's available technology on the example of the BMW ACC system, called „Active Cruise Control”.
