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The active safety of tractor / trailer-combinations plays an important role in regard to traffic safety in general. For improving the active safety of tractor / trailer-combinations, it is necessary to investigate the interactions between the towing vehicle and the trailer during braking maneuvers. This paper describes the ECE-regulations for the braking force distributions of tractor/full trailer- and tractor / semitrailer-combinations. The influence of different layouts of the braking systems within these regulations on the coupling forces between tractor and trailer and the driving performance of the units during braking is investigated. The dynamical behaviour of a tractor/full-trailer-combination and a tractor / semitrailer-combination are both discussed with the aid of simulations of the ISO-standard testing procedures “Braking in a turn” and “Braking straight ahead”.

The paper shows the completely new designed concept for electronics in the Mercedes-Benz Actros. The basic rules are explained, and on the example of the engine management the advantages of such an entire-vehicle promise are shown. At last it is pointed out, that the presented concept will be the basis for future developments on integration of electric's and electronics.

The importance of autonomous vehicle operation to satisfy future safety and productivity requirements is emphasized by the current National plans for IVHS and AHS development and deployment. Daimler-Benz Research, in cooperation with Freightliner Corporation, is developing a research vehicle VECTOR (Vision Enhanced/Controlled Truck for Operational Research) which currently is undergoing testing of a vision-based control system for lateral guidance. This effort is building on experience from prior Daimler-Benz and PROMETHEUS projects, including the test vehicles VITA (VIsion Technology Application) and OSCAR (Optically Steered CAR). The paper describes this work and future expansion plans to incorporate longitudinal control systems in VECTOR.