There is an unpleasant moment when I drive in a dense Fog and use the brakes sharply.

The sensation that we are going to suffer a rear-end collision, so I keep my eyes in the rear-view mirror, and I spend terrible seconds wondering if the vehicle that follows me will stop in time.

I push the brake pedal firmly, and I discover a metallic sound, rebounds in my right foot and corrections in one of the wheels.

I know that the ABS and ESP are working correctly, and the seatbelts pre-tensioner are ready for the impact.

All these perceptions indicate that the Technology of the car is operating great.

The Automatic Emergency Braking is activated but does not run because I take the control.

We do not know what is happening forward, so I decide to act on my own.

It is incredible to discover how many things can do the brain in critical situations when it has the temperance of remain calm, and perform several actions in seconds, as feel, act, think fast enough to avoid a crash, with the single objective to survive.

In this case, my eyes responded extraordinary rapid and I could stop in time.

I was driving in adverse climatological conditions and inside a cloud that reduced enormously the visibility.

Calculate the loss of speed of the leader vehicle was impossible and I could not find any reference, really it was extraordinarily difficult to know if the forward vehicle was completely stopped or moving.

We only saw the red lights, nothing more, of course, I received an incomplete information.

I will never know what kind of braking did the leader vehicle or if the driver only kept the foot on the brake pedal for an extended period.

After that, we missed the red lights in the dense fog.

Now, my family and l, all of us, we are alone inside an enormous cloud.

Quickly we kept moving and used the brakes a few times to reduce speed before taking the curves.

I do not know if the vehicle that follows me installs Automatic Emergency Braking or not.

Anyway, I am relaxed; I remember that our car connects a PDS which is transmitting a fast, complete and intuitive information about the loss of speed of the vehicle, the intensity of the braking and if it is moving or stopped.

Naturally, the Technology has enhanced a lot of, but it does not too much in the areas of transmission of information during the braking process.

In adverse climatological conditions as (dense fog, snow storms, intense rain, dust storms, extreme temperatures), the sensors, cameras, radars, laser light, have serious problems to send and receive complete signals without interruptions.

This could explain why the AEB did not run first.

After this incident, we decided to investigate about AEB and similar systems which use the mentioned Tech and how our Innovation can collaborate with these systems to beat the Fog.

We discovered an incisive article of Danny Bradbury, Forbes BrandVoice. CenturyLink.

“How Autonomous Vehicles Will Navigate Bad Weather Remains Foggy” Nov 29, 2016

“Rain and fog can interfere with laser light from the LIDAR sensor, potentially causing the computer to see obstacles that aren’t there. Sensors also can be confused or covered by falling snow, and obscured by condensation.”

“It has mortal enemies: The big one is fog. And also rain,” said Alex Wyglinski, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute of MA. USA and president of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society.

Wyglinski said “carmakers can tune short-range communication to look specifically for where other vehicles have been based on their location data, much like a driver in a blinding blizzard at night looks for tire tracks from cars ahead. Perhaps in some ways, then, tomorrow’s computerized drivers won’t be so different from us.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/centurylink/2016/11/29/how-autonomous-vehicles-will-navigate-bad-weather-remains-foggy/#42a1b507c230

After reading this article, we believe that in exceptional cases as dense Fog and or in good conditions too, we need innovative systems as the PDS which operates in Redundancy and is Complementary.

Also, it collaborates in Transitions Levels to take the control and has been designed to be compatible with the rest of the V2V Tech.

Let me explain PDS briefly:

The system comprises a braking indicator located in the rear part of the vehicle, an electronic controller for processing vehicle speed and engine rpm signals and a segment of lights connected to the electronic controller.

The diodes are lit up proportional to the loss of speed of the vehicle in an intuitive way, from the center to the sides of the bar or vice-versa, both possibilities are available.

The lights or diodes and the rate at which the lights progressively light up transmit rapid information to other drivers on the loss of speed as a result of action on the braking system of the vehicle and sudden slowing of the engine.

Besides, we transmit if the vehicle is moving or completely stopped.

We are sure that PDS helps you to drive safely in a dense Fog.

Of course, this is a good option to beat this Big Enemy while we wait to the V2V Tech to win it definitely.

Most of the drivers have suffered experiences similar to this brief story, driving at night, with inclement weather, with dense traffic, or using the engine brake without pushing the brake pedal.

Autonomous car, Semi-automated car and conventional ones.

The Fog, Enemy to beat.

A Question of Survival and Adaptation.

Semi-Automated car, the task of today.