The high-performance sensor for assisted and automated driving
Even for assisted driving, the specific requirements related to accuracy, reliability, and availability of the system can be stringent. And this applies even more to automated driving, since the driver hands over the responsibility for driving to the system and no longer has to monitor it. For this reason, ensuring the safety of the passengers throughout the entire system is absolutely crucial. Highly accurate, reliable localization is therefore essential, which is typically achieved by combining multiple technologies – such as surround sensors, satellite navigation, and inertial measurement units – and providing redundancy.
If the features of the surroundings are not enough for exact localization or the satellite connection is disrupted, inertial measurement units come into play. The overall system compensates for the missing information by calculating the vehicle’s relative change in position using information from the sensors, which maintains the localization and allows the entire system to remain active. Standard inertial sensors, however, are not sufficiently capable in this regard to satisfy the precision and performance requirements. Therefore, Bosch has developed highly precise inertial sensors especially for this purpose, which are part of a modular product family. This includes three variants, each of which are designed for specific markets and vehicle segments.
In addition to the stand‑alone variants, the inertial measurement unit – integrated expands the portfolio as a system‑on‑module and can be integrated directly into electronic control units (ECUs).
The modular approach of the inertial measurement unit meets a variety of performance requirements and covers a wide spectrum, from the affordable entry-level option to the high-performance sensor. With this high level of precision, the overall system – and therefore the vehicle – can keep to the originally planned path with only minimal deviation.
If critical errors are detected in the overall system and the driver is unable to take back control of the vehicle, the relative direction of travel of the vehicle can be determined using, among other information, the data from the inertial sensors, and the vehicle can be brought to a stop safely and reliably if needed.
Thanks to the integrated microcontroller, it is possible to process the output signals individually for different applications and make them available to multiple higher-level systems simultaneously. Preimplemented calibration functions and a standardized software architecture (AUTOSAR) enable flexible integration at the vehicle level.
In addition to this, the equipped hardware security module (HSM) protects the sensor data from being externally manipulated, adding to the safety of the overall system.
