George Knighton

"Honda Sensing" it's called.

Some of this makes me nervous! :-)

The millimeter-wave radar and the camera integrate their information more closely than before, so that there can be Pedestrian Collision Mitigation Steering [!!!].



And what we call LKAS has been improved so that it's called "Road Departure Mitigation."

With both of those systems, the car becomes more aggressive than we are currently accustomed, so that it can keep you out of a ditch, or keep you from hitting a person.

With LKAS, the driver can easily over ride the car's input and I can't help wondering if we can still over ride what the car's trying to do with those two technologies.

The cameras and processors are evidently good enough that the car can also read road signs now and deliver warnings when you're too much over the speed limit, or you're about to go into a no entry point.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

skynet is coming

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

holografique

Wow, pretty interesting. I wonder when the BETA testing program starts?

Guessing we may see this in the 4th Gen US RLX...?

fsmith

If the new steering assist features go from a gentle nudge (as thet are now) to a full autonomous action (even to avoid a pedestrian), I'm out. I expect full autonomous vehicles at some point in the future, of course, because they will make driving safer. But I'm not okay with that until all cars have such features, so I don't have to worry about avoiding the idiots who are still controlling their own cars, and until there are proper sensors imbedded in the roadways.

George Knighton

I don't know if I'll say I'm out, but it makes me nervous the way that some of these things are worded.

Some of the technology that is used to avoid a pedestrian is also supposedly used to be sure you stay on the road if you fall asleep or something else happens.

I don't know how they're going to do that without scaring people. If they make it too light like LKAS then if somebody does fall asleep then his hand, torso or head on the wheel will be enough to render the safety feature useless.

If they make the steering heavy enough to overcome a driver's insufficiency then it's going to scare some people and they won't trust it. You're probably especially not going to trust it if your XM pre-sets disappear every other day because of a glitch nobody can explain to you.

And we'd certainly want the option of turfing if we ever needed it, right?

How many times have you been on the track and had to pass somebody in the grass or dirt, or how many times have to had to take to the turf to avoid two cars tangling in a corner?

I dunno.

:-) I'm pro-Honda and I think that I "get it" more than a lot of people, but they're definitely going to have to think about this technology very carefully.

fsmith

This brings to mind what the Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel talks about in his course on "moral reasoning" (which is incredibly interesting and available free online, and also discussed in his book "Justice"), and I will sllightly alter the question that he poses to his students:

"You are the conductor of a train travelling at 60 miles an hour and you are told on your radio that there are five workers on the track a half mile ahead that will be killed if you can't stop in time. You try but the train cannot be stopped in time. Then you see a side track that you can take, but you see one worker on that track that will certainly be killed. Do you take the turn and deliberately kill the one to save the five that you otherwise just couldn't avoid?"

He was talking about moral decision-making, not autonomous vehicles. But will the "Honda Sensing" system be able to make a decision to steer away from a pedestrian to avoid hitting him or her if it means forcing you into a ditch (or oncoming traffic) where you might be killed? And will that silicon decision-making be better or worse than our own?

I know that the Honda pedestrian system likely works at only low speeds, but this is not so far-festched an example of programming that will have to be built into these systems. I am not disparaging autonomous vehicles, but I couldn't resist this story because we often get carried away with technology and forget some of the more difficult issues underlying these systems. Sorry if I have hijacked the thread!

George Knighton

It is the Queen's Paradox. You do the least damage that you must cause to keep the world working.

But you raise an interesting point. You wonder if the car's gaze fall on a particular issue, and then the car ignores the other issues that develop, one of which could be a bigger issue.

I can't pretend to understand how they expect to make these decisions, and considering how imperfect we know that our current systems have turned out to be, it certainly makes me nervous.

I wonder how they'll phrase the disclaimer!!! LOL....

fsmith

It will be several hundred pages long, and require weekly TSBs to correct it!

hondamore

The lawyers simply paint with a large brush for the disclaimer:
No person should ever drive this vehicle for any reason.

Liability problem solved.

neuronbob

Wow. I don't mind a gentle tug of the steering wheel as a hint, as is currently.

A full blown corrective action? Nein, danke. I'd turn the system off.

weather

^^ ..and you know that at some point, that will not be able to be deactivated!

That is when I'll walk everywhere.....as if I am already not skinny enough! Gheez I'll disappear *lol*

George Knighton

The North American version of this technology will be called AcuraWatch.

The most expensive versions of the 2016 MDX will have it.

George Knighton

Looks like the MMC of the RLX could have quite a few electronic upgrades.

From an American Honda press release about the 2016 MDX trim levels:

AcuraWatch™
AcuraWatch™ is available as a standalone package on every 2016 MDX and is standard on the Advance Package. Certain features, including Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Departure Warning and Forward Collision Warning, are offered as standard equipment on the MDX with Technology Package. All MDX models come equipped with a Multi-View Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines. The AcuraWatch™ suite of variously available features – depending upon trim – includes:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low-Speed Follow (LSF)
• Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS)
• Forward Collision Warning (FCW) (standard on Tech Package)
• Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
• Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS)
• Road Departure Mitigation (RDM)
• Blind Spot Information (BSI) (Technology and Advance)
• Multi-View Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines
• Rear Cross Traffic Monitor

At the heart of AcuraWatch™ is the fusion of camera and radar technology that can sense the roadway and objects within it, including other vehicles and pedestrians. This technology underpins the systems that help provide the driver with superior vision around the vehicle, can alert the driver of potential issues and, if necessary, intervene to help keep the MDX from departing a lane, departing the road, or help to avoid or mitigate the severity of a collision.

Road Departure Mitigation (RDM)
New for the 2016 Acura MDX, Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) uses a Monocular Camera (mounted on the upper portion of the windshield) to identify solid or dashed painted lane lines, Botts' Dots and Cat Eye markers. RDM uses both steering force, via EPS, and braking force, via VSA, to help the MDX stay a detected lane.

The monocular camera can recognize lane features and identify a lane or roadway edge. If the RDM system determines that the MDX is about to leave a detected lane or roadway defined by solid lines, it will provide steering assist (primary) and, in rare occasions when steering is not sufficient, braking assist to help the driver stay on the road. If a lane only identified by dashed lines, Bott's Dots or Cat Eye markers and the system determines that there is an unintended departure, no braking assist will be provided. Instead, the MDX will use active steering force to return to the detected lane. RDM is integrated with the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system to provide moderate braking, and with the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system to provide steering input.

Multiple visual and audible warnings alert the driver when the RDM system is taking corrective action. These include a lane departure warning on the driver's Multi Information Display (MID) along with an audible warning. RDM also has a customizable initial warning of either a steering wheel shake/vibration and/or an audible alert. This can be customized in the vehicle settings.

Rear Cross Traffic Monitor
Another new driver assistive technology included with AcuraWatch™, the Rear Cross Traffic Monitor works in conjunction with the MDX's Blind Spot Information (BSI) radar sensors to enhance driver confidence when backing up. The system is especially useful when reversing in congested parking lots with an obstructed view from the driver's seat.

The system utilizes a pair of blind-spot radar units located in the rear bumper corners. When Reverse is selected and an approaching vehicle is detected, arrows indicating the approaching vehicle’s direction are shown on the center display's rear camera image. An audible warning is simultaneously emitted.

neuronbob

That they are announcing this in the MDX first rather than the RLX indicates that Acura is acknowledging the MDX as its flagship vehicle for now while they figure out what to do, if anything, with the RLX. It's usually the RL/RLX's role to rest new tech. Not this time... All that's left to add is a Sport Hybrid MDX. Admittedly, that would be awesome.

At least the MDX is a pretty entertaining drive for an SUV, imagine how it could be with the hybrid system we have.

So if the 2016 RLX is finally released, now we know at least some of the upgrade goodies planned.

holografique

Thanks for the update George. In summary:

1. RDM (Essentially an enhanced/aggressive version of LKAS)
2. RCTM

I hope we see IDS added to the potential list. I also agree with Bob's observation of the MDX being treated as the "flagship"...