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Source: ZF announcement
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany — ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division has presented the future of intelligent truck-trailers by unveiling two advanced innovation vehicles.
Uniquely able to combine truck and trailer technologies with its unparalleled systems capabilities, ZF is setting new industry benchmarks for combined truck-trailer safety and efficiency. The prototypes also demonstrate ZF’s acceleration of autonomous, electric and digital technologies, offering clear proof-points for ZF’s ‘Next generation Mobility’ strategy.
“Environmentally intelligent and designed to lower the Total Cost of Ownership, ZF’s latest innovation vehicles set a new standard of performance, efficiency and safety that are only possible when leveraging the capabilities of complete truck-trailer combinations,” said Dr. Christian Brenneke, Senior Vice President of Product Engineering with ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions division. “Each prototype powerfully combines ZF’s advanced truck and trailer expertise with our unrivalled systems capabilities. This has enabled us to achieve enhanced levels of safety and efficiency that simply would not be possible without an integrated approach to the complete vehicle.
“The ease of use of these technologies also supports less experienced drivers at a time when the industry is facing acute shortages.”
Towards “Zero Accidents”
The company has equipped its safety innovation truck and semi-trailer with a suite of its combined technologies, drawing on its extensive passenger car capabilities to ensure the technology is economically attractive for commercial vehicles.
This includes ZF’s comprehensive Highway Assist solution, which is enabled by OnGuardMAX, ZF’s most advanced Autonomous Emergency Braking System for commercial vehicles. Highway Assist combines Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Continuous Lane Keeping Assist (CLKA) functionality to offer longitudinal and lateral control as a Level 2 automated application.
Additionally, it features ZF’s next generation modular and scalable mBSP XBS braking system platform. This platform seamlessly complements ZF’s OnHand Electro-Pneumatic Handbrake (EPH) enabling automatic park brake control and providing enhanced safety and driver comfort. ZF’s Hands-on-Detection Steering Wheel has also been integrated providing outstanding precision sensing capabilities.
The safety innovation vehicle can autonomously initiate an emergency brake to avoid collisions with moving and stationary objects from speeds of up to 80 km/h and can bring the vehicle to a complete stop. Working in conjunction with the braking system, ZF’s unique new Active Seatbelt helps safeguard drivers by ensuring their seatbelts are free of tangles and remain at the correct tension, particularly during emergency maneuvers.
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Showcasing how its integrated active braking intervention functions outperform the EU’s GSR mandate, from warning only to active intervention, ZF has also demonstrated its active Moving Off Assistant. Helping avoid collisions with pedestrians or bicyclists near the front of the vehicle during drive-off, it is complemented by two versions of ZF’s Advanced Reversing Assist (ARA) to help reduce accidents during reversing maneuvers. One ARA is fitted in the tractor and another in the trailer which features TT-Link technology enabling the trailer, for the first time, to be an integral part of sensing/monitoring a vehicle’s surroundings. The trailer reversing camera is expected to become an essential part of future GSR (PoC-status) requirements. Also featured is ZF’s Blind Spot Information System (BSIS), which helps avoid collisions with cyclists riding near the passenger side of the vehicle.
To view the entire announcement, click HERE.
