2007 Seat AIDE Project

At PReVENT, SEAT will be demonstrating the work carried out on the AIDE project (Adaptive Integrated Driver-Vehicle Interface), whose objective is to develop a system able to judge and transmit the most relevant information to the driver based on several variables, such as road and traffic conditions, the vehicle’s dynamic and safety conditions and maybe more importantly, the driver’s characteristics and physical conditions.
 

The need for grouping and prioritising information is due to breakthroughs in two technologies; on one hand, the growing number of multimedia devices that offer all kinds of information to the driver (audio, telephone, navigation system, etc.), and on the other, active safety and driver state recognition systems. All of this equipment generates a large amount of information which in the AIDE project is gathered by a device called ICA (Interaction and Communication Assistant), and which acts as the main processor.
 
The ICA receives all the information, and according to the above-mentioned variables, gives priority and judges in milliseconds which is the most important and how to transmit it to the driver at any given time in the most effective way.
 
For example, the system can, in collaboration with the navigator, detect when the vehicle is entering an area which requires the driver’s utmost attention, such as a roundabout. If the driver receives an incoming call at that moment, the call is put on hold until the system detects that the vehicle has left the area of most potential danger.
 

The AIDE project development works on analysis and prevention with new, advanced active safety systems such as FCW (Forward Collision Warning) or TSR (Traffic Signal Recognition), which will most likely be fitted on future SEAT models. These systems require long-reaching radars as well as video cameras. In order to know the driver’s details, these must get introduced into the system (age, driving skills, etc.); and in order to recognise the driver’s physical conditions and road attention, video cameras are required that process and analyse the driver’s image.
 
Not only will SEAT present how far we are into the global project, but also a practical application using a prototype León unit equipped with all of these systems. The car detects every kind of danger and clearly warns the driver of them. To do so, the standard information screens have been modified. The DOT Matrix screen on the instrument panel has been replaced by a TFT screen; the navigator screen is a larger touch-pad featuring
specifically developed software, and there is a further steering wheel mounted control that adapts to the additional functions.
 

The other task within the framework of the project carried out by the SEAT Technical Centre is to demonstrate the system’s adaptive capability to the needs of other manufacturers and models with different driver information systems. This way, the project seeks to implement the system in vehicles of other market segments.
 
SEAT’s presence at this exhibition is further proof of the Spanish manufacturer’s commitment to safety and innovation. At the Technical Centre in Martorell elements and systems are continuously being developed to increase safety in the future.