What is CMS?

How it works
System Configuration
Warning Devices
Collision Avoidance Maneuvers
Conclusions

Honda Motor: Science & Education. Trends in Japan

2003
Autoweb.com.au: Honda Develops New Collision
Avoidance Safety System. 2003
Francois Granet, Rosella Picado, Lauren Smith:
Longitudinal Avoidance. 2003

CMS is the world's first Collision Mitigation Brake

System (CMS). The technology predicts rear-end
collisions and assists brake operation to reduce the
impact.
CMS anticipates a collision based on driving
conditions, distance to the vehicle ahead and relative
speeds. It then uses visual and audio warnings to
prompt the driver to take preventative action and also
initiates braking if the driver fails to respond to the
warnings.

First, the radar measures the distance between the car and
other vehicles up to 100 meters ahead and any differences in
speed, and an onboard computer judges the risk of a collision
based on this information and on data about the course of the
car.
Then if the system judges that there is a risk of a crash, such
as when the car gets too close to the vehicle in front, it alerts
the driver by sounding an alarm and lighting up a BRAKE
warning on the dashboard. This is the first warning stage,
aimed at alerting the driver to the danger and encouraging the
driver to slow down.

The system works in conjunction with the "EPretensioner" seatbelt retraction system. If the car
continues to get closer to the other vehicle and the
computer decides that it will be hard to avoid a collision, it
tightens the seatbelt more firmly and applies the brakes
forcibly and hard.

The CMS has three staged modes:

An audible warning,
An audible warning, light braking and light seat-belt
retraction.
An audible warning, strong braking and strong seat-belt
retraction.

Millimeter-wave radar: Detects vehicles within a range

of about 100 meters ahead, in a 16-degree arc.

Sensors: The system determines driving conditions using a

range of sensors that detect factors such as yaw rate,
steering angle, wheel speed, and brake pressure.

CMS Electronic Control Unit (ECU): Based on distance

to the vehicle ahead and relative speed obtained from radar
information, the ECU calculates the likelihood of a
collision, and warns the driver, and in some cases activates
the braking function.

E-Pretensioner ECU: Sends instructions to the motorized

E-Pretensioner to retract the seatbelt, based on braking
instruction signals from the CMS ECU and electronically
controlled brake assist signals.
E-Pretensioner: Retracts the seatbelt using an internal
motor, based on instructions from the E-Pretensioner ECU.
Used in combination with conventional pretensioners.
Meter unit: Receives signals from the CMS ECU, and
warns the driver of potential danger using a buzzer and a
visual warning.

Figure: Autoweb.com.au, CAS 2003

Visual head-up displays: warnings are displayed on the

windshield in the driver's field of view.
Audio/Voice signals: auditory signals appear to be less
intrusive on driving tasks.

Headway distance control: the system warns the driver

whenever his/her car is following the leading car too closely
Hazard warning: the system warns the driver of an object
within its projected path, so that the driver has sufficient time
to avoid a crash.
Automatic vehicle control: the system controls the vehicle's
brakes and steering wheel

Sensors fulfill the tasks of headway control and

obstacle detection, which are the basis of Collision
Avoidance Systems (CAS) Sensing.

Table 2
Sensor Devices' Measures of Performance
Sensor
Ultrasonics
Passive
Infrared
Laser radar
(lidar)

Sensing
Range

Resolution

Directional Response
ity
Time
speed of
30 deg. (min)
sound

10 m. (max)

10 mm.

10 m. (max)
100 m. (max),
0.5 m. (min)

poor

90 deg.

1mm. (min)

1deg.
2 deg. or
wider

FMCWRadar
150 m.
Impulse
Radar
50 m. (max)

10 mm.

Capacitive
Vision
Systems

2 m. (max)

10 mm.

25 deg.
90 deg. Or
wider

100 m.

poor

good

Source: Stobart and Upton, 1995

10 mm.

Cost
$15

1sec.
fast (10
msec.)

under $10

fast (1msec)

over $200

Fast (1msec)

over $100

fast (1msec)

$1

100 msec.

Over $200

over $50

Size
30 mm.
diameter
20 mm.
square
50 mm. x100
mm.
250 mm. x150
mm.
250 mm. x100
mm.
small
40 mm. x100
mm.

Sensing range: the maximum range over which the

technique can be used
Resolution: the relative change in distance that can be
measured
Directionality: the width of the beam over which the
sensor is sensitive
Response time: how quickly the sensor can respond to a
change in distance

Automatic braking systems can detect an obstacle and bring

the car to a complete halt just before impact. The technology
has reached the level where the systems can even detect the
speed of a vehicle in front, compare it with the speed of the
user's car, and stop the car to avoid an accident. Honda and
Toyota are applying and testing these Automatic braking
systems nowadays and will continue improving this type of
technology.