Meritor Wabco Announces Lane Departure, Stability Control, Air Suspension
TROY -- The automotive joint venture Meritor Wabco Wednesday announced a next-generation lane departure warning system, including technology from Takata Corp., will be available for fleet installation starting in October.
Meritor Wabco also announced new electronic stability control technology that will advance performance, functionality and flexibility.
And, Meritor Wabco announced that its Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) will be available in September 2012 to the North American market. More than 3 million WABCO ECAS systems have been sold worldwide and Meritor WABCO is adapting the product to meet the growing interest in North America for the tractor, motor coach and bus markets.
The lane departure system is a forward-looking, vision-based system designed to monitor the road and the vehicle's position in the lane, audibly warning the driver if the vehicle unintentionally leaves its lane.
Drivers are alerted if the system detects lane drifts, weaving or lane changes without a turn-signal application.
Advanced image analysis algorithms enable the Meritor system to detect a wide variety of lane markings, such as dividing lines on the highway, even in unfavorable lighting or weather conditions where there are limited visible solid, dashed or reflective lane markings.
The ESC technology, meanwhile, builds on the current "self-learning" capability whereby the system is designed to automatically adapt to changes in vehicle characteristics and wear without the need to reprogram a separate Electronic Control Unit.
As the first-to-market in offering stability control for the North American commercial vehicle market, Meritor Wabco has provided more than 150,000 systems to major fleet customers in the line haul truck, fire truck and motor coach industries.
Meritor Wabco recently participated in a study conducted by The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the safety benefits of stability control for tractor semi-trailers. The study found that ESC technology could eliminate more than 50 percent of rollover crashes and 25 percent of loss-of-control crashes, saving $1.7 billion in societal costs.
And ECAS is designed to improve a vehicle's air suspension control system by electronically maintaining a set ride height between the axle and chassis as road and vehicle characteristics change. The pressure control of the air springs is only adjusted when there is a change in the load, so normal axle vibration during driving does not cause height adjustment or consume air. Reduced air consumption decreases the compressor duty cycle, resulting in improved fuel economy.
ECAS offers automatic load transfer, significantly reducing drive axle wheel spin and traction control events during periods of aggressive acceleration. This feature addresses lower tractive effort of 6x2 vehicles versus 6x4, providing considerable improvement in traction on low friction surfaces to improve performance.
Meritor Wabco is a North American joint venture focused on the development and delivery of proven, integrated safety technology and efficiency components. These include braking systems and controls, active safety systems, and suspension and control systems for commercial vehicles in North America. Two leading global suppliers back Meritor Wabco, each with more than 100-year legacies. Meritor Inc. (NYSE: MTOR), a supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets, provides the joint venture the industry's most extensive service and support network; while Wabco Automotive Control Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Wabco Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC), provides breakthrough technologies and control systems for the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles.
For more information, visit www.meritorwabco.com.
