ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL ABSTRACT This report explains the Adaptive Cruise Control system in detail.

All the necessary components i.e. range sensor, curve sensors, actuators, display system are described and their respective strength and weaknesses are addressed. The system architecture contains system overview, control strategy and the concept for driver-ACC interaction. Afterwards the principles as well as the current technical limits of ACC systems are discussed. As an outlook, development trends for extended functionality are given for next generation of driver assistance systems. INTRODUCTION In this report the structure and functionality of ACC systems are discussed in detail. Although development of ACC systems begin in the late seventies, marketing is now possible after significant progress in both sensor and signal processing technologies. Sensors, on one hand, need to measure accurately the distance and relative speed to preceding vehicles, be easily and cheaply producible, and must meet the strict requirements of the automotive market. On the other hand, the signal processing must guarantee the desired resolution of the processed data while keeping rigorous timing constraints. Progress in these areas was partly triggered by the PROMETHEUS project, an European project involving all European research project involving all European car manufacturers, initializing similar activities in Japan and U.S. In this report, the main components, which typically make up such an ACC system, are described. The control strategy and the system architecture of ACC system are explained. Then the principal limits, safety assured, as well as the simulated effects on the traffic flow are pointed out.