Over the last 14 years, freight traffic on the roads has increased by almost 60 %. The accident figures for heavy commercial vehicles during this period have fallen by approximately 35 percent. The number of deaths also decreased in this period by 35 percent. At the same time, an increase in road freight traffic of a further 80 percent is expected by the year 2025.
Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen mbH Aachen (fka) is developing solutions for commercial vehicle safety. The core tasks and competencies include simulations, vehicle dynamics tests and the development of driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), electronic towbars, collision mitigation (CM) and collision avoidance (CA).
fka deals with classical issues such as the vehicle performance of commercial vehicles in borderline conditions by carrying out tests and simulations. To achieve maximum possible stability, the influences of axle and suspension systems and of steering axles are taken into consideration here. The ACC system that fka has developed in cooperation with a renowned supplier is ready for series production. In the next stage, it will make the transition from comfort systems to safety systems possible, as an emergency braking system, for example. Furthermore, fka has contributed to the increase in safety afforded by new types of mirror systems, which provide increased protection for pedestrians and cyclists by means of active or passive measures.