Developing a New Integrated Advanced Driver Assistance System in a Connected Vehicle Environment

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) can effectively enhance driving and safety performance. Due to the inherent limitations of in-vehicle technologies concerning information sharing, existing studies mainly focus on demonstrating the effectiveness of onboard sensor-based individual ADAS functions rather than their collaborative effectiveness. Thanks to the emerging connected vehicle (CV) technologies, it is viable to physically realize the collaboration and coordination between different ADAS functions. This study aims to synthesize seven ADAS functions into an integrated advanced driving assistance system (iADAS) in a CV environment. The seven ADAS functions include omni-directional collision warning, lane-change warning, curve speed warning, emergency event notification, car-following guidance, identification of variable speed limits, and information services. The activation indicators and activation conditions of these ADAS functions are derived based on a single local coordinate system. This derivation has considered the real-time motion states of the ego and surrounding vehicles. Different ADAS functions are classified based on their roles in accident reduction, traffic efficiency enhancement, and driver convenience improvement. Afterwards, their priority of releasing information is set by considering the classification and primary functionality. Finally, the effectiveness of the iADAS is validated in field tests. Testing results reveal that the iADAS helps reduce rear-end collisions and prevent rollovers or sideslips on curved roads. Furthermore, younger drivers respond faster with higher driving stability regarding lateral collision warnings. Young, well-educated, and low-risk taking drivers maintain a short but safe time headway to the leading vehicle.