Hands-off detection ECU for autonomous driving assistance systems

Alps Alpine has a developed an ECU for hands-off detection to aid autonomous driving systems by identifying between variations in a driver’s grip on the steering wheel. To accommodate advancements in autonomous driving support and contribute to safe and comfortable mobility, development for next-generation models is underway.

Technological innovation gathers speed within the automotive CASE domains of autonomous driving, connected cars, sharing and services, and electrification.

Vehicles equipped with these features need to detect and assess a driver’s driving status to enable safe and even switching between automated and manual driving. One feature is hands-off detection, a function for defining the status of the driver’s grip on the steering wheel that interacts with other systems for assessing driving status to facilitate safe switching between driver-controlled and system-controlled modes. Safety features are essential given the ongoing sophistication of autonomous driving assistance systems, and legislation is advancing.

Determining the correct time to change between autonomous driving assistance and manual driving needs constant monitoring of the vehicle’s drive status and the driver’s driving posture to guarantee safety. If the continuation of autonomous driving assistance is considered inappropriate, the driver requires to be swiftly warned that the assistance is to be disengaged and urged to instantly revert to manual driving. Safety assurances necessitate much more precise detection of diverse variations of the driver’s grip on the steering wheel.