In 2013 nearly 200 people were killed in car crashes involving collisions with deer, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. And State Farm estimates that more than 1.2 million deer-vehicle accidents occurred over the same period, costing more than $4 billion in damage and causing an average individual insurance claim of approximately $4,000.
Volvo has introduced innovative driver assists over the last few years to help motorists avoid everything from pedestrians to cyclists, and now it’s training the same sensors and software on large animals such as deer, elk and moose to prevent this kind of road-kill carnage. The Swedish automaker says its all-new Volvo 2017 S90 sedan is the first car providing Large Animal Detection with Autobrake.
Volvo noted at a press event in Spain this week to launch the S90 that the new system leverages the same technology that enables its pedestrian and cyclist detection: radar to sense an object and a camera to identify it. But the real magic is in the software.
The system’s radar sensor, front-facing camera and software work in unison to determine whether a large animal is standing on the road or moving across it. The information is instantaneously crunched by a combination of camera recognition technology, analysis, processing and an image database that decides whether to activate the system.
Volvo’s Large Animal Detection with Autobrake uses a radar sensor, front-facing camera and software to determine whether a large animal is standing on the road or moving across it and whether to activate the system. Photo by Volvo.
Source: Forbes
Author: Doug Newcomb
