Novosense Microelectronics, a semiconductor company specializing in high-performance analog and mixed-signal chips, and Continental Automotive Technologies, have announced plans to collaborate on the development of automotive-grade in-vehicle safety sensors.

The companies will also integrate Novosense’s products into Continental’s worldwide platforms. Co-developed products will include those for safety functions and system reliability from air bag triggers to battery pack monitors, according to a joint press release from the companies.

“This collaboration marks an important milestone in our globalization strategy,” said Shengyang Wang, Novosense co-founder and CEO, in the release. “Novosense is committed to delivering exceptional reliability and performance in automotive systems and we look forward to the co-development of these vital systems.”

Theo Brunner, Continental Automotive’s head of electronic purchasing, added, “The product roadmap of Novosense addresses our targets to set up a more diverse supply chain. This helps to better handle geopolitical risks and at the same time enhancing competitiveness of our safety applications.”

In the realm of advancing in-vehicle safety innovation, Volkswagen recently unveiled new collision avoidance alerts that the OEM says can warn drivers of oncoming roadside hazards and certain oncoming vehicles that a VW vehicle is disabled.

Beginning later this fall, the feature will be included with VW Car-Net Safe & Secure subscriptions at no additional charge at no cost for the first five years after the vehicle’s original date of purchase in most model years 2024 and 2025 24 vehicles equipped with the proper technology, according to a VW press release.

Safe & Secure allows owners to access emergency assistance through the Volkswagen Response Center by pressing an SOS button in their vehicles. It works through a secure cellular connection for emergency assistance on the road, according to the release.

Volkswagen says it’s the first automaker in the U.S. to integrate H.E.L.P. (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) and Road Awareness collision avoidance alerts within a suite of connected vehicle services.

“Putting these collision avoidance alerts into Volkswagen vehicles advances our commitment to the safety of both our drivers and all others who are on the road,” said Rachael Zaluzec, Volkswagen of America senior vice president of customer experience and brand marketing, in the release.

“Volkswagen continues to democratize access to features that help both enhance vehicle safety and exceed the expectations of our vehicle owners.”

When a VW vehicle is disabled on the road, the driver can activate Vehicle H.E.L.P. mode which will send digital alerts to certain oncoming drivers notifying them that they are approaching a disabled vehicle. Vehicle H.E.L.P. can be activated manually when the driver turns on their hazard lights or automatically when air bags deploy, according to the release.

With Road Awareness Alerts, VW drivers can receive digital notifications when approaching certain disabled vehicles or in the path of an emergency vehicle. The alerts are delivered through cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology.

“By working with Emergency Safety Solutions to implement H.E.L.P., Volkswagen continues to deliver on our mission to help make roads safer and lead the way in automotive safety technology,” said Frank Weith, Volkswagen Group of America director of engineering connected services, in the release.

“As the first OEM to adopt H.E.L.P. Digital Alerts, this demonstrates the capability and flexibility of our connectivity platform in being able to quickly implement new technologies with innovative partners. We are committed to continuously enhancing the safety of our vehicles by leveraging existing and evolving cellular infrastructure to accelerate the implementation.”

Volkswagen Group also plans to use sensor and image data from vehicles to continuously optimize driver assistance systems and automated driving functions.

The initiative will begin in Germany during the current quarter with passenger car models from Volkswagen and Audi brands. Other group brands will gradually join.

Crash avoidance and post-crash care vehicle features were discussed during a recent Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit session at this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Hilary Cain, Alliance for Automotive Innovation senior vice president of policy, shared that automakers are focusing on innovations in both categories of features, in part, via data collection.

A lot of the data collected by vehicles can help make consumer experiences with crashes more efficient and lead to better outcomes, she said.

“Some of that data is being gathered from other vehicles that are on the road that notice those hazards — notice that patch of ice, notice that vehicle stopped in the road,” Cain said. “Some of it’s coming from infrastructure but that can then feed into alerts into the vehicle that let people know that that hazard’s up ahead.”

OEMs are also increasingly looking into integrating features that pinpoint strengths and areas of needed improvement to aid new drivers in learning to be better drivers and avoid crashes.

Images

Featured image: (Left) Theo Brunner, Continental Automotive head of electronic purchasing, and Yun Sheng, NOVOSENSE co-founder/CTO (Credit: Continental Automotive/NOVOSENSE)

Volkswagen has added new collision avoidance alerts to its suite of VW Car-Net connected vehicle services. (Provided by Volkswagen)