At a GLE converted into a research car, Mercedes shows what demands the future self-driving car places on safety engineers. An experimental safety car has a long tradition with the Stuttgart people. And yet, there is something surprising about the ESF 2019.
The rails are embedded in the ground, 200 meters long. Everything is reconstructed with windowless concrete, a giant block on the edge of the factory premises of Mercedes in Sindelfingen. There is no train on the tracks. Here in the security center, brand-new cars are catapulted to ruin by a sled on the rails. No automaker has a longer crash course, at the end of which new and future models are deliberately destroyed. Again and again, the moment of truth for the constructors, the moment of the question of life or death.
The SUV, easily recognizable as a Mercedes GLE, which has now been presented in the otherwise strictly shielded building, will be spared an end as a scrap heap for the time being, because its serial brothers have long since proven their stability. It comes visually different than the well-known GLE, a little reminiscent of the former M-class called model, which met in the "Jurassic Park" the dinosaurs. But the cylinders mounted on the corners of a roof panel, reminiscent of Alexa appliances, are not auxiliary lights. They can communicate with the outside world through colored LED strips.
Because with this research vehicle Mercedes wants to show what rethinking the subject of safety for the future automatically and autonomously driving car is necessary. It's less about the design of the body, which has long since fulfilled all standards. Familiar details such as airbags, child seats or just the many ways to understand the environment without the help of human gestures or looks have to be reinvented. ESF 2019 is the name of the Mercedes, which will enrich the Stuttgart stand at the IAA in September. The abbreviation stands at Mercedes for decades for "experimental safety vehicle", which summarizes about every ten years in a car, which the factory's inventors have devised so.
Most of the ESFs built since the 50 years had a short lifespan, ending after deliberate rollovers, collisions with other cars, or hard impacts on concrete blocks. Only a few have "survived" and escort their modern great-grandchildren today. In the oldies once stood at the beginning only the sheet, which was pulled over a steel skeleton. What could happen in an accident with the inmates interested the car pioneers only marginally. And accidents were many, too many. Therefore, the ESF models had to be used to try new ideas. Whether crumple zones, bumpers with telescopic effect, integrated and self-extending roll bars, for example, the Roadster SL, of course, the airbags to ABS and ESP. Everything first landed in the ESF thought games. No wonder, then, that the name Mercedes stands for many novelties that are standard in almost all cars today.
And now, a look into a time in which human beings will gradually hand over responsibility to electronics. An example is the steering wheel, which is square in the ESF. If the autopilot is active, it will be moved towards the dashboard to create more space for the driver's rest period. The steering wheel is so small that it can no longer absorb an airbag. A new airbag, similar to the passenger's and hidden above the instrument panel, pushes over the steering wheel in a crash, cushioning the space between it and the human. Wait a minute: did not it always mean that the automated traffic of the future will be accident-free? Thomas Hellmut, the security chief explains. "Of course that's our goal, but there will be a long transitional period for automated and conventional cars to travel together." So a robot car has to be prepared for anything.
The ESF 2019 also has an evolution of the child seat on board. In the future, it will be networked with the electronics of the vehicle, which recognizes and demands the correct mounting. Sloppiness and carelessness in the installation of the seat and the correct position of the child are the reason why in the event of an accident there are now and again injuries to the small passengers. The responsible engineer Hakan Ipek: "In the future, we will also take advantage of our 'Pre-Safe' system for the child seat, whose straps are also pre-tensioned when a hazard is detected." Also new is a small camera on the seat, through which the parents can keep an eye on the offspring. In stand by monitor, while driving on the smartphone. Facial recognition can also check the well-being of the small rider.
Further novelties in the research car: Since for the first time with such a "thinking model" no sedan, but an SUV is used, its large rear window can be used for information to the Hintermann. Notes are projected into the glass, such as warnings of a jam, smoothness or even a reckless pedestrian just crossing the road. In addition, a camera image can be mirrored in real time on the disc, which reports the events in front of the car to the rear. The thick SUV becomes transparent for the vehicles behind him. Light strips on the sides and a projection screen in the radiator grille should also inform the environment by color. So violet light always means: "I am traveling autonomously".
Nor does the GLE driver of the future have to worry about the warning triangle in the event of a breakdown. It is mounted on a small device reminiscent of today's robotic vacuum cleaners. The warning triangle gets wheels and moves out of its "garage" in the rear onto the road. If the glitch is fixed it returns to the car.
Important for the belt muffle under the backbenchers: The ESF has the next generation of belts on board, which should encourage the desire to buckle up: The lock is illuminated, the fabric tape is automatically transported in the handle of the passenger, has a USB connector and is available everything is heated. True to the motto: cuddly strapped into the future.
