Mercedes-Benz is taking an important step towards the future of driver assistance systems and automated driving. The brand with the Star uses sensor and video data collected from customer fleets to improve the recognition of road users and atypical traffic situations. The stated goal is to increase road safety for everyone and contribute to the “Vision Zero” goal, which is to eliminate road fatalities in the EU by 2050.
Mercedes leverages fleet data
Mercedes-Benz has emphasized that data collection takes place exclusively with the full consent of vehicle owners. Not only that: full transparency is also provided regarding procedures, use, and processing of information. In short, privacy protection and regulatory compliance is at the heart of this initiative. The variety of data is indeed the key to making assistance and automation systems increasingly safe and reliable. The complexity of modern traffic requires models to be trained with examples that are as realistic and diverse as possible. Translated: test vehicles, however widespread, are not enough; real situations from daily traffic are needed.
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Road safety as a priority
Images and supplementary data from customer vehicles will indeed allow systems to better recognize and react to vulnerable groups, such as children, pedestrians, cyclists, and people with reduced mobility. And also to deal with less frequent but critical situations, such as temporary detours, improvised bike lanes, or anomalous behavior by road users. The enrichment of the dataset with heterogeneous data also allows for the early identification of potential hazards and the generation of useful knowledge beyond the individual vehicle.
