The document is the final report of the Phase III program to study the potential application of an anticipatory radar braking system in preventing motor vehicle accidents. The program was undertaken by Bendix Research Laboratories for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The report describes the design of the experimental radar braking system and the installation of the system on two test vehicles. A summary of the functional tests which demonstrate the performance of the experimental system is included as well. The system description is divided into three sections. Section 2 outlines the design of the radar sensor, including the signal processing electronics, control panel display, and installation of the entire subsystem on the test vehicles. Sections 3 and 4 describe the design of the brake actuation subsystem and the anti-lock subsystem, respectively, and include information about installation of these two subsystems on test vehicles. Section 5 outlines functional tests conducted with the two test vehicles equipped with the radar braking system. The preliminary tests outlined in Section 5 demonstrate the performance of the radar braking system. In addition to general observations about closed-loop braking performance of the two radar-brake-equipped test vehicles. Section 6 outlines the major differences in performance between the two test vehicles. More extensive tests of the radar braking system installed in the test vehicles are recommended.
Abstract