DaimlerTechnology2010

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The new Efficiency-Class:

204 hp, from 5.3 litres /100 km.

Experience the most efficient E-Class of all time. With an engine range that sets new standards.

The E-Class 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY delivers an impressive performance, with a torqueof 500 Nm. Fuel consumption urban/extra urban/combined: 6.9–7.0/4.4–4.6/5.3–5.5 l/100 km;

combined CO₂ emissions: 139–142 g /km.* Welcome home. www.mercedes-benz.com/e-class

*Figures do not relate to the specific emissions or fuel consumption of any individual vehicle,

do not form part of any offer and are intended solely to aid comparison between different types of vehicle.

A D a i m l e r B r a n d



Dear readers, Today, automotive mobility means not only

safety and comfort but also, and above all, efficiency. These

were the principles that helped us develop the universally us-

able diesel engine known as the OM651. The series production

of this new high-tech four-cylinder diesel engine is now in full

swing. First, however, the “world engine” had to demonstrate its

capabilities during some 100,000 hours on the test rig. It suc-

ceeded, and is now spearheading a generation change among

diesel engines. You can read all about the OM651 on page 46.

The future belongs to electric drives, which hold the key to

sustainable individual mobility. Daimler has been investigating

electric drive concepts for years. The most recent example is

the Concept BlueZERO, which is now close to series production

and exemplifies the advantages of the modular system ap-

proach. Starting out with a single bodyshell platform, three dif-

ferent electric drive systems — based on a lithium-ion battery,a fuel cell stack or a range extender — can be implemented.

This results in vehicle ranges that satisfy all customer require-

ments. To find out more, turn to page 12.

Night rides in the new E-Class from Mercedes-Benz will be

even safer in the future, thanks to new lighting functions. The

Adaptive High Beam Assistant automatically ensures the opti-

mal illumination distance for the headlights. The new Night View

Assist system illuminates the road with a dazzle-free infrared

light and proactively notifies the driver of any pedestrians it

detects in the dark. Both functions complement the tried and

tested Intelligent Light System. You can find out how these sys-

tems make the new E-Class even safer on page 58.

Safety is one of Daimler’s core areas of expertise, so we are

continuously refining our safety assistance systems. For ex-

ample, our researchers have now attained a new dimension of

quality thanks to “sensor fusion.” Here, data from visual and

radar-based systems are used to monitor the car’s surround-

ings, thus greatly enhancing vehicle safety. The car recognizes

impending dangers long before the driver does — and can react

to prevent accidents. You can find out how such systems work

on page 24.

HTR 01/2009 Starter

STARTER

Thomas Weber, Daimler AG Board of Manage-

ment member responsible for Group Research

and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development



04 Daimler

ROUTE PLANNER

24

12

ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS

Detecting Danger

ELECTRIC DRIVES

Concept E

Daimler researchers are using radar and

video sensors in conjunction with laser scan-

ners to detect dangers even sooner, more

precisely, and more reliably. The software

that depicts the vehicle’s surroundings in real

time is also becoming more sophisticated.

Electric drives are the key to sustainable in-

dividual mobility. Daimler is pursuing various

concepts here — for example, the BlueZERO

concept car, which is close to series produc-

tion. The vehicle’s three different electric

drives utilize the sandwich floor concept.

CRASH SIMULATION

Virtual Dummies in Bangalore

32

In this hotspot of the IT sector in India, Daim-

ler engineers create mathematical models

that help them to analyze in detail the strains

to which the human body is subjected by a

simulated crash. The virtual crash dummies

they use are known as human body models.

BlueZERO



HTR 01/2009 Route Planner

46

ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

OM651 — the Base Engine

It’s a compact diesel engine that’s universally

usable — in models ranging from the C, E, and

S-Class to the GLK and vans from Mercedes-

Benz. Its technological highlights include

piezo injectors and a two-stage supercharg-

ing unit.

DRIVE SYSTEMS

12 The near-series BlueZERO concept

car demonstrates three variants of a

fully practical electric vehicle

46 The OM651 is a universally usable

four-cylinder diesel engine with a

whole host of innovations

INTERVIEW

22 Board of Management member

Thomas Weber talks about Daimler’s

future strategy for research and

development

SAFETY

24 The fusing of several sensors has

made it possible to create increasingly

sophisticated assistance functions

32 Virtual models of the human body

vividly reveal the risk of injury in crash

simulations

58 Variable intelligent headlights are

helping drivers to see much moreclearly in the dark

MOBILITY CONCEPTS

52 In the car2go project in Ulm, smart

fortwo vehicles are not only available

throughout the city; they can also be

rented on the spur of the moment

03 Starter

06 Interior

08 Showroom

30 Scanner

44 Smooth Running

44 Serial Number/Masthead

66 Reflector

HEADINGS58

SAFETY

Night Sight

In the new E-Class, night driving will become

even safer. The Adaptive High Beam Assis-

tant automatically sets the optimal illumina-

tion distance for the headlights while the

Night Vision Assistant PLUS actively points

out pedestrians it has detected in the dark.



INTERIOR

down to minus 25 degrees Celsius. Zero-

emission driving is just one of many rea-

sons for forging ahead with the develop-

ment of fuel cell vehicles. For one thing,

they are much more efficient than vehi-

cles with internal combustion engines.

What’s more, the electric motor doesn’t

just generate impressive acceleration —

it’s also very quiet.

In addition to pre-

senting more im-

ages, the website

features brief por-

traits of two re-

search and development units that are

currently working on electric drive sys-

tems, as well as a workshop talk with the

heads of the units, Christian Mohrdieck

(Fuel Cell and Battery Drive System De-

velopment, at left) and Jürgen Schenk

(Development Electric Vehicles).

Daimler has a long history of setting drive

technology milestones. To ensure things

stay that way, the company that invented

the automobile is working hard on devel-

oping electric vehicles that will make zero-

emission mobility possible. One option

here is fuel cell cars such as the B-Class

F-CELL, of which several units will be man-

ufactured this year. Production of the

small-batch series will proceed at a steady

pace, beginning in 2010. As a result,

Daimler will be one of the first automakers

to bring a fuel cell vehicle to the series-

production stage. The B-Class F-CELL ve-

hicles will be assembled at the Sindelfin-

gen plant, where researchers, developers,

and production specialists will be working

hand in hand. Werner Schubert (Develop-

ment Fuel Cell Vehicles, left), Matthias

Scherer (Prototype Construction, center),

and Bruno Motzet (Research/Advanced

Engineering Fuel Cell Systems, right) are

shown here checking a fuel cell stack pri-

or to its installation. Compared to the pre-vious system in the A-Class, the new stack

has a greater output, a longer range, and

a cold-start capability at temperatureswww.daimler.com/innovation

WEB TIP

FUEL CELLS FOR THE B-CLASS

06 Daimler



HTR 01/2009 Interior



In Brazil, the Mercedes-Benz 710

Plus light truck is a top-selling

vehicle. Now it has not only a

new engine with more power and

torque; its turning radius has al-

so been reduced to 13.4 meters.

What’s more, the engineers have

slimmed the truck down, reduc-

ing its width to 2.19 meters. The

possible range of applications for

the light truck has been expand-

ed as a result.

“With its new width and a wheel-

base of 3.70 meters, the 710

Plus complies with the specifica-

tions of São Paulo’s VUC (Urban

Freight Vehicles Law). Thismeans it can now be driven in

08 Daimler

SHOWROOM

With the “myCOMAND” research project, Mercedes-Benz has

launched a new, Internet-based telematics and infotainment system.

This system shows the functions that drivers will be able to rely on in

a few years’ time, when Internet access via radio networks will not

only be nearly universal but will also feature substantially higherbandwidth than is available today. Here, one of myCOMAND’s tasks

is to keep all data and information updated via the Web.

The off-board navigation system, for example, always uses the latest

map data and takes into account online traffic report data when se-

lecting driving routes. Alongside the usual road maps, the system

can also display satellite images. The Trip Assist accesses important

information online and presents it to the driver the moment it is need-

ed. It reports the weather conditions along the route and provides

information about hotels and leisure offerings at the destination. In

addition, the World Radio receives broadcasts from radio stations

all around the world. Drivers can also conduct a targeted search for

stations that broadcast the kind of music they like.

Thanks to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), Internet telephony withmyCOMAND allows users to make telephone calls free of charge,

send text messages via the Internet, or simultaneously transmit

speech and data content.

More Telematics and Infotainment in Cars:

Mobile Internet with myCOMAND

Small Turning Radius in

São Paulo

www.daimler.com/innovation

www.mercedes-benz.com.br/imprensa

www.freightlinertrucks.com

WEB TIP

zones that are otherwise closed

to trucks,” says Eustáquio Sirolli,

Truck Products Marketing Man-

ager at Mercedes-Benz do Brasil.As a result, transport companies

and delivery drivers can now de-

ploy the 710 Plus as a delivery

vehicle anywhere in the city of

São Paulo, thereby boosting their

efficiency.

The truck’s efficiency has been

further enhanced by the vehicle’s

lower maintenance costs and

new engine, which delivers high-

er performance while consuming

less diesel.



HTR 01/2009 Showroom

A Cruise Control That

Knows the Road

Crash Test and Crump

Zone Milestones

In June about 1,000 exper

came to Stuttgart, Germany, f

the 2009 International Technic

Conference on the Enhanc

Safety of Vehicles (ESV), t

world’s most important conve

tion for vehicle safety.

The experts’ objective was

promote the sharing of know

edge worldwide and networki

in all areas related to vehic

safety. The main focal point

this field used to be passive saf

ty, but driver assistance system

and an integral approach to saf

ty have been attracting great

interest in recent years.In addition to a driver assistan

system demonstrator and a PR

SAFE demonstrator, Mercede

Benz presented the 2009 Expe

imental Safety Vehicle (ESV

which features groundbreakin

innovative technologies. Daim

developed the first ESV over 3

years ago. Back then, the vehic

was already equipped with inn

vations such as airbags, AB

and side impact protectio

Daimler also exhibited a vintacar whose “genes” are still sha

ing automotive design toda

Exactly 50 years ago, the wor

witnessed the launch of t

Mercedes-Benz W 111 — the f ir

series-produced vehicle with

crumple zone and rigid occupa

cell. The year 1959 marked n

only the birth of passive safet

it also was the year that the the

Daimler-Benz AG conducted t

first systematic crash tests.

In March 2009 at the Mid-Amer-

ica Trucking Show (MATS), Daim-

ler Trucks North America pre-

sented Predictive Cruise Control

(PCC), a new cruise control sys-

tem that helps to reduce fuel

consumption.

The assistance system, which

was developed by Daimler Re-search engineers in Stuttgart,

Germany, and Portland, Oregon,

automatically adjusts the truck’s

speed to the route driven, based

on a map- and satellite-based

preview of the roads selected.

Unlike a conventional cruise con-

trol system, which tries to main-

tain a pre-selected speed re-

gardless of the changing

topography, PCC adjusts the en-

gine output in line with ap-

proaching uphill and downhillstretches.

With the help of GPS technology

and the digitized three-dimen-

sional map data, the assistance

system presented in Freight-

liner’s New Innovation Truck

“knows” that uphill and downhill

gradients are coming when the

truck is still a mile away. Based

on this data, the PPC system de-

termines the appropriate gear

and most fuel-efficient speed.

Making consistent progress toward a clean future: In June of this year

Mercedes-Benz Buses presented its first fuel cell-hybrid bus — the

Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid regular-service city bus. Now the new vehi-

cle will be extensively put through its paces during a large-scale fleet

test, which calls for the bus to be used in regular daily service by

public transport companies.

The plans call for a Europe-wide test — similar to the European

Union’s successful CUTE fleet test — to be conducted in several cities.

As part of CUTE and other projects, 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel

cell-powered buses have been delivering top performance for 12 pub-

lic transport companies on three continents since 2003. Altogether,

the buses have been driven more than two million kilometers during

roughly 135,000 hours of combined operation, impressively proving

their suitability for everyday use.

The new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid draws on this ex-

perience. Testing the 36 vehicles provided important findings that

were used in the development of the new drive system. And the busalso uses key elements from the Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid. As with

Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid:

Zero-Emission City Driving

the BlueTec bus, the new vehicle’s drive technology was completely

redesigned. Its main components include axles fitted with electric

hub motors, lithium-ion batteries to store energy, and all electrically

powered ancillary components. The Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid’s hydro-

gen consumption is much lower than that of previous fuel cell buses,

thanks to a hybrid drive with a sophisticated drive system control

unit. The biggest plus for passengers is that the Citaro FuelCELL Hy-

brid not only emits zero pollutants when under way but is also virtu-

ally silent. These strengths make it an especially good choice for pub-

lic transportation in inner cities.



10 Daimler

The Vito BlueEFFICIENCY show car presented by Mercedes-Benz is

clearly an aerodynamic, economical performer. The concept vehicle

shows the development potential of vans. Many of the presented in-novations will soon be available as standard equipment or options.

An aerodynamics package reduces air resistance, and thereby also

consumption. The van’s underbody paneling reduces turbulence,

while cameras in place of exterior mirrors ensure improved airflow

around the body. The aerodynamics package also includes concealed

windshield wipers, a roof with a low-drag plastic surface, recessed

roof racks, and a rear spoiler lip. In addition, the intelligently designed

engine cooling system also reduces wind resistance: Three louvers

behind the radiator grille open and close, depending on the vehicle’s

speed and coolant temperature. What’s more, vents in the sides and

floor disperse heat.

The van’s ECO start-stop function turns off the engine as soon as the

vehicle stops moving. This function is integral to the Vito’s batteryand generator management. When the battery is well charged up,

the generator switches off and the on-board network draws its pow-

er from the battery. The battery charges when the vehicle is being

braked or coasting. A six-speed manual transmission with a wide gear

ratio spread makes it possible to smoothly start off uphill in a loaded

van. The long ratio of the sixth gear lowers the rpm at higher speeds,

thus reducing fuel consumption. The van’s tires are designed to re-

duce rolling resistance, while the LED headlights and tail lights re-

quire less electricity, which saves fuel.

The savings potential of the Vito BlueEFFICIENCY includes lower fu-

el consumption of up to 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers and a CO2 emis-

sions reduction of as much as 40 grams per kilometer.

Improved Aerodynamics Yield Savings:

The Vito BlueEFFICIENCY Show Car

Saving energy can pay off in

more ways than one. In Japan the

Aero Star Eco Hybrid bus from

Mitsubishi Fuso has been award-

ed the Energy Conservation

Center Chairman’s Prize in

recognition of its impressive fuel

efficiency.

The prize, which is presented by

Japan’s Ministry of Economy,

Trade and Industry (METI), was

conceived to promote public

awareness of energy issues by

supporting the development and

widespread use of systems,

technologies, and materials that

have above-average energy sav-ings potential.

These are exactly the criteria ful-

filled, for example, by the Aero

Star Eco Hybrid bus, which fea-

tures a new hybrid drive that

consumes little fuel and is very

quiet.

Energy-Saving Prize

for Hybrid Bus

Propulsion is provided by a pow-

erful electric motor that draws

its electricity from a battery and

a generator, which is powered by

a small diesel engine and runs in

an economical low-rpm range.

Whenever battery recharging is-

n’t needed, the combustion en-

gine is switched off. As a result,

the hybrid bus can be driven in

zero-emission electric mode for

a while.



HTR 01/2009 Showroom

The F-CELL Roadster and the Trainees:

High Tech and Heritage

More than 150 trainees at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfinge

Germany, collaborated with students for about a year on an u

precedented project — the F-CELL Roadster. The eye-catching veh

cle is unique because it combines the latest technologies with th

heritage of automaking. The primary aim of the project was practic

integration of alternative drives into the training of tomorrow’s aut

motive industry professionals.

Reminiscent of the Benz Patent Motor Car of 1886, the F-CELL Roa

ster is equipped with large, spoked wheels. The vehicle also featur

styling elements from a wide range of vehicle eras. These includ

the carbon shell seats with hand-stitched leather upholstery and t

distinctive, Formula 1-style fiberglass nose.

The vehicle is steered by means of a joystick and drive-by-wire. Pow

er is provided by a zero-emission fuel cell system, which is mount

at the rear. With a power output of 1.2 kilowatts, the white roadst

has a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour and a range of

to 350 kilometers.

www.mercedes-benz.com

www.mitsubishi-fuso.com


WEB TIP

Highly Streamlined

E-Class Coupe

The New Gullwing from

Mercedes-Benz

The new E-Class coupe com-

bines emotion and efficiency.

Boasting a classic coupe profilethat dispenses with a B-pillar, the

two-door model offers a particu-

larly sporty interpretation of the

dynamic design of the new E-

Class. But the following number

proves that the car is more than

just good -looking: With a Cd val-

ue of 0.24, the E 250 CDI Blue-

EFFICIENCY is the world’s most

aerodynamically efficient series

production car. The coupe also

plays a pioneering role in terms

of drive systems, thanks to itsnew direct-injection diesel and

gasoline engines. The line-up in-

cludes two new four-cylinder en-

gines that consume up to 17 per-

cent less fuel while offering

significantly higher power and

torque. The best example is the E

250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY coupe,

which consumes 5.1 liters per

100 kilometers. That corre-

sponds to CO2 emissions of 135

grams per kilometer.

For the first time in its history,

AMG — the Mercedes-Benz per-

formance car brand — has un-

veiled a vehicle developed in

house: the Mercedes-Benz SLS

AMG.

The super sports car features an

impressive and unique technolo-

gy package: an aluminum body

with gullwing doors, a top-per-

formance AMG 6.3-liter front-

mid V8 engine with 420 kW (571

hp) and dry sump lubrication,

seven-speed dual-clutch trans-

mission in transaxle configura-

tion, and a sports chassis with

aluminum parallelogram suspen-sion. The car’s ideal weight dis-

tribution between the front and

rear axles (48 to 52 percent re-

spectively) and its low center of

gravity emphasize the uncom-

promising sports car concept.

The chassis and body are made

entirely of aluminum, ensuring

significant weight savings com-

pared to the traditional steel con-

struction — the car’s curb weight

is only 1,620 kilograms. The ex-

clusive aluminum spaceframecombines intelligent, lightweight

design with high strength to de-

liver outstanding handling.

It goes without saying that the

SLS AMG satisfies all safety re-

quirements and all expectations

when it comes to the high-quali-

ty body typical of Mercedes-

Benz. The car will be undergoing

intensive vehicle testing until the

end of 2009; its market launch is

planned for spring 2010.



12 Daimler

ELECTRIC DRIVES

The future belongs to electric drives, which are the key to sustainable individual

mobility. Daimler has been pursuing corresponding concepts for a number of

years now, and many of them have made their way into vehicles. The most recent

example is the Concept BlueZERO. The near-series concept car can be equipped

with three different electric drive systems.

CONCEPTE

Text Roland Bischoff



HTR 01/2009 Electric Drives

The Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZERO is a

near-series car. Spacious seating for five

occupants and over 500 liters of luggage

space underscore its everyday practicality.



14 Daimler

Adistinctive radiator grille with a large

star in the middle. Dynamic lateral

lines on the flanks. A metallic-painted

body that exudes power and excitement.

There is no debating that with this car, the

Concept BlueZERO, Mercedes-Benz is re-

defining its familiar design idiom. What’s

more, the dynamic exterior design symbol-

izes innovative forms of mobility that will be

based on electric cars.

In a figurative sense, the near-series concept

car represents the sustainable concepts with

which Mercedes-Benz is showing the way for-

ward when it comes to environmentally re-

sponsible electric mobility. “The flexible

BlueZERO concept basically allows electric

mobility for every requirement,” says Thomas

Weber, the Daimler AG Board member re-

sponsible for Group Research and Mercedes-

Benz Cars Development. “It also highlights

the fact that Mercedes-Benz is the only au-

tomaker to already have all the key tech-nologies for electric cars that are suitable for

everyday use.”

Modular construction kit The BlueZERO

concept car kills three birds with one stone.

Three models with different electric drives

can be produced on the basis of a single ve-

hicle architecture — the sandwich floor from

the A-Class and B-Class. But the design en-

gineers behind the flexible vehicle concept

are interested in more than just the technical

aspects of installing an electric motor in a car

body. “Where will the electricity that powers

the car come from, for example? How does it

ment in terms of sustainable mobility. All

three models are packed with state-of-the-art technology, including liquid-cooled lithi-

um-ion batteries with up to 35 kilowatt-hours

of storage capacity. As is typical for this class

of car, all three feature front-wheel drive. The

compact electric motor between the front

wheels has a maximum output of 100 kilo-

watts, continuous output of 70 kilowatts, and

peak torque of 320 newton-meters. All three

of the variants can accelerate from zero to

100 kilometers per hour in less than 11 sec-

onds. The top speed is electronically limited

to 150 kilometers per hour to ensure optimal

cruising range and energy efficiency.

get into the vehicle? And how sustainable are

these energy sources?” These are the ques-

tions asked by the engineers who are work-

ing intensively on new drives, while under

tremendous pressure in all matters related

to electric cars.

Flexible high-tech trio The modular concept

of the BlueZERO has resulted in a spirited trio

that can truly fulfill every customer require-

“We have the technologies for electric

cars that are suitable for everyday use”

Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG




FROM EXPERIMENT TO PRODUCTION

FOCUS

of a fuel cell-powered electric car.

Second, production of approximate-

ly 1,000 units of the second-genera-

tion smart fortwo electric drive is

scheduled to begin toward the end

of the year. The small cars will be

equipped with lithium-ion batteries

from Tesla. As part of a strategic

alliance, Daimler has acquired a

stake in Tesla Motors, one of the

leading manufacturers of electric

cars. The young, dynamic company

based in San Carlos, California, is

currently the only manufacturer

selling a battery-powered car in

North America and Europe that is

designed for long-range driving.

The two companies have agreed to

2009is the year in which Daimler suc-

ceeds in establishing further mile-

stones in sustainable mobility. First,

the B-Class F-Cell marks the start

of small-batch series production

collaborate on integration of the

lithium-ion batteries and on the

charging units for the 1,000 smarts.

The agreement calls for the two

partners to cooperate more closely

on the development of battery sys-

tems, electric drives, and individual

vehicle projects so that they can

mutually benefit from their respec-

tive areas of expertise. “Our strate-

gic partnership is an important step

for accelerating the commercializa-

tion of electric drive systems world-

wide,” reports Thomas Weber,

Daimler Board of Management

member responsible for Group

Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars

Development.

£8a day is saved on London’s streets

by each of the 100 smart electric

drives in the fleets of selected

customers. Their environmentally

friendly battery drive system

exempts them from the congestion

charge. Launched in 2007, the pilot

project has yielded a wealth of

expertise for Daimler engineers.

London Berlin Milan

≈ 500charging stations in Berlin ensure

that more than 100 electric cars

from Mercedes-Benz and smart can

be “filled up” with electricity. One of

the world’s largest pilot projects

with battery-powered vehicles is to

begin in the city in late 2009. It is

expected to yield advances in vehi-

cle technology and infrastructure.

>100electric cars from Mercedes-Benz

and smart will take to the streets

of Rome, Milan, and Pisa beginning

in 2010 when Daimler launches its

next electric mobility project in co-

operation with Enel, Italy’s largest

energy utility. Enel will set up more

than 400 special charging stations

in the three cities.

MILESTONES



16 Daimler

The sandwich floor-based vehicle architecture makes it possible to realizethree models with different energy sources for the electric motor:

E-CELLwith battery with battery and gasoline with hydrogen

FOCUS

E-CELL Plus F-CELL

MODULES

High-voltage

battery Charger

Electric

motor

High-voltage

battery

Charger

Electric

motor

Internal combustion

engine with fuel tank

Hydrogen

tank

Fuel cell

stack

Electric

motor

High-voltage

battery




The near-series Concept BlueZERO stands

for environmentally friendly electric mobility.

Mercedes-Benz introduced the sandwich

floor back in 1997, with an eye toward

integration of alternative drive systems.



18 Daimler

Mr. Kohler, the three BlueZERO concepts all have different ranges. In the future, will

customers have to decide whether they need their car for city, intercity, or long-dis-

tance driving before they make a purchase? No. The three concepts demonstrate three

different drive technologies. We will never achieve the long ranges of today’s touring sedans

in pure electric mode, but the range extender gives you total flexibility. The only thing limit-

ed here is the emissions-free range. In the medium and long term, you will be able to cover

the same distances with a fuel cell as you can now with internal combustion engines.

Do you see a need for concrete steps to address the everyday practicality of electric

and fuel cell vehicles? Besides the affordability of electric and fuel cell vehicles, there aretwo concerns above all: First, customers need to feel certain that a sufficient infrastructure

in terms of recharging and hydrogen filling stations will be available to them. Second,

Europe-wide standards need to be established to ensure that you can fill up and recharge in

France, Hungary, Norway, or Greece.

How can Daimler help to solve these problems? Some of them are beyond your

control. In the pilot projects on which we collaborate with partners, each party contributes

its know-how and expertise so that together we can offer practical solutions for our cus-

tomers. As our collaborations with RWE show, we are on the right track with our involve-

ment.

So far internal combustion engines have been a key technology for Daimler. Will you

also produce electric motors and batteries in the future? As far as batteries are con-cerned, we’ll decide step by step. Don’t forget that the entire automotive industry is facing

a paradigm shift — from fossil energy sources in internal combustion engines to electrifica-

tion and beyond to zero-emissions fuel cell drive systems. We are well-positioned with inter-

nal combustion engines and electric motors. Our internal combustion engines are subject to

a continuous improvement process. We have successfully put electric vehicles on the road

in a number of pilot projects. To devote even more attention to electrification, all R&D activ-

ities in this field were consolidated at the beginning of April 2009 in the E-Drive & Future

Mobility unit, which I head.

00s

24s

45s

63s

90s

RESPONSE TIME

90 sec. with…

Herbert Kohler is Vice President E-Drive & Future Mobility in Group

Research & Advanced Engineering at Daimler, which is developing

technologies including battery-electric and fuel-cell drives. Kohler

has been with the company since 1976. In 1992 he oversaw the

founding of the Environment, Technology and Transportation

Center. From August 2006 to March 2009, he served as Head of

Group Research & Advanced Engineering Body and Powertrain. Hebecame Daimler Chief Environmental Officer in 2002.

HERBERT KOHLER^



liter turbocharged gasoline engine from the

smart fortwo, which produces 50 kilowatts

at a constant 3,500 rpm.

Powerful lithium-ion battery A core com-

ponent of modern electric drives are high-

performance lithium-ion batteries. Mer-

cedes-Benz was the first carmaker to install

such batteries in a production vehicle, the

S 400 BlueHYBRID. “The BlueZERO conceptalso benefits from this battery know-how,”

says Christian Mohrdieck, who heads the

Fuel Cell and Battery Drive System Develop-

ment department at Daimler Research & Ad-

vanced Engineering. With a charging capaci-

ty of 15 kilowatts, the lithium-ion batteries

used in the E-CELL and E-CELL Plus can store

enough energy within 30 minutes for a range

of 50 kilometers. Purely electric ranges of

100 or 200 kilometers require recharging

times of one and two hours, respectively.

Both of these BlueZERO variants are

equipped with an electronic control unit thatsupports intelligent charging stations and

billing systems.

There still remains a lot of research and de-

velopment to be done in the field of battery

technology. Daimler is collaborating here

with partners in the business and the scien-

tific communities. The company and Evonik

Industries are both stakeholders in the firm

Li-Tec, for example. “This company’s busi-

ness objective is to conduct battery cell re-

search, and to develop and produce battery

cells based on lithium-ion technology,” says

The BlueZERO E-CELL concept represents

a vehicle concept that is generally accepted

as “the” electric car. The E-CELL, which of-

fers an electric range of up to 200 kilome-

ters, has an electric traction motor and a bat-

tery that can be recharged at conventional

power outlets.

The BlueZERO F-CELL is equipped with a

hydrogen-powered fuel cell system that sup-plies the electricity for the electric motor. It

achieves a range of well over 400 kilometers

on a single tank of hydrogen with zero emis-

sions according to the standardized New Eu-

ropean Driving Cycle (NEDC).

The BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS has an electric

drive motor and a 17.5 kilowatt-hour lithium-

ion battery supplemented by an internal com-

bustion engine that drives a 50 kilowatt

alternator, when necessary. This range ex-

tender allows for a range of up to 600 kilo-

meters. Up to 100 kilometers are possible in

purely electric mode, which is free of local

emissions. The developers selected the one-

“I can assure you that we are not

about to run out of ideas”

Herbert Kohler, Vice President E-Drive & Future Mobility




Striking taillights: Thanks to the body’s

distinctive design, the progressive

character of the Concept BlueZERO is

obvious at a glance.

20 Daimler

1,000 fuel cell vehicles could be under way in

Hamburg — provided there will be more pub-

lic hydrogen filling stations than the four that

have initially been planned. This is why Daim-ler is supporting establishment of the re-

quired infrastructure; such activities are also

part of the concept for sustainable electric

mobility. This concept is also being devel-

oped in a cooperative effort by the business

and scientific communities. The Karlsruhe In-

stitute of Technology (KIT) and Daimler es-

tablished the “e-drive Project House” in late

2008, for example. This unique pooling of

electric drive expertise is expected to signif-

icantly accelerate the time it takes to bring

new electric and hybrid vehicles to market.

Long-term support Daimler is also involved

in the National Electromobility Development

Plan of the German federal government,

which has incorporated this topic into its en-

ergy and climate program. “Electromobility

is also an integral component of our drive

system strategy,” says Herbert Kohler, Vice

President E-Drive & Future Mobility. “Our ex-

perience with emissions-free driving is more

comprehensive than that of any other au-

tomaker worldwide, so we will provide long-

term support to this initiative.”

Mohrdieck. His colleague Jürgen Schenk,

Head of Electric Vehicles Development,

points out the advantages of the BlueZERO

concept: “Compared to electric cars basedon conventional vehicle platforms, the com-

ponents in the sandwich floor allow a low

center of gravity and, consequently, very re-

liable and agile handling.”

No compromises Thanks to the sandwich

concept, the BlueZERO, which is only 4.22

meters long, offers the same superior crash

safety as all other Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Finally, interior space is retained in full since

major drive components are located in the

spacious sandwich floor, eliminating the

need to compromise passenger compart-

ment or trunk space. With five full-size seats,

a payload of approximately 450 kilograms,

and a luggage compartment capacity of more

than 500 liters, all three models are auto-

mobiles that are entirely practical for use un-

der everyday conditions.

Schenk can assuage any fears that, in light

of these advantages, all Mercedes-Benz mod-

els might soon have exactly the same body

concept as the A-Class and B-Class, and that

the classic sedan is on the way out. “The

sandwich floor is a superlative concept fea-

ture, but we are also working on modifica-tions to it. In the meantime, we have devel-

oped a concept for a ‘sandwich light,’ which

allows us to also integrate this outstanding

idea into other vehicle platforms.”

Strategic concepts As a concept car, the

BlueZERO showcases the drive and design

concepts of the future. The B-Class F-CELL

is very much anchored in the present: A

small-batch production run of a model with

a lithium-ion battery is scheduled to begin in

2009. The group’s sustainability concept al-

so includes fuel cell drive systems for com-mercial vehicles. The Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid

city bus (see p. 9, Showroom), is equipped

with two fuel cell systems that are identical

to those in the B-Class F-CELL.

Daimler’s fuel cell fleet has so far been driv-

en a combined total of 4.4 million kilometers

under everyday conditions. Additional vehi-

cles will follow. Ten of the latest generation

fuel cell buses and 20 B-Class F-CELL vehi-

cles will hit the streets of Hamburg, Ger-

many, in 2010. And by 2015, as many as

Daimler researchers

and developers col-

laborate to prepare

electric drives for

the series produc-

tion stage. You can

read more about

their work in HTR

online, where you

will also find more information on the

Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZERO.

Dynamic Styling: The Design of the

Concept BlueZERO

Yellow Angel Award for the Lithium-

ion Battery from Mercedes-Benz

Video: The Lithium-Ion Battery

Booklet: Electric Drive: The Age of

Electric Mobility Begins

Video: Concept BlueZERO — The

Evolution of a Vision


WEB TIP




“Our units cooperate just like

in traditional vehicle development”

Jürgen Schenk, Electric Vehicles Development

Christian Mohrdieck, Fuel Cell and Battery Drive System Development



22 Daimler

INTERVIEW

We’re Staying

on Course!Innovations in a time of new beginnings:

An interview with Thomas Weber, Daimler AG Board

of Management member responsible for Group

Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development



HTR 01/2009 Interview

The name “Daimler” is synonymous with innovative

vehicle design. In the current economic situation,

everyone is having to cut costs — and this applies es-

pecially to the automotive industry. Does this mean

that Daimler will be less innovative in the future?Thomas Weber: Certainly not. The name “Daimler” has

always been synonymous with innovation, safety, and

comfort. This will continue to be the case in the future. As

the inventor of the automobile, we have always set the

milestones for safety and assistance systems, and we will

continue to do so. We are leading the way when it comes

to researching and developing alternative drive systems

— not only with regard to passenger cars but also com-

mercial vehicles. For example, every day our hybrid bus-

es ferry thousands of people safely to their destinations

worldwide in an environmentally friendly manner. We are

also striking out in new directions to realize mobility con-

cepts for the future — for example, with our car2go proj-

ects in Ulm, Germany, and Austin, Texas. We will contin-

ue to be innovative, but in the current situation we will

have to use the available means more efficiently and in

a more targeted manner.

In view of the necessary economizing measures, is it

possible to reach the ambitious goals that have been

set for research and development?

Thomas Weber: I’d like to emphasize that we’re staying

on course! Especially in times like these, we have to con-

tinue implementing the strategies that are crucial to our

company’s future success. For those of us at Group Re-

search and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, this pri-

marily means further promoting green technologies, im-plementing our vision of accident-free driving, and

developing fascinating and innovative vehicles of out-

standing quality. We don’t plan to cut corners when it

comes to honing our ability to face tomorrow’s challenges.

On the contrary, we’re keeping our foot on the gas.

But in order to reach such ambitious goals you’ll

need some financial leeway, won’t you?

Thomas Weber: That’s right. One way to reach our goals

will be to cut costs by further boosting our efficiency. For

example, we’ve just combined all of our research and de-

velopment activities related to electric mobility in a new

research department called “E-Drive & Future Mobility.”This will enable us to develop modules in a uniform man-

ner according to the one-source principle. That way we’ll

put our innovative electric mobility technologies on the

road not only faster but also more cost-efficiently. And

that’s good news for all of Daimler’s divisions. Alongside

passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses will also benefit.

You’ve mentioned e-drive and the sustainable mo-

bility of the future. Can you briefly describe how

we’re going to get there?

Thomas Weber: The automotive industry is on the

threshold of a paradigm shift. One stage of the road to

and sell its own lithium-ion batteries. And through our re-

cent strategic acquisition of a share in Tesla Motors we

have taken a further key step toward accelerating the

worldwide commercialization of electric drive systems.

So there aren’t any further obstacles to zero-emis-

sion driving with electric vehicles?

Thomas Weber: I must strongly warn against false ex-

pectations. Electric mobility won’t be available for every-one in the short term, but we’re working hard to make it

possible. We’re still talking only about small batches of

fully electric vehicles. The vision of large-scale zero-emis-

sion driving at affordable prices won’t become a reality

overnight. That’s because the challenges associated with

range, infrastructure, recharging time, and uniform serv-

ice station standards must be overcome before electric

mobility becomes a practical everyday option. These are

issues Daimler is addressing. We are systematically form-

ing the partnerships that will be needed here — for exam-

ple, with energy suppliers like RWE, Vattenfall, and Enel,

as well as with oil companies such as Shell and Total.

sustainable mobility is the consistent enhancement of

our highly efficient combustion engines. Take for exam-

ple our new four-cylinder diesel engine, the OM651,

which powers the new E-Class and reduces fuel con-

sumption to around just five liters per 100 kilometers.Thanks to smart modular hybridization, such high-tech

engines can be made even more efficient. That is a fur-

ther step that we will be taking. The Mercedes-Benz

S 400 HYBRID is a fascinating vehicle that combines en-

vironmental friendliness, safety, and comfort. Our long-

term goal remains zero-emission driving with battery-

powered electric or fuel cell drives. But let me emphasize

that battery-powered and fuel cell-powered drive systems

do not represent alternative development processes. The

two technologies complement each other not only in

terms of their respective ranges. That’s because they

both involve propulsion on the basis of electricity, which

is why we have adopted a modular system approach to-

ward electric transportation. This is impressively demon-

strated by our Concept BlueZERO.

You have already integrated the lithium-ion battery

into a vehicle, but do you have sufficient corporate

know-how to go further with this key technology?

Thomas Weber: We can go much further with it. To-

gether with Evonik we have established Deutsche Accu-

motive GmbH in Nabern, Germany, which makes us the

only automaker worldwide that can develop, produce,

“Electric mobility won’t

be available for everyone

in the short term” Thomas Weber



24 Daimler

ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS

Sensing SafetySensors and software monitor the area around the vehicle

Text Rolf Andreas Zell Video Daimler Research



HTR 01/2009 Assistance Systems

other team leader in Hahn’s departmen

adds: “That’s why we use the entire range

sensors to create synergies.” If you could c

Franke “Mr. Stereo,” Dickmann deserves t

title of “Mr. Radar.” For many years now, h

team from Research and Advanced Eng

neering has been helping its colleagues froVehicle Development to prepare all of th

radar-based safety functions that have so f

found their way into series-produced Me

cedes-Benz vehicles. These features ran

from Blind Spot Assist and Brake Assi

(BAS) Plus to Pre-SAFE®, which provides ca

with electronic “reflexes” that offer the o

cupants additional protection in case of

impending accident.

The projects, in which the engineers fro

Hahn’s department work on the safety fun

tions of the series-produced models of th

future, reveal that Mr. Stereo and Mr. Rad

are apparently busy paving the way for th

merger of their respective teams. Franke

maxim that no sensor in the world can dete

all possible dangers perfectly has cause

Hahn’s researchers to pursue a strategy th

has already proven its effectiveness in rea

life situations. After all, even human bein

do not interpret their surroundings with on

one of their senses. Instead, the world com

alive to people through the senses of sigh

hearing, taste, touch, and smell. People w

are handicapped by the lack of even one

these senses know how difficult it can be offset this deficiency with the remaini

senses.

Merger plans “The merger of the senso

will improve safety enormously because w

will not detect objects by mistake within t

area that is being monitored,” says Dic

mann, emphasizing the advantages of th

merger. Although incorrect analyses of vid

pixels are rare, they do occur. And althoug

radar may, in some extremely rare cases, f

to detect an object, such a blunder cann

be entirely ruled out. However, as Dickmamakes mathematically clear, the likelihoo

that a video system and a radar system w

simultaneously fail to recognize the same o

ject or erroneously “create” an obstacle

much rarer still — by several orders of ma

nitude, in fact.

The experts in Hahn’s department are usi

this huge gain in sensor accuracy to assig

increasingly “responsible” tasks to senso

based assistance systems. Franke demo

strates this in a video that the researche

from Ulm recorded during a test at the

Just a second ago, a glance in the side mir-

ror still showed that everything was clear

behind your vehicle. Then, in the blink of

an eye, the driver of a car lurking in the blind

spot behind you honks his horn just as you’re

about to change lanes. Later, you arrive at a

T-junction and look to the right. There’s nocar in sight. It’s the same when you look to

your left. You begin to drive forward, when

suddenly a motorcycle appears out of

nowhere on the main road to your right.

In dense traffic, which can be found today in

all urban areas as well as on highways and

even country roads, a fraction of a second —

and sometimes even only milliseconds — can

mean the difference between reaching our

destination safe and sound or becoming in-

volved in an accident. Loss of time and mon-

ey, and wearisome correspondence with au-

thorities and insurance companies are just

some of the least aggravating consequences

of a traffic accident. Far more serious are the

consequences if a person is killed or injured.

“Nobody’s perfect,” says Uwe Franke. How-

ever, he’s not excusing the little mistakes

that even the most diligent and careful driv-

er makes. Instead, Franke is talking about the

sensors in cars. Franke works at the Image

Recognition department of Daimler Group

Research and Advanced Engineering, where

you could probably best refer to him as “Mr.

Stereo.” For the past 13 years, his team from

the Situation Monitoring unit headed by Ste-

fan Hahn has been working with stereo cam-eras and developing algorithms that analyze

an ever-increasing number of pixels in video

sequences with greater speed and precision.

The aim of this work is to detect dangerous

situations in this flood of image data. For the

team of experts, the reward of this long-term

work is that Mr. Stereo’s crew has come in

among the top three or even taken first place

in almost all of the discipline’s rankings since

last year.

Despite this success, Franke knows that “no-

body’s perfect,” and Jürgen Dickmann, an-

Potential danger at a construction site. A stereo

camera measures the lane width. To reduce the

flood of data and the computing power required,

images are broken down into abstract “stixels.”

“Our stereo vision systems are currently near

the top in all the rankings”

Uwe Franke, Image Recognition, Daimler Research



26 Daimler

proving grounds. The video shows a black S-

Class sedan traveling at approximately 50

km/h along the “main street” of the proving

grounds. A mockup car is moved along a still

distant “side street” and made to cross the

main road. Shortly before the S-Class

equipped with radar sensors and stereo cam-eras reaches the intersection, the mockup is

moved into the path of the sedan at lightning

speed.

Especially high level of safety Even viewers

who are not at the scene can clearly see on

the screen how the S-Class automatically un-

dertakes an emergency braking maneuver

without any action being taken by the driver.

The maneuver that prevented a collision from

occurring at the last moment was initiated by

the S-Class’ onboard computer with practi-

cally no delay after the analysis of the video

and radar images had determined in real time

that the object crossing the road was about

to cause a crash. Hahn’s dry but under-

standable comment on this scene is: “You re-

ally need to have a lot of confidence in your

monitoring system if you let the electronics

independently initiate an emergency braking

maneuver in such a situation.”

Another video clip shows how detailed the in-

formation provided by the sensors actually

is, thanks to the use of sophisticated analy-

sis software. Although Franke calls it “6D vi-

sion,” it has nothing to do with the nth di-mension of theoretical physics. The video

shows a traffic scene in a residential area,

which is recorded by a stereo camera from

the driver’s point of view. About 20 meters

down the road on the right, a car stops just

before pulling out of a side street. Colorful

pixels on the camera’s grayscale image show

the distance of the pixels from the camera

and therefore from the moving vehicle:

Everything that is marked green is far away,

while orange pixels dominate the middle

ground and objects located directly in front

of the vehicle appear red.

The viewer automatically thinks that he or

she should be careful because the vehicle on

the right might pull out of the side street and

cut off his or her right of way. Something

completely different happens, however, as a

pedestrian suddenly appears directly behind

the motionless vehicle. The next fractions of

a second of the clip show that the pedestri-

an is the real danger as he jogs directly onto

the road. The video image visualizes the

analysis of the stereo camera recording, be-

ginning with the appearance of the pedestri-

an’s head behind the motionless vehicle.

Long, colorful arrows display the jogger’s di-

rection and speed as he runs out into the

street. The experts refer to this as optical

flow, which makes it possible to measure the

relative motions of objects in a video image.

This is necessary because all of the sur-

roundings of a moving car seem to move in a

3D image, causing even motionless objects

such as the waiting vehicle to seem to come

closer. However, if the software also calcu-

lates the optical flow, it immediately be-

comes clear that only the pedestrian is actu-

ally moving from one image to the next in the

animated scene. The software measures the

intrinsic speeds and directions of motion, al-

lowing the system to recognize whether the

vehicle and the pedestrian are on a collision

course. The danger that is lurking in the traf-

fic scene is revealed by means of this three-

dimensionally recorded motion in the 3D im-

age, which is why Franke refers to it as 6D

vision.

Sixth sense However, according to Jürgen

Dickmann, the radar-based sensors provide

us with a sixth sense. One of the major ad-

vantages of these sensors is their ability to

supply information about their surroundings

even under conditions in which the human

eye or video cameras would see very little or

nothing at all. This is illustrated by a false-

color radar image, in which a car located farin front of the driver is clearly visible as a

radar signal. The corresponding video image,

on the other hand, merely shows the car im-

mediately in front, as well as a truck whose

silhouette completely hides the car in front

of it.

Unfortunately, Mr. Radar’s sixth sense is not

perfect either. Its biggest drawback to date is

that objects only appear in the radar image

as a dot of varying size. The shape and size

of the objects is hardly registered, which is

one of the reasons why the teams headed by

Dickmann and Franke are working on merg-

ing the radar and stereo imaging systems.

“The radar is our sixth sense. It sees what

neither our eyes nor the camera can detect”

Jürgen Dickmann, radar expert, Daimler Research




FOCUS

Accidents at intersections — caused, for example, by drivers ignoring the right of way when turn-ing left — are among the most common inner-city accidents. Daimler researchers headed by Uwe

Franke in Ulm are working on an intersection assistant that uses stereo image recording systems.

Mitigating the Danger at Intersections

00:00:00 min : s : s/100

Distance measurement All pixels in the video

image are measured stereoscopically. The col-

ored areas in green, yellow, and orange show

the distance from the other vehicle.

00:01:07 min : s : s/100

Object detection The orange box shows that

the electronic systems have detected the on-

coming vehicle. The green and blue “carpets”

depict the routes of the respective cars.

00:03:14 min : s : s/100

Escalation The first vehicle does not pose a

danger, as it has already passed the driver’s

own route. A threat is now posed by another

car that is just now coming into view.

00:04:22 min : s : s/100

Interpretation The analysis of the probable

routes shows that the cars are on a collision

course. The assistance system warns the driv-

er by inserting a stop sign into the image.



28 Daimler

x

5040

30

20

10

000

1Danger in 6D In 6D vision, the pixels

are not just measured spatially. Analy-

sis of the optical flow — which is visualized

by means of the arrows on the pedestrian —

also shows the person’s intrinsic speed and

direction of movement.

2Optical flow This depiction clearly

shows how precisely the pedestrian’s

relative motions are recorded: The moving

leg and the opposite arm are red, while the

supporting leg is green and the slightly

moving torso and head appear orange.

3Laser scanning of traffic Laser scan-

ners could provide radar images with

sharper contours. The picture shows an in-

tersection with an oncoming automobile as

well as a car waiting on a side street.

4Merging sensors for maximum safe-

ty To address this dangerous situation,

the researchers in Ulm have merged the

data from radar and stereo cameras.

Emergency braking is not initiated until

both types of sensors detect the threat.

5Visible only to the sixth sense The

front car in the right-hand lane is hid-

den by a truck and is therefore invisible

both to the human eye and to the camera.

However, the vehicle is clearly recognizable

in the radar image.

6Long-distance vision on country

roads One advantage of radar sensors

is that they detect objects within a 400-

meter range, which allows them to warn of

oncoming traffic in the passing lane or to

scan the course of winding country roads.

7Lane recognition system with “extra

intelligence” The first generation of

lane recognition systems only scanned road

markings. However, when such assistance

systems are also equipped with algorithms

for object classification, they can also de-tect construction site signs, which notify

drivers that the lane is closed up ahead.

8Motion in animated images Intersec-

tions are one of the most complex traf-

fic situations, with oncoming vehicles, cars

crossing the road, and cars in adjacent

lanes of multi-lane roads. There are also

pedestrians, whose movements must be

precisely recorded. The intersection assis-

tant requires the merger of stereo vision

and radar, and is thus the ultimate means

of monitoring traffic situations.

1

3

5

7




2

4

6

8

Whereas the radar system provides very pr

cise information about distance and spee

video cameras supply information on the o

ject’s geometry. This helps to clarify, for e

ample, whether or not a driver can still g

past a distant object on the edge of the o

posite lane of a winding country road.

Sensor dream teams However, radar sy

tems could be combined with more than ju

video cameras in order to form new “drea

teams.” The radar researchers working

Ulm are also using other systems such

laser scanners in order to add contours an

object geometry to the radar data. Althou

this type of sensor technology was previou

ly too expensive for use in automobiles, va

ious new developments are now making th

technology attractive with regard to cost

Laser scanners have a huge advantage ov

video sensors. Even though they require

line of sight in the same way as video sy

tems do, they can be hidden behind opaqu

screens, which is a key concern for a produ

that also has to meet very high aesthet

standards.

Hahn points out that he and his team are n

trying to create their very own “sensor bab

while downplaying the significance of oth

types of sensors. On the contrary, his d

partment is taking a very pragmatic a

proach toward its work. “We want to guid

vehicles laterally and longitudinally throudense traffic in real time, while also ensuri

the highest level of precision possible,”

says. “But, most importantly, the technolo

has to be affordable.”

Naturally, this arti-

cle only contains

stills of video clips

taken by Daimler re-

searchers. HTR on-

line, on the other hand, offers three

very impressive videos:

6D vision: Spatial vision and

measurement of the optical flow

A laser scanner has its sights on a

junction along a country road

Reducing the amount of data in

stereo vision: a street scene in the

world of stixels


WEB TIP



SCANNER

30

Pedestrians are the most defenseless road users, and they frequently

suffer serious injuries when struck by a car or motorcycle. To address

this problem, Mercedes-Benz engineers have installed an innovative

protective system in the new E-Class: Known as the “active hood,” it

can reduce the risk of injury to pedestrians during accidents.

The hood does this by almost instantaneously rising 50 millimeters

during a collision, thus increasing the deformation space and reducing

the force of the impact. The crash-active system has three collision

sensors in the front bumper and cross-member as well as two actua-

tors with strong, pre-tensioned springs for the hood. Another advan-

tage of the system is that its activation can be reversed. If the hood is

unnecessarily raised as a result of a minor impact during a parking ma-

neuver, for instance, the driver can push it back to its original position

and thereby reset it. To satisfy legal requirements, the active hood is

available in the new E-Class in Europe an Japan.

During a collision, the sensors report

the impact to an electronic control unit

that immediately activates the two elec-

tromagnets in the hinge elements. This

releases the locks for the pre-tensioned

steel springs, raising the rear part of thehood by five centimeters.

Upper section of the hood hinge

Hinge link Hood hinge Actu-

ator lid Actuator interior with pre-

tensioned springs and trigger magnets

Actuator housing Carrier plate

for actuator unit

76

5

432

1

50 MILLIMETERS OF ADDITIONAL SAFETY PRE-TENSIONED SPRING ACTUATORS

NEW E-CLASS WITH ACTIVE HOOD

3

7

2

1

5

4

6



VIRT

32 Daimler

SAFETY RESEARCH

Simulated crashes. In Bangalore, India, Daimler biomechanics ex-

perts and engineers are conducting research into tomorrow’s acci-dents. Although the collisions they create take place in the digital

world of computers, the simulations realistically re-create the conse-

quences for the people involved. This is possible thanks to the dedi-

cation of virtual “guinea pigs” known as human body models.

Text Tilman Wörtz Photography Davin Meckel

DUMMIES



UAL

HTR 01/2009 Safety Research

In addition to Daimler, more than three dozen

international companies are represented in the

four-story glass and concrete building.

In computer simulations of accidents, human body

models make it possible to realistically assess the

anticipated severity of injuries.



34 Daimler

When a sedan ishit fromthe sideby a

vehicle moving at 50 kilometers per

hour, the result can be devastating.

The door bulges into the interior; the driver’s

head sinks into the window airbag; his handsand feet twitch spastically. In a nightmarish

scene, the crash is repeated over and over in

slow motion. No one makes a move to help,

and there are no impact sounds or screams.

The silence is ultimately broken by the busi-

nesslike voice of biomechanics specialist

Girish Sharma, 32. “It took us weeks to pro-

gram the system for these 120 milliseconds,”

he says before freezing the animated scene

on his monitor. Sharma’s chiseled facial fea-

tures express the composure of a person

who comprehends the world by means of

mathematical formulas.

Sharma conducts these simulations to de-

termine what happens in, and to, the bodies

of virtual passengers during traffic accidents.

With a click of his mouse, Sharma opens the

vehicle occupant’s skull. Another click re-

moves the skin and a third unveils the body’s

muscles and tendons. Watching the bones

bend is enough to make most observers

wince. With another click, the body is trans-

formed into a pattern of colored lines. We

zoom deep into the virtual body, making even

the smallest parts visible. The body consists

of 80,000 elements, with numbers, letters,and equal signs at the nodes. Rows of num-

bers flash by on the screen.

Several clicks later We are now back to

where we started, viewing the overall crash

scenario. Human body modeling is a new re-

search field that promises to yield great ad-

vances in safety technology, especially with

regard to automotive engineering. “We re-

create the entire human body in the com-

puter,” says Sharma. With this project, Daim-

ler Research is also treading new paths from

an organizational standpoint. Specifically,this is the first time that Mercedes-Benz Re-

search and Development India in Bangalore

have created a separate research field.

The concept behind the human body model

(HBM) actually sounds very simple. Although

non-virtual crash dummies have the same

shape as a human body, their biomechanical

properties are quite different. After all, the

dummy has a metal frame to give it stability,

rather than a skeleton. What’s more, sensors

take the place of muscles and the brain. “Al-

“Indians tend to be very tal-

ented when it comes to ab-

stract thinking. After all, weinvented the concept of zero

and the decimal system”

Bharat Balasubramanian, Head of Product Innovations & Process

Technologies at Corporate Research and Advanced Engineering




Bharat Balasubramanian would like to combine the

strengths of both cultures — German and Indian —

for the benefit of the company. Balasubramanian

was born and raised in India, where he absorbed the

local culture. He came to Germany to complete his

education and begin his professional career.

FOCUS

DAIMLER RESEARCH LOCATIONS

The company’s place of origin in the Stuttgart

region (1) is still the primary location for Daim-

ler’s research and advanced engineering teams

today. Located in close proximity to their col-

leagues from development and production,

most Daimler researchers work on vehicle inno-

vations that are to be used in series-produced

models in the future.

Research activities focusing on the fuel cell, a

pioneering technology, is conducted at the

neighboring location in Nabern (2). In addition

to boasting outstanding architecture, the cen-

ter in the nearby city of Ulm concentrates on

the fields of virtual reality, safety systems, and

materials research.

In Berlin (3) the Society and Technology re-

search group serves in a sense as Daimler’s

social sciences think tank. The members of

this team are working to specifically address

the challenges and opportunities that are as-

sociated with the future of mobility in all the

world’s important markets.

U.S.IndiaIn Palo Alto (5), California, researchers from

Daimler closely monitor developments in

Silicon Valley. Just like their counterparts in

Berlin, the scientists focus on the implementa-

tion of trend research. The U.S. center’s sec-

ond focal point is telematics, which ranges

from entertainment and infotainment to the

development of lifesaving safety features.

The center in Bangalore (4) is Daimler’s largest

research and development location outside of

Germany. In addition to conducting simulations

of mechanical structures, the center develops

software and uses CAE and CAD tools to design

vehicle components. Information technology is

another of the center’s focal points.

Germany

IndiaGermany U.S.

4

5

3

1 2



3

1 2

4

36 Daimler

FOCUS

THE ELEMENTS OF THE HBM

Depending on the type of accident to be

re-created, simulations require data sets

either for the entire human body (1) or for

specific body parts or areas (2). One of the

crucial factors determining the quality of

the HBM, and ultimately also the level of

realism with which the simulation depicts

the possible severity of accidents, is the

accuracy of the average values used for

the geometry of the body parts (3). How-

ever, the key issue is how realistically the

algorithms developed for the simulation

reflect the biomechanics (4) of individual

body areas and types of tissue, with regard

to tensile strength, compressive strength,

elasticity, and resistance to fracture.

Entire body

Body parts

Geometry

Biomechanics

The whole and the part

1

2

3

4

The engineers at the Daimler research center in

Bangalore work in accordance with one of the

industry’s highest quality standards worldwide.




though we can use dummies to measure the

forces that act on the body, we can’t find out

how these forces affect real body parts in de-

tail,” says Sharma, describing the differences

between the two approaches. This is wherethe HBM project comes in. Thanks to the vir-

tual human beings, researchers can now sim-

ulate the effects of a crash on the human

body. A major success has already been

achieved with the first use of this approach in

vehicle development, which led to the cre-

ation of an innovative seat belt system. HBM

simulations have helped developers at Mer-

cedes-Benz to further improve the protective

effect of the new seat belt system.

To the limit To show us on the monitor what

he means, Sharma calls up a simulation of a

blue-colored ribcage, with the individual ribs

divided into many small fields. A safety belt

crosses the thorax diagonally. Sharma clicks

the mouse, launching a simulation of a side

impact at 50 kilometers per hour. The size

and stability of the virtual ribcage correspond

to those of a middle-aged man of average

height. The impact causes the upper body to

move to the side; the belt tightens; and the

ribs are compressed. This is depicted on-

screen by the changing colors of the individ-

ual ribs, which progress from green to yellow

and all the way to red in the areas covered

by the belt. The colors represent the intensi-ty of the forces acting on the ribcage.

“The simulation showed the developers in

Sindelfingen, Germany, the points where

conventional belts could be made even bet-

ter,” explains Sharma, while pointing with a

pen to a critical area of the ribcage. Dummies

alone cannot provide such information, and

besides they don’t have sensors at all the

points where they might actually be needed.

“If you put too many sensors into the dum-

mies, they would behave even less like a hu-

man body,” says Sharma. The human body

“Ultimately we are

re-creating the entire

human body

in the computer”Girish Sharma, HBM project, Bangalore



38 Daimler

the bumper. As a result, the pedestrian is

hurled over the hood and thrown against the

windshield, where the force of the impact

flings him back onto the road.

“The question is: How much and how fast

must the hood rise to ensure that the pedes-

trian’s head collides less forcefully with the

car?” Mayer phrases the question as clearly

as a math teacher would during a quiz. The

question is more than just an abstract math

problem, however, because the correct solu-

tion could help mitigate the consequences of

an accident in real life. In addition to the

highly effective BAS emergency braking sys-

tem, pop-up hoods provide another means of

possibly lessening the severity of injuries for

cyclists and pedestrians. “We consider this

our contribution to improving safety in real-

life traffic situations,” explains Mayer.

Driving brand-new vehicles into a wall De-

termining exactly which types of crashes

need to be simulated largely depends on reg-

ulations for approval of a new model series.

In addition to frontal and side impacts at var-

ious speeds, the researchers have to test

frontal collisions with a device that simulates

accidents involving pedestrians. In the U.S.,

offset crash tests are required as well. Be-

fore it can bear the Mercedes star, an E-Class

model must successfully pass a total of 39tests, including several very challenging in-

house scenarios. For example, a number of

brand-new sedans must be driven into a wall

under the watchful gaze of government test-

ing professionals. And because the develop-

ment engineers at Mercedes-Benz want to

prevent nasty surprises during the official

crash tests, they test all their new models in

advance, which means smashing even more

vehicles into a wall. “The crash simulations

with the human body model will help us to

dispense with some of these development

tests in the future,” says Naveen Kumar, 27,who is Sharma’s right-hand man on the HBM

team in Bangalore. Besides helping to save

costs, these simulations could accelerate a

vehicle’s development and further improve

occupant protection.

Virtual crash tests have been around for

many years now, as has the understanding

of how a passenger compartment becomes

deformed during an accident. Such simula-

tions are also conducted by a team at Mer-

cedes-Benz Research and Development In-

model, on the other hand, reflects our med-

ical knowledge of the resilience of the

ribcage. Sharma is familiar with the relevant

literature concerning the elasticity and

breaking resistance of human bones and canuse the published values in his simulations.

Click. A similar simulation now appears on

Christian Mayer’s monitor in Sindelfingen.

Mayer is the man behind the HBM project,

and his work at Daimler Research and Ad-

vanced Engineering is currently focused on

occupant protection. He describes how the

HBM project has contributed to the develop-

ment of the innovative seat belt system. The

screen depicts the ribcage during a simula-

tion of the same collision that Sharma

showed, but this time the innovative seat belt

system is being used. The results show that

none of the ribs turn even slightly red, mean-

ing the bones are subject to far less strain.

Injury scenarios “There are many possible

applications for the human body model,”

says Mayer, who becomes enthusiastic when

discussing this topic. “The simulations have

provided us with more precise information

regarding how far the car body’s central pil-

lar has to be from the seat in order for it not

to endanger the driver and the front passen-

ger during a side collision. They also tell uswhat materials should be used to cushion the

interior.” The center in Bangalore has already

supplied Mayer’s team with simulations for

several of these scenarios.

As an example, Mayer depicts a frontal colli-

sion involving a pedestrian. To do this, he lets

a virtual car moving at 30 kilometers per

hour collide with a pedestrian. Upon impact,

the upper part of the pedestrian’s body

bends in the direction of the hood. His head

strikes the hood, and his legs are rammed by

“The human body

model is suitable for

many applications

in crash simulations”Christian Mayer, Occupant Protection, Group

Research and Advanced Engineering




Bollywood is more visible in Bangalore than are high-tech companies like Dell

and IBM. In this typical Indian city, vision and tradition co-exist side by side.

Girish Sharma When it comes to the HBM project, the cuckoo clock on the wall

isn’t the only link between the Indian biomechanics expert and his development

colleagues in Sindelfingen. Despite the great distances between the various

members of the project team, the researchers feel quite close, thanks to regularvideo conferences and visits.



2

1

40 Daimler

FOCUS

milliseconds of a traffic accident have to

be simulated in the computer as realisti-

cally as possible. Even very powerful

computers equipped with 64 processors

require an entire day to recreate such an

“instant.”

That’s because the digital models for

the vehicle and the virtual road user are

exceedingly complex. A finite element

model of the human body provides the

mathematical basis for the calculations.

Instead of cells, however, it consists of

many small elements.

of these elements define a car occupant

or a pedestrian. The first task was to

substantially enhance the original mod-

el. Each element is linked to its neigh-

bors via nodes, through which each

force is transmitted mathematically inthe computer simulation.

This adds up to about 400,000 calcula-

tion processes per unit of time. The

nodes can rotate and/or shift their loca-

tion, so the algorithm has to solve a

lengthy system of equations that de-

scribes six degrees of freedom for each

unit of time.

120 80,000

FINE-TUNING

Enhanced

model

Original

data set

1

2

Indians have always been adept at using their heads,

in both a literal and a figurative sense. As one of the

subcontinent’s outstanding IT locations, Bangalore

has demonstrated its ability to attract companies

from all over the world.



42 Daimler

Thomas Pantleon heads the Daimler research center in Banga-

lore, which currently employs 210 men and women, most of

whom are motor vehicle and IT engineers. Daimler plans to grad-

ually expand the center over the coming years.

In view of the swaths of green between the state-of-the-art office

buildings, the term “industrial park” is very appropriate here. The

center is a calm oasis amid the noise of the metropolis.




people can combine the advantages of dif-

ferent cultures: “Indians are very talented

when it comes to abstract thinking. After all,

we created the concept of zero and the dec-

imal system,” he says with pride. What fasci-nates him about Germany, on the other hand,

is how skillfully the country’s engineers are

able to turn theoretical knowledge into actu-

al products. “A company like Daimler has to

bring together the various strengths of its

employees,” he says. “This will allow us to re-

main competitive worldwide.”

Balasubramanian wants to discuss the future

of the Bangalore center with local manage-

ment. In the afternoon, he explains the situ-

ation to the center’s employees, discussing

the drop in demand worldwide and Daimler’s

plans to expand its operations in Bangalore.

“We will gradually expand capacities in In-

dia,” he says in his calm manner. Balasubra-

manian also vigorously speaks out against

the idea that costs are the only issue. “The

main thing is your expertise!” he says. As was

the case when demonstrating the virtual ac-

cidents, Sharma’s face expresses no emotion

as he listens to this praise. After the meet-

ing, he returns to his work station behind the

sound-absorbing partitions.

Click. Enter. Two seconds later, a new E-Class

sedan from Mercedes-Benz slams into avirtual pole.

IT hotspot Bangalore It’s no coincidence

that the HBM project is being run by an Indi-

an team. With its 210 employees, Bangalore

is not only Daimler’s largest development

and research location outside Germany; it’salso a globally renowned IT hotspot, thanks

to its many outstanding specialists in all

areas of computer science. Colleagues in

Sharma’s and Kumar’s departments draw up

design plans for transmissions and suspen-

sions, develop software for vehicle electron-

ics, and create computer programs for their

colleagues.

The employees work at the second-highest

of the five levels of the international Capa-

bility Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)

standard, which measures the quality of soft-

ware processes. Very few institutions in the

world attain this high level. “This very strong

rating requires all processes to be docu-

mented with great accuracy,” explains

Thomas Pantleon, Head of Mercedes-Benz

Research and Development India. “We have

found employees with the required consci-

entiousness and mathematical expertise

here in Bangalore.”

Tough selection process Candidates who

would like to be hired by the center need to

have many years of professional experience

and a degree from a first-rate university. Ban-galore boasts India’s leading educational and

research institutions, including the College

of Engineering, where Naveen Kumar earned

his degree, and the Indian Institute of

Science, which each year organizes a

nationwide selection of graduate and post-

graduate students. Only two percent of the

candidates pass the admission test and the

subsequent interview that lead to one of the

coveted positions — and the opportunity to

focus exclusively on research. The institute

has an outstanding teacher-student ratio of

five postgraduates per professor. These areexcellent conditions for a country that wants

to become a world leader in research as

well.

Bharat Balasubramanian, Head of Product In-

novations & Process Technologies at Daim-

ler Corporate Research and Advanced Engi-

neering, has promised to stop by this

afternoon. A native of India, Balasubraman-

ian went to Germany to earn a doctorate in

engineering and subsequently embark on a

career at Daimler. His biography shows how

As part of his job at

Corporate Research

and Advanced Engi-

neering, Bharat Bal-

asubramanian is also responsible for

the research and development center

in Bangalore, India. In a discussion

with the author of the report, Tilman

Wörtz, Balasubramanian not only ex-plains the benefits of globally net-

worked development, but also talks

about the company’s strategy for its

research location in India.

An in-depth interview with

Bharat Balasubramanian

Crash simulation using the human

body model


WEB TIP

dia. The human body model is now expanding

this knowledge by using biomechanical data.

How much force does it take to break a

bone? And how resistant to tearing are knee-

joint ligaments? Sharma and Kumar obtainthe data that can help answer these and oth-

er questions from accident statistics and

publications of university institutes. However,

there are gaps in the knowledge. “The accu-

racy of a simulation of real-life occupant

strain is very dependent on the quality of the

biomechanical data,” explains Sharma.

Algorithms for preventing computer

crashes The task facing Sharma and Kumar

is to come up with and optimize algorithms

that allow crash simulations to recreate real-

life processes as accurately as possible. The

simulations require a great deal of computingpower (see box on page 40: “Fine-tuning”)

and time, despite the sophisticated hardware

that is available. As a result, the researchers

don’t always manage to view a successful an-

imation process by the end of a long day of

computing. “If a mistake finds its way into

our model somewhere, it might cause the

computer to freeze,” says Sharma. “It’s a big

challenge to run a simulation without crash-

ing the system.” Faulty values in just one pa-

rameter can quickly lead to abstruse

processes that are obviously unrealistic.

Click. Kumar demonstrates this problem us-

ing a simulation of a car-pedestrian impact.

He enters 35 kilometers per hour, which is

five kilometers per hour faster than the value

his colleague Christian Mayer typed in. The

result is bizarre: The virtual dummy “melts”

into the radiator grille. Individual lines spread

out from the dummy across the entire

screen, distorting the image until it becomes

unrecognizable. “We still have to optimize the

model so that it can handle this impact ve-

locity,” explains Kumar.

“The main require-

ments are conscien-

tiousness and mathe-

matical expertise”Thomas Pantleon, Head of the Daimler research

center in Bangalore, India



44 Daimler

SMOOTH RUNNING

Our story begins with the Christmas shuttle. It’s December 1999 and the shuttle bus

is providing visitors with quiet, zero-emission transportation between Hamburg’s Christmas

markets. The vehicle, which is operated by the Hamburger Hochbahn public transport company,is a “Nebus,” the first fuel cell bus produced by Daimler.

Four years later, a worldwide major project is initiated in Hamburg and eleven fur-

ther cities, in which a total of 36 Citaro fuel cell buses are on the roads.

Today, Hamburger Hochbahn operates six Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell

buses, each with more than 5,000 hours of operation. At the beginning of the

year Mayor Ole von Beust announces: “We plan to further increase the num-

ber of hydrogen-powered vehicles in our fleet.” In other words, the city is now

really going places as far as alternative transportation is concerned. In fact, ten of the

latest-generation Citaro fuel cell buses will begin operation in Hamburg in late 2010. They will be

joined by 20 B-Class F-CELL cars, which can be easily refueled within minutes and are ca-

pable of everyday operation. Hamburg will also receive four new hydrogen filling stationsto complement the two it already has.

Hamburg’s commitment to zero-emission H2 drives is also on display in the Speicherstadt district,

where a 1:87 scale fuel cell bus makes its rounds amid model railroads at the “Miniature Wonder-

land.” The bus, which is 14 centimeters long, is equipped with an actual miniature fuel cell that

powers an electric motor. Although the lilliputian high-tech vehicle has to refuel every five min-

utes, the hydrogen is — naturally — generated renewably with solar energy.

GoingPlaces

SERIAL NUMBER

Publisher

Daimler AG

Communications

Corporate Media & Marketing

External Publications70546 Stuttgart

Germany

For the publisher

Mirjam Bendak

Business ManagerMatthias Steybe

Conceptdesign hoch drei, Stuttgart

Editing and authors

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Eberhard Buhl, Stuttgart

Tilman Wörtz, Zeitenspiegel, Weinstadt

Rolf Andreas Zell, Klartext, Stuttgart

Design

Horst Schüler, teamkom,

Stuttgart

Photography and illustrations

Daimler AG, StuttgartKurt Henseler, Tübingen

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Editorial deadline for this issue:

June 2, 2009

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a year in a run of 185,000 copies, with

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Printed on Galerie Silk paper, which is

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ISSN 1865-6080

MASTHEAD CONTACT



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DESIGNED TO MEET CHALLEN



OM651The project originated with the idea of creating a diesel drive system suitable for a universal

range of applications: the OM651 world engine. After approximately 100,000 hours on the test

rig, the new four-cylinder diesel engine is now in series production.

46 Daimler

ENGINE RESEARCH

Text Eberhard Buhl Photos Kurt Henseler



HTR 01/2009 Engine Research

Suitable for longitudinal and

transverse installation

Output: 150 kW / 204 hp

at 4,200 rpm

Torque: 500 Nm

at 1,600 – 1,800 rpm

Certified fuel consumption:

5.1 l/100 km

Emissions: 134 g CO2/km

Cylinders: 4

Displacement: 2,143 cm2

Compression ratio: 16.2 : 1

Two-stage supercharger

High-pressure turbocharger

(low to medium engine speeds)

Low-pressure turbocharger(medium to high engine speeds)

2,000 bar, high-pressure injection system

Directly controlled piezo injectors

Camshaft drive at the rear

of the engine



48 Daimler

The new generation of engines didn’t ap-

pear overnight. The Daimler engineers

spent many years conceiving and de-

signing the new series of advanced diesel en-

gines and preparing it for series production.

And, as always, the specialists from Ad-

vanced Engineering and Series Developmentworked hand in hand. The concept phase for

the OM651 began at Advanced Engineering

back in 2003. According to Franz-Paul Gulde

and Johannes Leweux, the initial goal was

solely to develop the technology for the

planned engine’s components or to modify

tried and tested systems. Gulde is Head of

the Car Diesel Engine department at Ad-

vanced Engineering; his colleague Leweux is

responsible for OM651 Product Develop-

ment. The team of engineers didn’t have to

start from scratch for all the components; in

some cases they were able to use technolo-

gies that had proven their worth in other proj-

ects. After all, Daimler currently makes a

very broad range of diesel engines, from the

world’s smallest diesel — the three-cylinder

engine of the smart — to the Actros truck’s

V8 engine, with its 16 liters of displacement

and 2,800 newton-meters of torque.

Some of the issues that had to be resolved

were whether the engine concept could re-

main unchanged for the specified goal;

whether the pistons, injection system, and

exhaust gas recirculation could remain un-

modified; and where completely new solu-tions would be required. The advanced engi-

neering specialists headed by Gulde analyze,

test, and develop components to a point

where they are technologically advanced

enough to represent a “set of practicable

technological solutions” that can be handed

over to the colleagues at Series Develop-

ment. In the case of the OM651, however, lit-

tle could remain the same as it originally was,

says Leweux: “We planned to conduct an es-

pecially intense concept phase for this new

engine generation — one that would require

far more work than usual. In the second de-velopment phase that followed we spent an-

other three years making the engine as a

whole ready for series production in time for

its market launch in 2008.”

Ambitious project The requirements were

tough, and the goals were very ambitious.

According to Leweux, “our key requirements

included reducing our previous diversity of

engines and creating a single base engine for

as many passenger and commercial vehicle

applications as possible, from the C-Class to

the Sprinter.” Another goal was to ensure

that the various types of mounting would re-

quire as few specific changes to the connec-

tions and drives as possible — requirements

that also applied to components such as the

supercharger unit and exhaust gas recircula-

tion system. During one of the early devel-

opment phases it became clear that emis-sions regulations would be made much more

stringent not only in Europe, but to an even

greater degree in the U.S. Fuel consumption

would also have to be greatly reduced, of

course, even though the current trend is to-

ward much higher outputs per liter of dis-

placement. “It was clear to all of us that a

competitive four-cylinder diesel engine in

2008 would have to generate around 150

kilowatts,” adds Gulde. But how could all

these different needs be reconciled, and

where would it be best to start?

One for all “At the beginning of the process

you always have to determine which basic at-

tributes the new engine should have,” says

Leweux. “A very compact base engine with

only four cylinders should be suitable for all

key types of vans and passenger vehicles, in

both longitudinal and transverse mounting.

And its installation should require only a sim-

ple rearrangement of the drive components.”

To make this possible, new and rather un-

usual ideas had to be developed — for ex-

ample, when it came to positioning the

camshaft drive. Because the hoods of today’svehicles are generally low in front, the engi-

neers decided in favor of a shortened chain

drive, which they simply moved to the rear of

the engine block. Another change involved

the high-pressure injection pump, which is

normally adjacent to the camshaft. “But we

were unable to come up with a design that

would have worked with both longitudinal

and transverse mounting, so we placed the

pump on the side of the crankcase,” says

Leweux. “We use a space-saving gear system

to drive the injection pump, the oil pump, and

the balance shaft.”

Unlike the trend toward more compact di-

mensions, the need to reduce emissions left

almost no leeway, because regulations in Eu-

rope and in the U.S. are becoming more and

more demanding. “This is why emissions

characteristics are really the key issue for

every diesel developer,” explains Gulde. “And

even though downstream technology such as

SCR can subsequently improve emissions

considerably, our objective with the OM651

was to achieve our target purely by means of

in-engine measures.”

1compact engine for many different ap-

plications. The OM651 replaces several previ-

ous engines and is installed in a variety of ve-

hicle models, ranging from the C-Class to the

Sprinter. The base engine is thus designed to

keep the number of specific components re-

quired for the different variants to a minimum.

“Our goal was to create

a compact base engine

with a very high level ofcommonization”

Johannes Leweux,

OM651 Product Development

FOCUS

BASE ENGINE




JOHANNES LEWEUX

OM651 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT



50 Daimler

FRANZ-PAUL GULDE

ADVANCED ENGINEERING

CAR DIESEL ENGINE




ing solutions, such as the volume-regulat

oil pump and the vacuum-switchable wat

pump. The new engine now powers th

Mercedes-Benz C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENC

which consumes only 5.1 liters/100 kilom

ters and emits 134 grams of CO2/kilomete

The engine will also soon be used in thMercedes-Benz E-Class, S-Class, GLK a

Sprinter.

Ideas for the future Despite this achiev

ment, Gulde’s team is working closely wi

the series developers to come up with co

cepts for diesel engines that “might

launched on the market in five or six years

It’s possible that this will lead to sweepin

changes as well. “Among the issues bein

discussed is how far engines can still be se

sibly downsized,” says Gulde. “It would

conceivable, for example, to regard t

OM651 as a basis for compact diesel engin

for use in hybrids.”

The focus, however, is on achieving mo

advances in terms of emissions and fuel e

ficiency. To this end, the engineers are wor

ing on new technologies such as electron

cally controlled multi-path exhaust g

recirculation systems, and further exploiti

the potential of piezo injection system

“Piezo injectors can do more than just ope

and close nozzles,” says Gulde. “By movi

the jet needle to precisely defined position

they can bring further benefits.”

And although the engine designers have a

complished so much to date with the OM65

more advances will have to be made quick

in order to meet increasing demands.

In addition to this

article, HTR online

offers more OM651

technical detailsand an interview

focusing on the development poten-

tial of the gasoline engine.

Data sheet: Special technical

features of the OM651

Workshop talk from HTR 01/08:

“Engine Research and Develop-

ment” with Erhard Rau and Peter

Lückert


WEB TIP

“The lower the mass concentration of oxygen

in the combustion chamber, the less NOx is

generated,” explains Gulde. “We rely on this

principle in our solution, which combines ex-

haust gas recirculation with supercharging.”

The recirculated exhaust gases decrease the

oxygen in the combustion chamber, therebyreducing the NOx generated during com-

bustion.

At the same time, the exhaust turbochargers

boost the proportion of air in the chamber,

while improving thermodynamic efficiency

and fuel economy. This enables the new four-

cylinder diesel to meet the EU5 emissions

standard without a need for additional meas-

ures, such as selective catalytic reduction

(SCR). “We achieved a lot in the OM651 by

cleverly coordinating the various systems,”

says Gulde.

Twin supercharger In another new ap-

proach, the engineers used two-stage tur-

bocharging. “Previously we used this process

only in commercial vehicle engines,” says

Leweux. “This is the first time it has been

transferred to a compact car engine.” The

new approach was used because conven-

tional supercharging concepts quickly reach

their limits in downsized diesel engines with

high specific outputs. They cannot provide

sufficient pressure when the vehicle begins

to move or is running at high engine speeds.

“The two-stage concept, however, has asmall, quick-starting high-pressure tur-

bocharger that works in conjunction with a

larger low-pressure turbocharger to provide a

substantial torque of 500 newton-meters at

engine speeds as low as 1,600 rpm,” says

Leweux. “The low-pressure turbocharger

works on its own once the engine reaches

medium speeds. All in all, this greatly im-

proves handling and fuel consumption across

the entire range of engine speeds, while also

reducing emissions.”

There are also innovations in the injectionsystem. The engine developers initially con-

sidered several different technologies. After

extensively studying, comparing, and evalu-

ating their functionality, the developers

“ultimately chose directly controlled piezo in-

jectors,” says Leweux. “We were especially

impressed by the steeper injection rate this

system attains, and by the so-called profile.”

The response times are much slower in con-

ventional systems using magnetic coils.

Fuel consumption has also improved, as the

system is used with impressive energy-sav-

2,000bar

injection pressure and the first directly con-

trolled piezo injectors in a series-produced

engine demonstrate that the level of innova-

tion in the OM651 is far above average. As a

result, the injection system now reacts much

faster than was previously the case.

“We already have

lots of new ideas

for further improving

efficiency”

Franz-Paul Gulde,

Advanced Engineering Car Diesel Engine

FOCUS

FUEL INJECTION



52 Daimler

MOBILITY CONCEPTS

D a i m l e r i s p r e s e n t i n g a n e w m o b i l i t y c o n c e p t . H e r e ’ s h o w

i t w o r k s :



56 Daimler

U l m , B a d e n - W ü r

t t e m b e r g ,

G e r m a n y

F O C U S

A u s t i n , T e x a s , U S A

1 2 0 , 0 0 0

p e o

p l e l i v e i n U l m . T h e c i t y ’ s t r a d e m a r k

i s t h e U l m C a t h e d r a l , w h i c h b o a

s t s t h e w o r l d ’ s h i g h e s t s t e e p l e .

T w o a u t o b a h n s , f i v e n a t i o n a l h i g

h w a y s , a n d s e v e n r a i l l i n e s m a k e

U l m a m a j o r G e r m a n t r a n s p o r t h u b .

1 1 9

s q u a r e k i l o m e t e r s i s

t h e t o t a l a r e a o f A l b e r t E i n s t e i n ’ s

h o m e t o w n . T h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o

u n t r y s i d e o n b o t h s i d e s o f t h e

D a n u b e i s v e r y g e o g r a p h i c a l l y s

e g m e n t e d a n d l i e s b e t w e e n 4 5 9

a n d 6 4 6 m e t e r s a b o v e s e a l e v e l .

1 , 0 2 3

p e o p l e o c c u

p y o n e s q u a r e k i l o m e t e r i n U l m o n

a v e r a g e . R e s e a r c h i s a k e y i n d u s t r y i n t h e c i t y . T h e E s e l s b e r g

s c i e n c e h u b i n U l m i s h o m e t o s

e v e r a l p u b l i c c o l l e g e s a n d m a n y

r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t e s o p e r a t e d b y

c o m p a n i e s f r o m t h e a u t o m o t i v e

a n d I T s e c t o r s . A m o n g t h e m o r e

w e l l - k n o w n i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e U l m

U n i v e r s i t y H o s p i t a l a n d t h e G e r m a n A r m e d F o r c e s H o s p i t a l .

7

5 0 , 0 0 0

p e o p l e l i v e i n t h

e T e x a s c a p i t a l , w h o s e

t r a

d e m a r k i s t h e S t a t e C a p i t o l b u i l d i n g . T h e m a j o r t r a n s p o r t a r t e r i e s

a r e I n t e r s t a t e 3 5 , s e v e n h i g h w a y s , a n d t h e C

h i c a g o – S a n A n t o n i o r a i l

l i n

e . A u s t i n i s a l s o s e r v e d b y a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l a i r p o r t .

7

6 7

s q u a r e k i l o m e t e r s i s t h e t o t a l a r e

a o f t h e c i t y o n t h e

C o

l o r a d o R i v e r , w h o s e s u r r o u n d i n g p l e a s a n t

h i l l s i d e s l i e b e t w e e n

1 5

0 a n d 2 3 8 m e t e r s a b o v e s e a l e v e l . A u s t i n i s a l s o s u r r o u n d e d b y

s e

v e r a l l a k e s t h a t a r e u s e d f o r s w i m m i n g a n d

w a t e r s p o r t s .

1

, 1 5 2

p e o p l e o c c u p y o n e s q u a r e

k i l o m e t e r o n a v e r a g e

i n

A u s t i n , t h u s m a k i n g t h i s c i t y d e n s e l y p o p u

l a t e d a s w e l l . W i t h

5 0

, 0 0 0 s t u d e n t s , t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s , w h

i c h i s l o c a t e d i n A u s t i n ,

i s

o n e o f t h e l a r g e s t u n i v e r s i t i e s i n t h e U . S . T

h e c a p i t a l ’ s m a n y w e l l -

k n

o w n c o m p u t e r a n d e l e c t r o n i c s c o m p a n i e s

h a v e l e d t o i t b e i n g

c a

l l e d “ S i l i c o n H i l l s . ”



58 Daimler

SAFETY



HTR 01/2009 Safety

Variable headlights for enhanced safety Everything looks gray at night, including the road, which is whyMercedes-Benz engineers are continuously working to further improve vehicles’ on-board lighting systems.Thanks to their efforts, night driving will become even safer in the future in the new E-Class. The vehicle isequipped with the Intelligent Light System, which was introduced in 2006 and ensures that drivers can

more easily see objects in the dark at greater distances. The E-Class will also feature the Adaptive HighBeam Assistant, a system that made its global debut this year and automatically adjusts the range ofthe headlights for optimum visibility. The trio of safety features will be rounded out by the new Night View

Assist system, which illuminates the road with a dazzle-free infrared light and pro-actively notifies the driv-er of any pedestrians it detects in the dark.

NIGHTSIGHTText Roland Bischoff



60 Daimler

Darkness increases the level of risk.This is why almost 40 percent of all fa-tal traffic accidents in Germany occur

at night, although only 20 percent of drivingtakes place during these hours. Safety couldbe improved by enhancing headlights to en-sure they provide better illumination. At leastthat’s the conclusion of a study conductedby the technical inspectorate TÜV, whichshows that approximately 23,000 traffic ac-cidents involving around 1,200 fatalitiescould be avoided every year in Germany if allpassenger vehicles were equipped with bi-xenon headlights. For their part, accident re-searchers at Germany’s Federal Highway Re-search Institute are calling for mandatoryinstallation of variable headlights that wouldbetter illuminate roads.

Variable range Mercedes-Benz has intro-duced such a system onto the market in thenew E-Class. Known as the Adaptive HighBeam Assistant, it consists of two smart bi-xenon headlights that continuously adjustthe car’s low beams so that their range variesbetween 65 and 300 meters, depending ontraffic conditions.

The system ensures maximum possible illu-mination of the road without blinding other

road users. If no preceding or oncoming ve-hicles are detected, the system switchessmoothly to high beam.

Available as optional equipment, the Adap-tive High Beam Assistant consists of twocomponents: a miniature camera with a built-in control device and the adjustable 35 wattheadlights of the Intelligent Light System(ILS), which was first introduced in 2006. Lo-cated in front of the rear-view mirror, thecamera and its built-in control device arehoused in a casing the size of a pack of cig-

arettes. “The unit registers the differentsources of light in front of the vehicle and us-es various algorithms to measure the dis-tance with great precision,” explains BerndWoltermann, who is responsible for theAdaptive High Beam Assistant at Mercedes-Benz Development.

Adjusting commands in a fraction of a

second The control device’s software differ-entiates betweens headlights, taillights,streetlamps, and reflectors on lane markings.

In addition, it recognizes the level of ambientbrightness. If the latter is high — for example,in a city illuminated by streetlamps — the sys-

tem switches off and the vehicle proceedsonly with the conventional low beam light.

In a dark environment, such as a countryroad, the Adaptive High Beam Assistant au-tomatically activates at speeds in excess of55 kilometers per hour. The control devicethen sends new adjusting commands to thetwo headlights at very brief intervals in orderto make them continuously vary their conesof light. In addition to the bi-xenon lamp, theheadlight contains three servo motors thatnot only adjust the range and swivel thelamps from side to side in response to curvesin the road, but also change the distributionof bright and dark areas. In this way, the sys-tem also takes into account the vehicle’sspeed, steering angle, and yaw rate.

Drivers can also switch the new assistant offaltogether. In such a situation, they have toactivate the high and low beams as usual.When the system is active, it relieves the bur-den on the driver and substantially improvesillumination. “The average driver uses the

high beam for only eight percent of a trip’sduration; the new high beam assistant, onthe other hand, activates it 25 percent of thetime,” reports Uwe Kostanzer, Head of Light-

ing Systems Development at Mercedes-BenzCars. “In addition, for another 50 percent ofthe time the assistant adaptively controls thelights in the range between 65 and 300 me-ters, thereby almost bridging the gap to thehigh beam.”

Seeing roadside objects at long distances

Studies of test subjects have shown that theAdaptive High Beam Assistant substantiallyimproves road illumination at night. The testsdemonstrated that the continuously adjust-

“The light systems in the new E-Class substantially enhance safety”

Uwe Kostanzer, Head of Light Systems Development at Mercedes-Benz Cars



HTR 01/2009 Safety

Adaptive High Beam Assistant

Variably adjustable range The Adaptive High Beam Assistant further enhances safety by improving theillumination of the road at night. It does not simply switch between high beam and low beam, but insteadadapts to the prevailing traffic conditions by controlling the distribution of the light. The low beam’s rangecan be continuously increased from 65 to 300 meters. This ensures maximum illumination without blind-

ing other drivers.

If the camera system registers any oncoming or preceding vehicles, it continuously adjusts the range to en-sure that the cone of light ends before it reaches the detected vehicles. The electronic control unit also takesthe steering angle into account in order to dim the headlights in tight curves. Along open stretches of road,the assistant switches smoothly to high beam.



62 Daimler

Variable range adjustment

Quick detection of figures in the dark

2Thanks to a windshield-mounted camera, the op-tional Adaptive High Beam

Assistant can detect precedingor oncoming vehicles and controlthe bi-xenon headlights so thattheir beam always ends before itreaches the other vehicles.

1Thanks to infrared technol-ogy, the new Night ViewAssist not only displays a

high-resolution grayscale imageof the scene in front of the vehi-cle; it also has a special pedes-trian detection feature that reg-isters any people on the road toa distance of 90 meters andhighlights them on the display.

Better illumination ofcountry roads

3The luminous, variably adjustable bi-xenon head-lights serve as the basis of

the Intelligent Light System (ILS).Instead of a low beam, the latterhas a country mode light that in-creases the illumination on thedriver’s side over a greater dis-tance. As a result, the driver’ssense of orientation is better inthe dark and he or she can

respond faster — for example, ifother road users cross the road.

Intelligent LightSystem (ILS)

Night ViewAssist PLUS

Adaptive HighBeam Assistant



HTR 01/2009 Safety

4Above 90 kilometers perhour, the highway modeturns on, gradually extend-

ing visibility by up to 60 percent.The headlights’ luminosity initial-ly increases from 35 to 38 watts.Beginning at a speed of 110 kilo-meters per hour, the distributionof the bi-xenon module’s light onthe driver’s side changes, ex-tending the range to around 120

meters.

5The expanded fog lightfunction is activated atspeeds below 70 kilome-

ters per hour, as soon as the rearfog light is switched on. Theheadlight on the driver’s sidethen swivels outward by eightdegrees and simultaneously low-ers the beam. This illuminatesthe driver’s side of the lane morebrightly and reduces the glare

from reflected light in foggy con-ditions.

6The active light functionautomatically activates inline with the vehicle’s

steering angle, yaw rate, andspeed by swiveling the head-lights by up to 15 degrees to theside within seconds. When tak-ing a sweeping curve with a ra-dius of 190 meters, the systemallows the driver to see 25 me-ters or 90 percent far ther.

7The cornering light func-tion improves safety at

junctions, intersectionsand in tight curves. It is auto-matically activated if the driveroperates the indicators or turnsthe steering wheel through alarge angle at speeds below 40km/h or turns it slightly at be-tween 40 and 70 km/h. Theheadlights then illuminate the

side area ahead of the vehicle toa range of around 30 meters atan angle of up to 65 degrees.

Better illumination ofhighways

Improved fog penetration

Active illumination ofcurves

Good visibility at intersections



64 Daimler



HTR 01/2009 Safety

tion, grayscale images of the nighttime sceneenable drivers to recognize pedestrians, cy-clists, or other obstacles on the road at a

considerable distance, thereby reducing re-sponse times. The new system also featuresanother special driver assistance function. “Aso-called object classifier continuously mon-itors the images for objects whose form andbrightness correspond to that of a standingor moving human being,” says Joachim Mis-sel, Head of Camera and Park Systems De-velopment at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Automatic person recognition If the nightview system’s control unit detects any peopleat a distance of up to about 90 meters infront of the vehicle it highlights the image onthe display by inserting four corners that cre-ate a sort of frame around the person inquestion. “Not only were numerous test sub-

jects in favor of this type of depiction; it alsomakes groups of people easily visible,” saysMissel. A small pedestrian icon that lights upin the upper right corner of the display showsthe driver that the people recognition func-tion is activated.

The active Night View Assist PLUS has a bigadvantage over simple thermal-image nightvision systems: Its two infrared lamps create

high-contrast, high-resolution images not on-ly of the road and adjacent areas but also ofany objects that may be present there.

From the 1886Daimler motor vehi-cle’s candle lampsto today’s cutting-edge lighting sys-

tems — at HTR online, you can learn

more about lighting and safety.Animation on the principle behindthe Adaptive High Beam AssistantVideos on how the Adaptive HighBeam Assistant, Night View Assist,and Intelligent Light System workArticle: “123 Years of HeadlightTechnology at Mercedes-Benz”


WEB TIP

ed range of the headlights enabled drivers tosee farther and thus improved safety. Thenew lighting function allowed motorists to

see pedestrian mock-ups along the roadsideat a distance of about 260 meters, or around150 meters farther away than is possiblewith headlights set to country mode.

More light since 2006 The high beam as-sistant supplements the Intelligent Light Sys-tem (ILS), which Mercedes-Benz introducedin the E-Class in 2006 — the year in whichsuch systems became advanced enough tofulfill legal requirements. Since then, it hasbeen installed in all of the subsequently of-fered model series. The Intelligent Light Sys-tem serves five functions: The country modeimproves illumination in the areas to the sideof the vehicle; the motorway mode extendsthe range of sight by 50 meters; the expand-

“The new Night View Assist system’speople detection feature helps drivers”

Joachim Missel, Head of Camera and Park Systems Development at Mercedes-Benz Cars

ed fog light function brightens the left-handside of the lane and reduces self-dazzling; theactive light feature adjusts itself in line withthe course of the road; and the corneringlight function increases brightness at junc-tions and intersections.To further improve visibility in connectionwith oncoming traffic in darkness, the newE-Class can also be fitted with Night View As-sist PLUS as an optional feature. Beginningat a speed of about ten kilometers per hour,the system illuminates nighttime roads with

two infrared lamps that are incorporated inthe main headlights. Although these lampshave a range and beam characteristics simi-lar to those of high beams, infrared (IR) lightis invisible to the human eye and thereforedoes not cause glare.

Active infrared system A near-infraredcamera mounted next to the rear-view mirroron the windshield scans the area in front ofthe vehicle and transmits an image to thedashboard display. The display’s high-defini-

Variable high-tech headlights

improve traffic safety by radiating

more light onto the road.



http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http://http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http://http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http://

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REFLECTOR

66

^ VINTON G. CERF

computers. In the course of the ARPANET

project he created the basis of the Inter-

net. Cerf received a Ph.D. in computer

science from the University of California

in Los Angeles and has received many

awards and honors. Today, as Vice Presi-

dent and Chief Internet Evangelist, he is a

member of Google Inc.’s management

team. HTR online features an extensive

interview with Cerf about the mobile and

automobile Internet, and his vision of an

interplanetary data network.

The mathematician Vinton (“Vint”) G.

Cerf, who was born in 1943, is one of the

architects of the World Wide Web. In the

late 1970s he worked with Robert Kahn

to develop the fundamental protocols

(TCP/IP) for transmitting arbitrary data

packets through a distributed network of

In what places or situations do you get your best ideas?

My best work always seems to be done in collaborative settings.

I think I am most likely to generate ideas in conversations with

small groups of people. Brainstorming and sharing the resulting

ideas — “Look what I found!” — is extremely satisfying.

In which everyday skill would you call yourself

an “expert”?

Well, I’m pretty good at removing corks and

drinking wine! Seriously, I think I’m a good cata-

lyst. I particularly like getting smart people

to collaborate on solving problems or at least

exploring issues and ideas.

Which everyday mystery do you think most

urgently requires a scientific explanation or

a technical solution?

I continue to be utterly fascinated and mystified

by the human brain (or any brain, really). How does

this lump of complex neural matter produce

thought, ideas, creativity, understanding, invention,

passion, joy, love, hate, fear?

Can you explain why we spend increasing amounts of

time sitting in front of our computers even though they’re

becoming faster all the time?Our software gets more complex faster than Moore’s Law makes

the computers faster. Moreover, an increasing amount of the in-

formation we need is accessible solely via a computer, and hence

we spend more time with PDAs, mobiles, laptops, etc.

Do you entrust your best ideas to a machine or jot them

down on a piece of paper?

I make heavy use of computer records to document my work

and save significant information, but when something is

really important for me to keep, I print it out. I have a great

hulking pile of notes that I’ve accumulated over time.

WEB TIP


Five Questions for…Vinton Cerf



AVL Electric Motor Testbeds serve for developing, optimizing

and validating electric motors for hybrid and electric

vehicles as well as the related power electronic systems.

AVL ELECTRIC MOTOR TESTBED

DRIVING ELECTRIFICATION. FAST AND EFFICIENT

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