A few days ago at the 2017 Montreal Auto Show, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) announced its two "Best New Technology" award winners for 2017.
Volvo received the “Best New Safety Technology” award for its Pilot Assist II feature that includes Large Animal Detection with Run-off Road mitigation.
"Pilot Assist II is actually three systems using camera and radar technology to help keep drivers and passengers safe," says Technology Panel Chair, Jim Kerr. "The Pilot assist feature can control acceleration, braking, and steering up to 130 km/h to help keep the S90 in its lane at speed. Run off road mitigation keeps the vehicle on the road by applying braking and steering forces if an impending road departure is sensed. Large animal detection senses the density of larger animals such as deer, moose, and coyotes within about a 200m range, to determine if they pose a danger, warn the driver, and automatically brake the vehicle to mitigate a collision if the driver takes no action. These features are semi-autonomous, giving the driver full control of the vehicle at all times while using automatic control to assist when required."
Meanwhile, this year’s award for “Best New Innovation Technology” went to Mazda for its G-Vectoring Control system, which is included as standard equipment in the 2017 Mazda3 and 2017 Mazda6, and will be integrated into the full Mazda lineup as updates are made in future models. Click on the link for a detailed review.
"What impressed us the most was just how marvellously clever the concept behind Mazda's G-Vectoring Control really is, for a technology that can have such a positive impact on the driving dynamics of a vehicle," said Marc Lachapelle, AJAC Technology Panel Judge. "Simple yet powerful engineering ideas like this are how a small independent carmaker like Mazda can stand out, and that's what makes this a true winner."