Distronic

Over 40,000 DISTRONIC Proximity Cruise Control Systems in Use Worldwide
Stuttgart, 02/25/2003 - DISTRONIC proximity cruise control now contributes to safe, comfortable and stress-free driving in five Mercedes-Benz models. The high-performance assistance system, which went into series production at the end of 1998, has proven its worth in over 40,000 Mercedes passenger cars worldwide. As such, Mercedes-Benz is the world’s largest provider of automatic proximity cruise control systems. DISTRONIC is available for the CLK, E, S, CL and SL Classes as optional equipment. The system uses a radar sensor located behind the radiator grille to maintain a constant distance from the vehicle in front. As a result, DISTRONIC makes driving on roads with a great deal of traffic more comfortable, less stressful and more relaxing. Surveys conducted by DaimlerChrysler Research show that driver reaction times are up to 40 percent faster when DISTRONIC is used than without it.
text and pics DaimlerChrysler

Distronic cruise control simply let's you set the desired speed and the distance to the car in front.

With no car in front of you, it attains the regulated speed.

Green-red distance indicator

Some drivers switch it off in very dense traffic since others cut into the space kept by Distronic... Distronic keeps a distance of a minimum of 1 to a max of 2 seconds. But others use it particularly in dense traffic since it measures the distance to preceding cars more precisely than a driver can estimate it.

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC DEVELOPS 76 GHZ BAND MM-WAVE MMICS FOR AUTOMOBILE RADARS
Jun 3, 2003

Distronic debuts on the model year 2007 M-Class, R-Class and GL. Distronic stalk Distronic EPCnet info for GL Distronic is option code 219, starting October 2006. Distronic was discontinued with model year 2009 - no demand. Distronic Plus debuts on the new S-Class and CL for model year 2007 with option code 233. In model year 2008 Blind Spot Assist and Parking Guidance is added.

Future:

Real time inter-vehicle communication to further extend the driver's horizon. Developed at DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology North America in Palo Alto (US version). The developers believe this is more cost effective than Distronic on the hardware side "just plug the antenna into the cars' bus" and will extend the range to around 600 feet per hop. Multi-hops may reach considerably further, also around curves and over crests. Authentication, priority, adoption etc to be worked out.

car-to-car communication, DSRC

speedtronic

Mercedes telematics

You are so far and near. - fligo

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