A novel approach for the enhancement of cooperative ACC by deriving real time weather information

The Concept of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) leverages wireless communication between vehicles in order to harmonize their cruising speed and thereby to gain a positive impact on fuel consumption and CO2 emission. In this paper, we present a novel approach of incorporating real time weather information into the CACC functionality. Local weather changes are detected in a cooperative manner by sharing sensor data between vehicles, scanning the local vehicles environment for the current weather situation and retrieval of location based weather data from public services or road operators. This information can so be used to anticipatory adapt the speed of the vehicles in relevant areas, according to the expected impact on driving safety and efficiency. In this way, a considerable safety gain can be achieved, particularly in the case of severe weather conditions like fog, heavy rain or blizzards. Additionally, since approaching traffic can slow down early enough, fuel consumption and the probability of arising traffic congestions can be reduced and so CO2 emissions are minimized. In order to bring this concept in the cockpit, we present a weather assistant function with an integrated HMI, which has been realized in a prototype vehicle.