Engineers from TU Delft are working with Renault to improve the eco mode: the ‘Proactive Eco Mode’. By anticipating the driver’s driving behaviour, this smart eco mode should ensure that drivers switch on this driving mode more often.
The Proactive Eco Mode was developed in collaboration with the Renault Technocentre in France by engineers Timo Melman and Niek Beckers, researchers in the field of robotics. With their invention they tried to eliminate a disadvantage of the eco mode: the fact that as a driver you can easily accelerate when necessary. Proactive Eco Mode looks ahead and can make successful predictions about driving behavior based on a ‘simple algorithm’, so that the driver can accelerate quickly and easily even in eco mode when the situation requires it. According to the researchers, this should ensure that motorists drive more with the eco mode.
“With our system, your car already looks a bit ahead while you are driving,” says Melman. “This is because we make predictions about the times when the driver will need a lot of power and can change the engine settings of the car if necessary.” The system’s algorithm is made up of a collection of data on the driving behavior of various road users. “With that data, the car ‘knows’ when you want to accelerate,” Melman continues. “This makes it much nicer for the rider to keep riding in eco mode and it’s still energy efficient.”
A test on the French roads proved to be effective and did what it promised. Renault was enthusiastic and wants to implement the system in future cars, TU Delft reports.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl