Behind the scenes at Mercedes-Benz, work is underway on the next expansion stage of the Level 3 system Drive Pilot, with which all driving tasks can be handed over to the car. The background is the expansion of UN regulation no. 157, which allows such systems to travel at speeds of up to 130 km/h instead of the previous 60 km/h.
Mercedes-Benz is the world's first automobile manufacturer to offer a Level 3 assistance system with the Drive Pilot (test), in which the driver can hand over the task of driving completely to the vehicle and can legally deal with other things such as films, games or browsers and e-mail.
Drive Pilot is currently a traffic jam assistant
The version of the Drive Pilot offered so far is limited to motorways in Germany and a maximum speed of 60 km/h, which makes the system less of a permanent support and more of an assistant for traffic jams and slow-moving traffic. However, higher speeds have not been possible until now either, because UN regulation no. 157 for the release of corresponding systems previously set the speed limit at 60 km/h.
Upgrade to 130 km/h and lane change
However, an expansion of the regulation decided in June by the UNECE, which will come into force in January 2023 in the participating countries, including Germany, provides for an increase in the speed for so-called “Automated Lane Keeping Systems” (ALKS) to 130 km /h before. In addition, ALKS should also be allowed to change lanes in the future. The corresponding assistance system is therefore facing a significant expansion that would enable practically permanent use on motorways at the recommended speed.
Drive Pilot requires new Operational Design Domain
However, for the Drive Pilot available in the S-Class and in the EQS, which has been available as an optional extra since May 17, the extension of the control does not automatically mean an extension of the capabilities from 60 to 130 km/h. First of all, the decisive factor is the definition of a new “Operational Design Domain” (ODD), i.e. the conditions for using the Drive Pilot, before renewed approval by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) becomes necessary.
In the current version of the Drive Pilot, components of the ODD include use only on the motorway, the speed limit of 60 km/h, use only during the day and on a dry road, lane markings recognized by the system and a vehicle in front that is used as an indicator a traffic jam situation is registered. Simply reducing the speed to a maximum of 60 km/h is not sufficient to activate the system.
System “if necessary” expandable
In order for the Drive Pilot to function safely at speeds of over 60 km/h, it will be necessary to adapt the system to the new ODD, explained a spokesman for autonomous driving from Mercedes-Benz when asked. These changes would entail renewed certification by the KBA. However, the system architecture is designed in such a way that the speed range can be adjusted “if necessary as part of further developments”.
The manufacturer has not yet been able to comment on what that means in detail for current owners of an S-Class or an EQS with Drive Pilot. It remains to be seen whether the investment of at least 5,950 euros will one day master highly automated driving according to Level 3 at up to 130 km/h. When asked whether changes to the software were sufficient for an extension or whether the hardware also had to be revised, the manufacturer explained that the general rule is that the further a new ODD is from today's, the greater the changes to the system on the part of the software or software and hardware that are necessary for secure operation and the less likely it is that these adjustments can only be covered by an OTA measure, i.e. a software update.
The exact design of a next ODD for the Drive Pilot is currently being worked on, but the company cannot yet give any details. From 2024, Mercedes-Benz wants to use a new platform from Nvidia with Drive AGX Orin.