ZF TRW, a division of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, has announced that its third generation video camera, the S-Cam 3, is starting production for the first time across four major global vehicle platforms.
The camera is launching on a number of compact C and D segment sedan and crossover vehicles in Europe, North America and Asia through the end of 2015. Offering six times the processing power of previous generation cameras, the technology offers functions including traffic light detection, large animal and general object detection, and automatic emergency braking for pedestrians at night.
Andy Whydell, director, product planning, ZF TRW commented: "The launch of our S-Cam 3 marks an important milestone in making active safety technology accessible to the mass market. Cameras are widely recognized for their safety benefits, and the S-Cam3 is now ASIL-B rated for improved functional safety performance."
He continues, "Now in its third generation, our video camera is a highly sophisticated, proven technology which can enable important safety decisions and provide a strong base platform for active safety systems when combined with other sensors and actuators."
Meanwhile, the fourth generation S-Cam 4 family - which will feature Mobileye's EyeQ4 chip - is scheduled to launch in 2018 and has been designed to meet the requirements of automated driving functions. It comprises a single lens, mono-camera version and a premium three lens version which adds a telephoto lens for improved long distance sensing, and a fish-eye lens for improved short range sensing. The new camera generation was recently chosen by a major European manufacturer across a range of its vehicle platforms.