Valeo demonstrates 360 degree emergency braking technology

French provider of smart vehicle technology, Valeo, has previewed two safety innovations it hopes will help it stand out from the increasingly crowded automotive tech crowd at CES.

Automatic emergency braking (or AEB) is nothing new in vehicle tech, but, as Valeo points out, it’s been largely employed as a tool to avoid front impacts.

That’s where the company’s ‘360AEB Nearshield’ product comes to the fore.

An evolution of AEB, the autonomous emergency braking system eliminates blind spots not just in front of the car, but surrounding it, alerting drivers to any potential obstacles and bringing the vehicle to an automatic halt.

In other words, if you’re reversing into your driveway and your child or dog runs behind the car, sensors on the car will trigger an automatic halt to the vehicle to avoid impact. The system also works for objects coming from the sides of the car.

The demonstration then moved to an on-the-road example of new technology that could help avoid highway accidents in the future.

Valeo call it ‘XtraVue’, a set of connected computer-vision cameras that show drivers what is happening on the road, even outside their line of sight.

For example, if you’re blocked in front by a large truck and can’t see oncoming traffic, your own car’s in-vehicle display can link to a camera mounted in the front bumper of the truck, to provide a clear view.

The company also touted its self-driving tech capabilities, revealing a Valeo-engineered smart vehicle had travelled autonomously for more than 125,000km worldwide in a controlled test.

The vehicle was able to change lanes automatically, maintain distance control, deal with hard cut-ins from other cars and navigate unforseen changes in road speed (eg. roadworks), even at night.

Valeo will demo the technology in a concept vehicle later in the week.