With its Side View Assist blind spot assistant, Bosch offers an innovative driver assistance system that helps with lane changes and warns of potential hazards. Like Bosch's Parking Assistant and ParkPilot, the system uses ultrasonic sensors. The interconnection of various ultrasonic functions and the use of multiple electrical components result in cost savings for the manufacturer compared to radar- or video-based systems, ultimately translating into real savings for the car buyer.

Thanks to its three-meter perimeter around the sides and corners of the vehicle, Side View Assist precisely covers the car's blind spot. If the sensors detect a vehicle within this monitored area, the assistant's electronic system verifies that the data actually corresponds to a vehicle that has entered the blind spot, thus preventing false alarms. The driver can be alerted at two levels of intensity: first visually, then audibly.    

Four additional sensors to combat undetected hazards.
The Side View Assist ultrasonic sensors are mounted on the sides of the car's two bumpers. The two rear sensors monitor the blind spot in the lanes to the left and right of the vehicle. The two front sensors serve solely for data verification. If, for example, the left front sensor detects an object before the left rear sensor does, it's clear that a car is approaching in the opposite direction in its lane, and the electronic monitoring system doesn't trigger any alarm. Similarly, parked vehicles, road infrastructure, and overtaking maneuvers are detected in this way and don't trigger any alarms. Only if one of the rear side sensors detects an object, without the front sensors having detected it, is there a potential hazard. In this case, Side View Assist alerts the driver visually, for example, with a light signal in the corresponding side mirror. If the driver doesn't see the signal or ignores it and activates the turn signal to overtake, the assistant may also emit an audible warning.  

Side View Assist is active at speeds between 10 and 140 kilometers per hour. Outside these limits, no warning is issued to the driver. The system assists the driver in complex driving situations where relatively low speeds are common, particularly in urban traffic, on city motorways, and on dual carriageways or multi-lane roads. The system alerts the driver but does not actively intervene.

Bosch's Blind Spot Assist is an important contribution to road safety. Accident statistics show that most accidents that occur while overtaking or changing lanes happen at speeds below 100 km/h, and most of them below 60 km/h.  

Bosch's Side View Assist makes its world premiere in the new version of the Citroën C4, which will be available from autumn of this year.

Bosch's ultrasonic sensors have been monitoring the vehicle's surroundings since 1993.
Bosch began developing ultrasonic sensors for automobiles back in 1989. Since the start of series production in 1993, Bosch has manufactured more than 100 million of these sensors, making it the undisputed market leader. Initially, ultrasonic sensors only provided protection against minor bumps while parking, as they only indicated distances. In 2006, this technology was refined to produce the first parking assistant, or Park Assist, which could precisely measure the space of a potential parking spot. Since 2008, Bosch's Park Assist has automatically performed the necessary maneuvers, using the electric power steering, to ensure the car parks perfectly.

Bosch has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Europe, America, and Asia for the production of ultrasonic sensors and their corresponding control modules.