Integrated Electronics for Automotive Applications in the EUREKA Program PROMETHEUS

Road traffic accounts for almost 90 % of all people-kilometers travelled. It generates about 30 % of the gross national products in Western Europe. On the other side, it accounts for 60 000 deaths, 1.8 million injuries and 7 million traffic accidents. In the Federal Republic ofGermany alone, the loss of people in road traffic amounts to a loss in G.N.P. of about 25 billion ECU per year. The potential for an improvement in traffic safety through information and microelectronics technology as estimated by traffic research experts is remarkably high [1]. Significant progress is possible in the areas of vehicle control (position and speed), detection of other vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles, distance control, priority control and navigational aids. It has been estimated that 80 percent of all traffic accidents could be avoided, if the response to an immanent danger could be advanced by one second. Besides safety, important improvements in enviromental compatibility, economy, efficiency and convenience are necessary and feasible.