Forward Collision Warning Plus
The Forward Collision Warning Plus (FCW+) system is an enhancement to the current vehicles equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and a Forward Facing Camera Module (FFCM). This system uses the FFCM and ACC module for enhanced sensitivity to objects in front of the vehicle. The system utilizes radar and video input to detect whether the vehicle is approaching another vehicle or large obstacle in its path too rapidly and warn/assist the driver in avoiding the incident. The system communicates with other components on the vehicle to apply the brakes and/or to alert the driver through visual and audible warnings. The FCW Plus function operates regardless of whether ACC with stop and go is active or not. The system operates down to 0 mph and provides audible closing/proximity warnings as well as brake pedal vibration.
The FCW+ System shall use three levels of warnings: visual, audible and haptic.
- The visual warning used by the system is displayed in the Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC).
- The audible warning used by the FCW system is generated by the Radio/amplifier system.
- The haptic warning used by the FCW is a brake jerk. A brake jerk is a brake pulse or a momentary application of the brakes.
The FCW+ System has customer configurability for 4 settings, FCW+ Far, FCW+ Near, FCW Far and FCW Near. The FCW+ system is disabled and enabled via a hard switch in the Integrated Center Stack (ICS). There shall be a LED in the ICS to indicate the status of the FCW+ system. When the system is disabled by the user or if the system is disabled due to a fault, the LED in the ICS will be illuminated. When the system is enabled the LED in the ICS will be off.
The system also monitors the torque sensor inside the Electronic Power Steering (EPS) to verify the driver's hands remain on the wheel. If no driver's steering input is received for 3-5 seconds, the system will alert the driver with audio and visual warning. If the steering wheel continues to receive no torque input from the driver, the FCW+, ACC+ and LDW+ will deactivate. Once the vehicle has achieved road speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph) and below 160 km/h (100 mph), the system senses the steering wheel input and the FFCM can clearly detect the lines in the road, the system will enable again. The system will also disable when the drivers seatbelt is unbuckled while the vehicle is travelling at speeds of 16 km/h (10 mph) or greater.