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16.07.2007 SPARC successful completed

July, 2007

The overall result of the review of the project is:
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

Several years of development and assessments have now borne fruit: the first vehicles equipped with innovative technology for accident-free driving are now available as drivable prototypes. We all are sure that the consortium has build up the best technical vehicles currently available to show solutions realizing the EU-white book initiative.

In the large-scale SPARC project, Contract No. IST-507589, which is headed by DaimlerChrysler and sponsored by the EU (www.sparc-eu.net), a total of 26 partner companies have spent several years developing new technologies and an innovative, groundbreaking vehicle architecture based on x-by-wire: the Safety Decision Control System. The open systems architecture is suitable for vehicles from heavy trucks to compact cars, as has been demonstrated using the examples of a Mercedes-Benz Actros truck and a smart car by DaimlerChrysler.

Human error is almost always the reason for road accidents, therefore it is the aim of the European Commission to effect a drastic reduction in the number of serious accidents on European roads.

Results

The European Commission confirmed after the Final Review in Papenburg that the SPARC project has achieved excellent results which are of a very high standard. The project has impressively achieved its main objectives. These objectives have been coherent with the European automotive safety vision. The reviewers mentioned that the project will strongly contribute to the next generation of road safety centric vehicles, automated vehicles and X-by-wire vehicles. Several highly innovative concepts have been successfully demonstrated.
The European Commission also considered that the project was managed in a very professionally manner. All partners exhibited high levels of cooperation and worked efficiently together under the coordination of DaimlerChrysler.
The SPARC project has developed very promising technologies with the potential to make a significant impact on road safety. The next step is to refine these technologies and introduce them into production vehicles. SPARC may be regarded as a key milestone in the development of, and deployment of, X-by-wire technology, ADAS and highly automatable driving systems.

Dr.-Ing. Armin A. Sulzmann
Project Co-Ordination and Project Responsibility

SPARC - Secure Propulsion using Advanced Redundant Control
a European commission funded project coordinated
by DaimlerChrysler AG

IST-507859 -- Start: 01/01/2004 -- End: 16/07/2007