MB.Drive Assist Pro: How Mercedes and NVIDIA Handle City Driving

Driving in San Francisco can be a challenge. When Mercedes driver Christoph von Hugo—who is on the Development Advanced Driver Assistance Systems team—turns on the company’s new MB.Drive Assist Pro, I expect it to disengage within minutes. Instead, the 2027 electric CLA makes the same decisions most drivers would make. A pedestrian looks like they are about to walk into the street from the middle of the block. Immediately, the car reacts by moving over. It’s subtle. But don’t call it autonomous driving. Mercedes says it’s more of a co-driver.

To see how it performs on San Francisco streets, read the full article here.

Transcript

00:00:01 Recently, Mercedes gave me a ride in their pre-production electric CLA outfitted with the company's NB drive assisted pro system. The SAE level 2 driver assistance system uses point-to-point directions to help navigate a vehicle to its destination. Technically, this system is a hands-on, eyes on system, but the vehicle I rode

00:00:36 in with Christopher von Hugo, who is on the development advanced driver assistance systems teams for Mercedes, steered, brad, assessed the situation, and did essentially what a human being behind the wheel would do while driving through an urban area.
>> Fielding for her, trying to get past. And now there's somebody coming, but enough space.

00:00:58
>> Goes for it. Mercedes was keen to note that the system is built to coexist with the driver. During the demonstration, Von Hugo held his hands above the steering wheel. This is to prove that the vehicle could navigate itself around San Francisco. In daily use, the driver should keep their hands on the wheel. And one of the benefits Mercedes shared about the upcoming system was that there

00:01:19 was no need to wrestle control of the wheel away from the vehicle like we've seen in other level two systems with lane keep assist or hands-free support. Did
>> that Whimo just take that guy's spot? Yeah,
>> I think so.
>> Oh, wait. Oh, there's another one.
>> Okay, now that pretty much arrived at

00:01:43 the same point in time. That's going to be interesting.
>> Oh, but he's got a person.
>> Oh, yeah. He needs to he needs to wait. So, no, we are lucky.
>> We should have a chance to check out this system on our own with ourselves behind the wheel when the CLA goes on sale later this year.