So turn signal detection only works/worked in Germany and you can only find mention of it in German owner manuals? How is it common knowledge then? Maybe it is to German drivers, but most TMC members are from outside Germany.
Mobileye’s English-language documentation doesn’t make it easy to find any reference to turn signal detection — now or in the past. I went on archive.org and couldn’t find a reference to it on Mobileye’s old website either.
One of the problems with your discussion method is that for you everything lives on the internet and is theoretical. I know what kind of driver’s aids I have driven, owned and how the technology has evolved from first-hand experience. How much time one wants to spend looking up features from a car owned a decade ago when the internet itself was a bit different place is another question... I wasn’t quoting a source, I was telling from experience.
Alas, the knowledge on this forum on these points is terribly limited, at times. Probably because not many people here have personal experience with European premium cars with their high-end features.
I know what I’ve driven. And no it was not available just in Germany, but my general point is North American manuals are not representative because U.S. has its unique regulations. For example that manual you quoted does not have the traffic-sign detection a model-year 2011 car in Europe did have. Use at least EU manuals.
Anyway, here is the feature described — on an American site
— back in November 2009 in the official Audi press release for the new car:
On the highway, if the car ahead puts on its right turn signal and slows down because its driver wants to exit, the ACC stop & go function recognizes this fact thanks to the camera image and because it can read the exit from the route data supplied by the navigation system. A conventional system would now brake analogously to the car ahead; in many cases the A8 continues on almost without change.
In Detail: The New Audi A8
The video camera on the 2010 Audi A8 is powered by MobilEye EyeQ2 and yes MobilEye has indicator detection in their later chips as well. This EyeQ2 did the traffic-sign detection as well. These chips already, in 2010, did a wide range of obstacle detection also — something Tesla does not do even today — because they were also powering things like adaptive suspension (automatic preparation for a pothole, that sort of thing). EyeQ2 also recognized traffic lights.
The Audi A8 was one of the launch cars for EyeQ2 in 2010, just like Model S AP1 was one of the launch cars for EyeQ3 four years later.
MobilEye was (is?) years ahead of everyone else. Too bad the most aggressive implementation partner (Tesla AP1) and MobilEye did not see eye to eye on how to make use of those features. Other OEMs have mainly used the features for safety or comfort features, not so much for driver’s aids until recently, so average consumer visibility into MobilEye’s advanced features is somewhat limited. But the info and history certainly is out there for those following the scene.
@Tam
