I test the Prius V PCS system with video!

Bummer, I had really hoped it would stop the car and avoid the boxes all together.
GREAT video!!!!

 

haha.. cool..

so.. it lessens the damage.. possibly saves lives...

if you happen to not see a person, it's reduced brake time may keep you from accidently hitting someone. i know i've almost hit people because of the huge side pillars. sometimes they hide pedestrians perfectly.

 

We knew that though. Only the A-PCS in the high-end Lexus brings it to a complete stop.

 

Neat testing...but I don't quite get what your expectations are? The Prius PCS is not designed to totally stop your vehicle, so improved reflectivity isn't going to make a difference. My understanding is that the system does exactly what you have already demonstrated, it warns..(beeps) and tensions seatbelts in anticipation of a crash, and brakes to an extent...but it doesn't stop the car and obviously it doesn't steer the car.

Perhaps, and I don't know, but perhaps different reflectivity and speeds and other factors might influence how early or late the PCS responds but I don't think it's ever going to do more than it has already demonstrated.

 

what if you were to test it again.. this time act as if you're not paying attention... wait till it starts beeping, then go from gas to brake... if it stops in time, it's a complete success... if not, it's purely supplemental.

 

Awesome video - is the PCS system in all the models? Because I have a II.

 

No, it is only in the high level package.


And the system on the Lexus models works much better. Since the hardware is there, I do not see why they didnt just flash the correct firmware to make it behave like the LS.

 

You could make a human analog out of pool, water noodles, duct tape and aluminum foil strips. However, you might want to test in a more isolated area as some observers might not understand 'they are running over a blue man, over and over again.'

Excellent video ... well appreciated.

Bob Wilson

 

I read they didn't want to take too much control away from the driver.

 

I've debated it before, and I realize it's not a popular opinion. Don't jump all over me, Prius V owners with the Technology Package. I realize that a system that warns, begins to slow and tightens seatbelts could be useful and might lessen damage and/or save lives. That's a very, very good thing.

But would the average driver really want a car that can and in certain circumstance would stop itself?

Maybe I'm just getting too old, and am resistant to change in this area. But I in the case of PCS and Lane Keep Assist? I don't like the idea of a vehicle that can input steering torque and I don't like the idea of a vehicle that uses a computer and radar and has the capability of stopping me. To me driving is too physical an activity, with too many unpredictable variables for me to trust a computer. I know that I already do, that drive by wire, anti-lock brakes and countless already unseen systems that already exist in most modern cars are computer based. Maybe systems like PCS are just the standard of tomorrow...and that isn't all bad...

But even watching that video. Seemed to me, that it started beeping pretty late into the game and that you'd have to be a pretty distracted driver not to be able to notice that obstruction before even the PCS saw it. But I suppose it happens.

Hard to take a stand against a warning system that really does nothing but potentially lessen damage and potentially save lives, so my personal opinion on this is not going to be popular. But I think another danger is that people don't have a real understanding of what the PCS does, or is designed to do...so they are driving with a system in place inwhich their expectations of what it provides may or may not be accurate.

In the Prius case, it's a warning Pre-Collision system. And yet you did have people expecting it to stop the vehicle and expecting it to somehow avoid the boxes. Things beyond it's scope of possibilty as it currently exists.

The flaw is mine. I probably need to learn to trust computers in automobiles more, especially as we move forward. It kind of reminds me way back in the stone age when automobiles transitioned from mostly NOT having airbags...to airbags being the standard. For a while, a lot of people did not buckle up, some people thought the new airbags were replacements for having to buckle up. It took a certain amount of time and communication to get everyone to understand airbags were supplemental and additional safety equipment...not a replacement for wearing seatbelts.

I'd say the same for PCS. It's a supplemental safety system. But if you ever have to use it, outside of test conditions, something is wrong.

Neat to see it tested. Neat to get feedback as to how it responds...potential distance to impact and speed of it implementing...but dangerous if people are expecting too much from it.

 

Will PCS activate if your cut off?

 

Have you even tried LKA? It's very easily overridden by the driver even when in use. In fact, it requires you to operate the steering wheel once every 15 seconds or it'll cancel as a safety feature. It's also too inaccurate to rely on 100% because not all the lane markers will work, so you must maintain 100% concentration anyway.

PCS is only when you're about to hit something. What exactly is being taken away from you if you want to slow down anyway?

 

No, to be honest I haven't tried LKA...those that have it, reportedly love it....

I admit the flaw is probably more my antique approach to automobiles and driving, not with the systems as offered.

As to your second point...I agree..PCS is only when you're about to hit something...but given some peoples questions about how it works I'm not sure everyone understands that, nothing is being taken away if you want to slow down.

In the test as presented? Unless you are filming a Prius Based Dukes of Hazzard episode, I'd hope anyone would start slowing down long before The Prius started beeping and reacting.

 

I'd like to see the hood slide on the Prius, if it can even be successfully executed without slipping off

 

Thanks, shared on my FB.

 

Anybody knows what is written on the inside green box of the MID warning display? I can't make it out.