Continental Earns Three CES 2021 Innovation Honoree Awards

Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

Continental’s Transparent Trailer technology won the 2021 CES Innovation Award in the Vehicle Intelligence and Transportation product category.
The complete trailering portfolio makes driving and maneuvering a trailer safer and more efficient.

CES Innovation entries are judged on engineering and functionality, aesthetics and design, and what makes the product unique and innovative. Continental has won a CES award in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Continental AG won a 2021 CES Innovation Award in the Vehicle Intelligence and Transportation product category for its Transparent Trailer technology.

“Engineering solutions that support drivers in various conditions is always our focus at Continental, and that includes technology for safer, more efficient towing,” said Arnaud Lagandré, head of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Continental North America. “We know how challenging and stressful it can be to maneuver a vehicle-trailer combination. Continental’s intelligent suite of trailering technology is designed to change that, bringing together innovative technologies that complement one another to serve the driver. Our team is honored to be recognized as a CES Innovation Award Honoree, exemplifying this commitment to increasing road safety.”

Transparent Trailer technology gives drivers a “see-through” from the trailer to haul and check the surrounding area. A key component for the trailering portfolio is that you are safer driving while towing through the combination of this technology and Continental’s Surround View system. The combination of two cameras and a control unit work together to provide a panoramic view that renders the trailer virtually invisible. A live feed is created so that you can see the road and around the trailer.

Trailer Merge Assist with Trailer Length Detection is another technology selected for a 2017 CES Innovation Award and earned the company a Supplier of the Year Award from FCA in 2019.

The first-of-its-kind system is a “black box” sensor. When you think of a black box, you think of audio inside an airplane’s cockpit listening to a recording. This black box is mounted in the vehicle’s rear side area. The objective is to extend blind-spot detection.

Backing up a trailer can be difficult; the driver must navigate two vehicles at once. In some instances, the truck will go one way, and the trailer will go the other. Continental’s Trailer Reverse Assist allows the trailer to back up and park vehicles safer and more comfortable.

Intelligent Rear Camera Module integrates with the vehicle’s 360-degree Surround View system. Drivers can see a projected trailer path on the vehicle’s center console screen. The console screen can control the trailer’s direction with a knob, allowing the driver to back a trailer into a tight spot. A technology that will enable a remote-control feature to back up and park the trailer from outside the vehicle.

Continental’s Automated Trailer Hitching makes hitching as easy as the press of a button. The trailer uses the vehicle’s intelligent rearview camera to detect and calculate the vehicle’s path. That path finds objects, whether static or in motion. The next step in this technology will allow for automatic adjustment of the vehicle’s air suspension system to ensure the proper height to connect from the driver’s seat or outside the vehicle through a wireless app.

Trailer Stability Assist detects snaking or swaying in the trailer and will respond by stabilizing it by alternating brake interventions. Integrated with Continental’s electronic brake system, the solution will reduce the vehicle and trailer velocity by decreasing engine torque and increasing pressure in all-wheel brakes for deceleration until the oscillation stops.

Continental is committed to making driving and maneuvering a trailer safer and more efficient. The company is currently working on a solution that would allow the driver to park the vehicle with a trailer in tow automatically by scanning a parking scene and utilizing the onboard radar and camera sensors to offer the best possible parking spots. The driver can then select to initiate the automatic parking maneuver. Based on Continental’s Surround View System, the company is developing a solution to prevent the vehicle and trailer from colliding with obstacles or obstructions while turning.

““Continental’s complete suite of state-of-the-art trailering technology was designed to change the way people feel about driving with a trailer,” added Lagandré. “It makes driving and maneuvering a trailer safer and more manageable for all.”