Stuttgart, Germany/Lisbon, Portugal – In Lisbon, Anton van Zanten was honored for his invention of the ESP electronic stability program with the 2016 European Inventor Award. The award, which is conferred by the European Patent Office (EPO), was presented to him in the “Lifetime achievement” category. The Dutch native developed the anti-skid system as the head of a 35-member research group at Bosch, during a career that spanned more than 25 years. The system was first featured as standard equipment in the Mercedes-Benz S600 in 1995. “Anton van Zanten and his engineering colleagues are the guardian angels of many drivers,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, in praise not only of the award-winner, but also of the team effort behind the innovation. “The invention of ESP stands for our Invented for life ethos like few others,” the Bosch CEO said. In Europe alone, ESP has saved more than 8,500 lives and prevented more than a quarter of a million traffic accidents to date. That makes anti-skid protection the most important vehicle safety system after the seat belt – more important even than the airbag.
ESP is standard equipment in vehicles in a growing number of countries
Using smart sensors, ESP compares 25 times per second whether the car is actually moving in the direction that the driver is steering it in. If the measured values do not match, the anti-skid system intervenes, initially reducing engine torque. If that is not sufficient, it additionally brakes individual wheels, generating the counterforce needed to keep a vehicle safely on course. If all vehicles were equipped with the anti-skid system, up to 80 percent of all skidding accidents could be prevented. Since November 1, 2014, ESP has been mandatory within the European Union for all newly registered cars and light commercial vehicles weighing up to 3.5 metric tons. In addition to the EU, the anti-skid system is also mandatory in Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and the United States. Worldwide, 64 percent of all new vehicles are therefore already equipped with ESP. Bosch has manufactured more than 150 million ESP systems to date.
Career with many inventions and awards
By inventing the electronic stability program, Anton van Zanten and his development team at Bosch did more than just lay the foundation for greater road safety. The system is also the basis for todays driver assistance systems and automated driving. Increasing automation presents an opportunity to lower accident rates even further – by up to a third in Germany alone. ESP is Anton van Zantens greatest success, but by far not his only achievement. The 75-year-old is the very epitome of an inventor. During his career as an automotive engineer, he was responsible for some 180 patent families. Along with ESP, his inventions include electronic rollover mitigation and trailer sway mitigation. Anton van Zanten entered into active retirement in 2003. To this day, he continues to lecture on vehicle systems at universities and act as a consultant for automotive companies. For his contributions to automotive safety, Anton van Zanten has already received numerous awards. However, the European Inventor Award, which pays tribute to his lifes work, is of particular significance.
Eleventh edition of the European Inventor Award in five categories
The European Inventor Award has been presented since 2006. It is the EPOs way of honoring researchers, scientists, technicians, and inventors whose inventions have been patented by the EPO and have made an outstanding contribution to scientific, technical, and social progress. What makes it unusual is that any member of the public can nominate an inventor for the award. From the nearly 400 nominees from a total of 13 countries in 2016, an independent, international jury selected the 15 finalists. The jury also decides the winners in the five categories “Industry,” “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” “Research,” “Non-European countries,” and “Lifetime achievement.” The winners of the European Inventor Award receive a trophy shaped like a sail as a symbol of discovery and human ingenuity. The trophy is crafted with new materials every year.
Mobility Solutions is the largest Bosch Group business sector. According to preliminary figures, its 2017 sales came to 47.4 billion euros, or 61 percent of total group sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility Solutions business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is accident-free, emissions-free, and stress-free, and combines the group’s expertise in the domains of automation, electrification, and connectivity. For its customers, the outcome is integrated mobility solutions. The business sector’s main areas of activity are injection technology and powertrain peripherals for internal-combustion engines, diverse solutions for powertrain electrification, vehicle safety systems, driver-assistance and automated functions, technology for user-friendly infotainment as well as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, repair-shop concepts, and technology and services for the automotive aftermarket. Bosch is synonymous with important automotive innovations, such as electronic engine management, the ESP anti-skid system, and common-rail diesel technology.
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 400,500 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2017). According to preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 78 billion euros in 2017. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT company, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected industry. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to create solutions for a connected life, and to improve quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 125 locations across the globe, Bosch employs 62,500 associates in research and development.
Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPresse.