Robot Fleet for Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Euro NCAP tests represent a fundamental reference for the independent evaluation of vehicle safety, but they entail high costs for manufacturers, mainly due to the use of crash test prototypes and the rental of necessary facilities and equipment. The REAL project has developed a fleet of intelligent and robust flat-bots capable of simulating vehicles and vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists), with the aim of supporting Euro NCAP tests in complex dynamic multi-vehicle scenarios, reducing costs and increasing the repeatability of the tests. The flat-bots can synchronize with the Vehicle Under Test (VUT), accurately replicating critical situations for the evaluation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS), in compliance with the relevant ISO standards. During the project, four 4x2 flat-bots, an open platform for programming test scenarios, and three representative Euro NCAP scenarios (CPNCO-50, CBLA-50, and CCFhol) were developed. The fleet has been evaluated in terms of robustness, positioning accuracy, synchronization, and repeatability, demonstrating significant potential for the evolution of active safety tests towards more flexible, efficient, and sustainable forms.
