PISa validation tests at TRL (UK) July 2009
July 24th, 2009
In the summer of 2009 the integration of the final parts and the validation tests were planned. It was decided to do the tests at the proving grounds of the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in the UK near London. This test track contains a large oval track, which is ideal for testing the Distance Support System (DSS). This DSS provides force feedback on the throttle if the rider is too close to a lead vehicle in a car-following situation. Furthermore, the test track has a large central area on which the Autonomous Braking (AB) in combination with object detection with the laser scanner could be tested. In the week of July 29th, the partners worked on the integration and validation of all systems on the Motorbike at TRL. These partners were Carver (NL), IBEO (DE), TRL (UK), TNO (NL), UNIFI (IT) and VSRC (UK). In this week the systems were integrated on the test bike, a Malagutti SpiderMax, to be able to start with the validation tests. The systems integrated on the bike were: The safety support systems - the DSS, AB, active pitch control, ABS, Enhanced Braking (EB), the tactile saddle to warn the rider if the AB was activated The sensors - the laser scanner, the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and GPS The control logic – the Control Logic Box that decides which system should be activated The validation tests that were carried out were the DSS validation test and the first Autonomous Braking pilot tests. In the DSS validation test, 5 subjects had to follow a lead vehicle with changing speed profile. The subjects drove with and without the DSS. Objective and subjective data were collected for the analysis. In total the data of 15 subjects will be analyzed for the DSS validation. Although at this moment only 5 subjects have driven with the DSS, the subjective results seem promising. The subjects thought the system is useful and it does not seem to increase their workload. A test rider drove the Autonomous Braking pilot test and before the validation tests can be started, some tuning of the system is still necessary, which were planned for the coming weeks. As a conclusion, the tests were very successful and a large progress was made.
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