Guided Soft Target System for Crash Avoidance Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current crash avoidance technology testing methodologies face challenges in delivering a soft collision partner that can simulate various collision scenarios safely and accurately, without posing a physical risk to test personnel or equipment, and must be inexpensive and reusable.
Innovation Solution
A guided soft target system with a dynamic motion element that computes target speed ratios and modulates speed control to ensure precise coordination with the subject vehicle along predetermined trajectories, using a network of computers and sensors for real-time adjustments and collision simulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a soft collision partner is used to simulate crash scenarios, then safety to test personnel and equipment is improved, but the ability to accurately simulate various collision configurations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The collision partner system employs dynamic motion elements (DMEs) that can actively adjust their position, speed, and trajectory during the test. The DMEs are controlled by a master-slave coordination system that enables real-time adjustment of collision parameters, allowing the soft collision partner to accurately simulate various collision configurations (rear-ends, head-ons, crossing paths, sideswipes) while maintaining safety through controlled soft impact.
2Reliability
If a realistic collision partner is used to provide consistent sensor signatures, then the authenticity of crash avoidance technology testing is improved, but the physical risk to test personnel and equipment worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses soft collision partners that replicate the sensor signatures (radar, LIDAR, camera) of real vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles. These soft copies provide consistent and realistic sensor responses identical to actual objects, enabling authentic crash avoidance technology testing. The soft material composition ensures that while the sensor signature is realistic, the physical impact remains safe for test personnel and equipment.
3Manufacturing precision
If a guided soft target system with real-time speed control is used, then the precision of collision timing and trajectory is improved, but the system complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The guided soft target system incorporates real-time feedback control where the master controller continuously monitors the positions, speeds, and trajectories of all dynamic motion elements. Based on this feedback, the system dynamically adjusts control signals to maintain precise collision timing and trajectory accuracy. The feedback loop compensates for deviations and ensures that all DMEs arrive at the collision point simultaneously with the subject vehicle, achieving high precision despite the inherent complexity of coordinating multiple moving objects.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple dynamic motion elements are coordinated to simulate various collision scenarios, then the versatility of testing is improved, but the difficulty of control and coordination worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a universal master-slave control architecture that can coordinate multiple dynamic motion elements to simulate various collision scenarios (rear-ends, head-ons, crossing paths, sideswipes). The master controller serves multiple slave DMEs simultaneously, and the system can reconfigure for different test scenarios by loading different trajectory and speed profiles. This universal control framework handles the coordination complexity centrally, enabling versatile collision scenario simulation without proportionally increasing control difficulty for each additional DME.
Data Source
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AI summary
A Guided Soft Target System is disclosed that includes a subject vehicle and a dynamic motion element (DME). The subject vehicle may be accelerated at an arbitrary rate to a speed corresponding to the speed in its own predetermined trajectory. Each of the DME vehicles computes its target speed as a ratio of the subject vehicle's speed at each waypoint location, and modulates its speed control to achieve this target speed. To further compensate for timing differences along the target path, each DME computes its longitudinal error along the path relative to its target position, as dictated by the position of the subject vehicle within its own trajectory, and each DME's target speed is modulated in order to minimize the longitudinal error along the predetermined trajectory.