Autonomous driving: Saving millions in test kilometers

Date:
November 4, 2021
Source:
Graz University of Technology
Summary:
Researchers have developed a method to validate test drives through
highly realistic driving simulation studies and to substantially
simplify the approval process for automated driving systems.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Driving simulator tests are popular -- for understandable reasons: any
scenario can be simulated at the touch of a button. They are independent
of time and weather conditions and without any safety risk for the
vehicle, people or the environment. Moreover, an hour in the driving
simulator is cheaper and requires less organization than a real driving
lesson on a test track. "In the field of highly automated driving,
however, driving simulator studies are often questioned because of the
lack of realism. In addition, until recently there were no standardized
test procedures that could have been used to check complex tasks such as
the mutual interaction between human and system (handover procedures),"
says Arno Eichberger, head of the research area "Automated Driving &
Driver Assistance Systems" at the Institute of Automotive Engineering
at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz).


==========================================================================
New regulation as initial spark Recently, because the first global
regulation for Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) has been in force
since the beginning of 2021. This law resolves the road approval dilemma,
as Eichberger explains: "Until now, regulatory authorities did not know
how to test and approve autonomous driving systems.

The vehicle manufacturers, in turn, did not know what requirements
the systems had to meet in order to be approved." In the regulations,
the approval criteria for highly automated systems (autonomous driving
level 3) up to a maximum speed of 60 km/h have now been specified
for the first time on the basis of a traffic jam assistant. When the
assistant is activated, responsibility for control is transferred to
the machine. The driver may take their hands off the steering wheel,
but has to immediately take over again in the event of a malfunction.

The system must recognize that the person behind the wheel is capable
of doing this.

Based on this regulation, Eichberger and his research partners
from Fraunhofer Austria, AVL and JOANNEUM RESEARCH have developed an
efficient method over the last few months by which the readiness to take
over control can be tested safely, efficiently, and to a high degree realistically in a driving simulator and the results can be used for
the certification of ALKS systems.

Identical machine perception of the environment Processes were required to prove the validity of the driving simulation using the test drive. The
basis for this was a direct comparison -- driving simulation and
real driving (the AVL test track in Gratkorn, Styria, served as the
test location) had to match as closely as possible. Here, the machine perception of the environment posed a challenge. Figuratively speaking,
machine perception is the sensory organs of the vehicle. It has the task
of precisely recording the vehicle's surroundings -- from the landscape
and environmental objects to other road users -- so that the driving
assistance system can react appropriately to the situation. Eichberger:
"If this is to run the same as in reality, the environments in the
simulation have to match the real environment to the exact centimetre." Transferring the driving routes to the driving simulator his accuracy is achieved using so-called "Ultra High Definition Maps" (UHDmaps (R)) from JOANNEUM RESEARCH (JR), one of the world's leading research institutions
in the field of digital twins. "We use a mobile mapping system to measure
the test environments. Finally, a seamless 3D map with an extremely
high level of detail is created from the measurement data. In addition
to traffic infrastructure objects such as traffic signs, lane markings
and guard rails, vegetation and buildings are also represented in this
map," says Patrick Luley, head of the research laboratory for highly
automated driving at the DIGITAL Institute. While comparable accuracy
can be achieved with manual 3D modelling, JR's automated UHD mapping
process is many times cheaper and faster.

The high-resolution 3D environment is finally transferred to the driving simulator. This is where the Fraunhofer Austria team come in. Volker
Settgast from the Visual Computing business unit: "We prepare the data in
such a way that the 3D environment can be displayed at high speed." Even reflective and transparent surfaces or trees and bushes blown by the wind
can be perceived naturally. Depending on the test scenario, additional
vehicles or even people can then be added to the virtual environment.

The validation is finally verified with the help of comparative runs on
the real route. "With our method, it is possible for car manufacturers
to easily compare and validate a certain sampling on the real track
and in the driving simulator. This means that the test can ultimately
be transferred from the real track to the driving simulator," says
Eichberger. The TU Graz researcher and his team are now working on
setting up virtual approval tests over the next few months.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Graz_University_of_Technology. Original written by Christoph Pelzl. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


==========================================================================


Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211104162630.htm

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