Skip to main content

AB Dynamics platform adds cyclists and pedestrians to ADAS and AV testing

UK-based AB Dynamics (ABD) has released its LaunchPad platform with the intention of offering choreographed control of all mobile features involved in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle testing. The solution, according to Jeremy Ash, the company’s commercial manager, will help create complex scenarios that potentially involve multiple pedestrians, cyclists and cars that are all synchronised and coordinated with the test vehicle. LaunchPad’s power controller runs on the comp
March 27, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
UK-based AB Dynamics (ABD) has released its LaunchPad platform with the intention of offering choreographed control of all mobile features involved in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle testing. The solution, according to Jeremy Ash, the company’s commercial manager, will help create complex scenarios that potentially involve multiple pedestrians, cyclists and cars that are all synchronised and coordinated with the test vehicle.


LaunchPad’s power controller runs on the company’s Robot Controller software. The proprietary TrackFi radio shares position data with other ABD controllers via the Syncrho interface, which aims to allow its motion to be synchronised with the test vehicle and other ADAS targets. The self-propelled chassis, at 65mm height, is said to carry pedestrian, cyclist, moped, scooter and animal dummies at speeds up to 50kph.

The trajectory of the system can be programmed using a graphical path generation utility to help simplify the process of creating and running complex scenarios with multiple moving objects.

In addition, the aluminium chassis comes with shallow sloping sides that allow it to be repeatedly run over. Batteries can be replaced without removing the target.
 
“LaunchPad has taken us a further step towards testing ADAS performance under every potential scenario that could arise, able to represent even the unpredictable behaviour of an animal on the highway. It’s one reason why 100% of 6437 Euro NCAP test laboratories use our products for ADAS testing”, Ash added.

UTC

Related Content

  • January 25, 2018
    Cyclists celebrate safety improved junction in Ellesmere Port
    Members of the Chester Cycling Campaign are among the first to ride along Highways England’s (HE’s) £1.1m ($1.5m) safety-enhanced cycle path located at the Two Mills junction in Cheshire. The project is part of a £100m ($142m) government investment across England to make it easier for cyclists to cross motorway junctions and use major A roads.
  • November 27, 2013
    Extra enforcement key to cutting road casualties in The Netherlands
    While The Netherlands already has some of the safest roads in the world it has ambitious plans to make them safer still, as Jon Masters discovers. In virtually all periodical studies and comparisons of countries’ road safety performance, the Netherlands is consistently in the top three and often leads the world, depending on how casualty figures are compared. According to the International Traffic Safety Data & Analysis Group (IRTAD) of the International Transport Forum, road deaths per capita have falle
  • November 16, 2018
    Continental and EasyMile team up for autonomous driving R&D
    Automotive giant Continental has signed a deal with autonomous driving specialist EasyMile to create a joint R&D facility in Singapore. The combined team will work on solutions for driverless mobility, focusing on perception and deep learning, to prepare autonomous vehicle (AV) technology for tests. The companies call their memorandum of understanding a “stepping stone in a structured approach to AV testing on public roads in Singapore”. The city-state of Singapore is looking to AVs to improve its trans
  • July 1, 2021
    Next-gen sensor needs for safer, smarter cities
    Next-generation radar sensor solutions will help smart cities deliver on the promise of optimising infrastructure, mobility, sustainability and safety, says Econolite CTO Eric Raamot