Continuous Development of Highly Automated Driving Functions with Vehicle-in-the-Loop Using the Example of Euro NCAP Scenarios

Abstract

Highly automated driving functions of the type currently being targeted for the near future are based on the interaction of several assistance systems. The actions of these assistance functions rely on an analysis of data from the virtual environment. Consequently, efficient development of individual advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that operate safely provides the basis for highly automated driving. The development and testing of such systems poses an enormous challenge to automobile manufacturers and automotive suppliers as the system complexity in the whole vehicle keeps growing. This includes the highly developed technical functions and increased interaction of the individual systems, as well as the growing complexity of the test scenarios in the field of advanced driver assistance systems. In the development process, this feat can only be mastered with assistance by virtual test driving. These factors are additionally intensified by external boundary conditions and regulations such as those specified and issued by legislators or testing organizations (for the European area, this is the European New Car Assessment Program—Euro NCAP). The seamless utilization of the CarMaker open integration and test platform in the field of advanced driver assistance systems provides a solution to meet the challenge of consistently growing testing requirements. This paper is intended to show how ADAS can be reproducibly tested and validated across the entire development process (MIL, SIL, HIL, and VIL). The utilization of the MIL method in particular makes it possible to easily test challenging maneuvers such as collision scenarios toward the end of the development cycle by embedding a real-word vehicle in a virtual environment. The proposal below will present the development work made possible by utilizing the VIL method as illustrated by the specific use case of defined Euro NCAP test scenarios.