Automated driving on the Digitrans test track in St. Valentin.
During the live-demonstration, an imminent traffic accident was simulated. The autonomous vehicle recognised the risk of an accident and stopped on its own. (© Andreas Vrabl)
In order to be able to develop sustainable and cost-efficient concepts for the logistics and freight mobility and to increase the road safety of autonomous vehicles, special test environments are required that simulate various traffic and logistics scenarios on different routes, surfaces and under a wide range of environmental conditions.
With the expansion of the Digitrans test track in St. Valentin, a state-of-the-art test infrastructure for automated vehicle technologies is being created. It will support domestic industry and research in developing, testing and verifying safe, connected and autonomous driving.
Successful AUTILITY research project with a live demo of the autonomous vehicle
At the ground-breaking ceremony for the track extension on the premises of the Magna Powertrain Engineering Center Steyr in St. Valentin, the demonstration of the autonomous vehicle Reform Metron P48 RC gave realistic insights into the future for the first time. The vehicle was developed in the research project “AUTILITY” lead by the AIT Center for Vision, Automation & Control involving industry and research partners. It represents an autonomous, multi-functional platform that serves both as a towing vehicle and as an equipment carrier. "In the future, the platform should enable automated transport and work processes and be able to be used for automated municipal services in public spaces such as refuse collection and street cleaning," explains Wolgang Pointner, head of the project at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. But to do this, the vehicle must be able to record, understand and reliably locate its surroundings - objectives that the AUTILITY research project is addressing.
Digitrans test track – at the ground-breaking ceremony: Wolfgang Ponintner (AIT research group Assistive & Autonomous Systems), head of the cooperative research project "AUTILITY" gave interviews. (© Andreas Vrabl)
Digitrans test track – at the ground-breaking ceremony: Wolfgang Ponintner (AIT research group Assistive & Autonomous Systems), head of the cooperative research project "AUTILITY" gave interviews. (© Andreas Vrabl)
"Our research group Assistive & Autonomous Systems specialises in sensor technology, the fusion of different sensor data and the interpretation of this data in real time. We have already developed an assistive system for trams that is in use worldwide. It warns the driver if there is a risk of collision and automatically initiates the braking process. For the autonomous vehicle, we were able to draw on this experience and develop reliable methods for collision avoidance," says Pointner. The demonstration in St. Valentin, where an imminent traffic accident was simulated, shows the convincing research result: The autonomous driving device recognised the risk of an accident and stopped on its own.
More on:
Project AUTILITY
https://www.ait.ac.at/themen/assistive-autonomous-systems/projects/autility/
https://www.ait.ac.at/fileadmin//mc/vision_automation_control/F_F_F/AIT_Factsheet_AUTILITY
Digitrans test track
https://www.digitrans.expert/
With city courses, loading zones, different road markings, intersections, as well as special lighting and different road surfaces, autonomous vehicles are put to the test. A special highlight in St. Valentin is the outdoor sprinkler system, which is unique in Europe. With this system, different drop sizes and precipitation amounts can be simulated to real rain. In this way the sensors, cameras, software and hardware of the automated vehicles are tested in advance for everyday use on Europe's roads in all weather conditions.
Media
Kurier Österreich 19/06/2021 S. 23
https://kurier.at/chronik/niederoesterreich/wo-die-autos-selbststaendigkeit-ueben/401417946
Autor: Wolfgang Atzenhofer
