How to get to certified CAV testbeds to support the development and homologation of highly and fully automated vehicles
By Marijan Jozic
The automotive industry is in full transition towards an electrified and automated future of mobility.
This requires cyberphysical CAV (connected automated vehicle) testbeds where vehicle and infrastructure capabilities can be tested in context to enable a safe and secure operation of vehicles fleets which are increasingly AI-supported and AI-controlled. Both regulators and consumers are interested in the use of trusted virtual and physical test methods which are followed by the ecosystem stakeholders involved in R&D and manufacturing of highly and fully automated vehicles and associated infrastructure. The IAMTS membership community worked hard on a database where the capabilities of relevant physical proving grounds are described. Over the coming years we will expand the database model to cover the criteria of truly cyberphysical CAV testbeds and to provide both vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and tech companies a neutral platform to compare the capabilities and to select what they truly need for their testing. More than 90 testbeds are already in the database and the data quality, and the number of testbeds will be further improved. The database is easily accessible and free to use. If you are interested to learn more, please follow the link: https://www.iamts.org/en/testbeds.
Vehicles up to SAE Level 2 are already widely in use already whereas in the years to coming we see vehicles with higher automation levels from Level 3-5 where the machine is driving (see figure above describing the SAE automation levels). Both testing as well as test infrastructure is more complex for those higher automation levels, and we need to prepare testbed operators and testbed users to standardize their test requirements and to get to certified testbeds which have the trust of regulators as well as from the R&D community.
Source: https://www.sae.org/blog/sae-j3016-update
Therefore, we are inviting engineers of our member companies and potential members and of course the engineers of CAV testbed operators to join us in that two-step task:
Picture from Joachim Taiber (CAV testbed at Munich Airport)
This effort can only be achieved if engineers cooperate and are willing to work in this interesting project. Therefore, please send an e-mail to the chair of WG 2: Tuan.DuongQuang@tuvsud.com and let us know whether you could dedicate some time for this task. We will happily invite you to the meetings. So please do not hesitate to contact us.