Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Assessing the Efficacy of Non-Impact Testing for Evaluating the Performance of Frontal Collision Mitigation Technology

As Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems become standard equipment in light duty vehicles, the ability to evaluate these systems efficiently is becoming critical to regulatory agencies and manufacturers. One of the key drivers of the cost and time required to evaluate the performance of these systems is the potential collision between the subject vehicle and the test target. AEB performance can vary significantly between different scenarios, especially with high closing speeds. Consequently, high speed impacts that may occur while evaluating the performance of an AEB system can result in significant damage to both the subject vehicle and the test equipment, and result in significantly higher test costs. For tests in which impact with the test target is not acceptable, an alternative methodology is often used: steering is applied by the driver to avoid the target prior to a potential collision. A test series was performed to determine if this alternative evaluation methodology can be used to accurately predict the performance of an AEB system when compared with tests performed all the way to either an effective system intervention or a collision. An AB Dynamics Guided Soft Target was used to test an AEB-equipped vehicle approaching the rear of both stationary vehicle targets and moving vehicle targets. The AEB system performance was evaluated with steering input applied to avoid the target vehicle at a low Time-to-Collision (TTC), and without steering input applied. The results were compared to assess whether non-impact testing (with steering input applied) can be used to determine the extent to which AEB system response would have mitigated a collision.