Design and Hardware in the Loop Testing of AEB Controllers

Current ADAS systems can improve vehicle safety directly influencing its dynamics, reducing the impact of human error while driving. These functionalities have a high impact on the complexity of each unit installed on the car, potentially increasing the development time. In this work, a Hardware in the Loop testing bench and methodology for Autonomous Emergency Braking system is presented, aiming to enable a faster system development process. A commercial production brake by wire unit has been installed on a real-time driving simulator. The AEB functionality of the unit is activable in real-time during the simulation, by the means of a customizable control strategy. Two different AEB controllers have been implemented: the first one reproduces the unit stock functionality, while the second computes the requested deceleration using a PID control strategy. The two controllers have been tested in standardized EuroNCAP Car-to-Car Rear (CCR) collision scenario, implemented on the static simulator. The performances are then compared in terms of time to collision threshold necessary to avoid the impact, deceleration request and jerk, and vehicle-obstacle distance. The proposed methodology highlights the role of the static simulator as a development tool, allowing complete and immersive testing of both hardware and control strategies, greatly reducing the development time.