Development of a Driving Pedal Robot for Indoor Chassis Dynamometer Testing

As the spread of electric vehicles increases, tests to measure the driving distance on a single charge, which takes about 6 hours or more to completely discharge the battery, have become necessary. There is also a need to conduct tests using indoor alternative modes, such as real driving emissions (RDE) tests, which take about two hours. These tests can be said to be very harsh working environments because they take long periods of time on chassis dynamometer, and sometimes low-temperature tests are also required. In this study, basic research was conducted to enable a driving robot to perform long-term automobile performance tests on behalf of humans indoors using a chassis dynamometer. The final development goal is to develop a driving pedal robot that has an automatic calibration function suitable for various vehicles and has a shorter installation time than driving robots in the existing market. To achieve this, a mechanism was designed and built that could control the accelerator and brake pedals by rotating around the heel, similar to humans. By using a driving pedal robot that can be installed in a short time and perform tests for a long time on behalf of a human according to the prescribed test speed mode, the test accuracy can be improved compared to that of a human, and accurate indoor chassis dynamometer testing is possible by replacing a skilled person. This paper will also describe the durability test method and the chassis dynamometer test accuracy evaluation method of the driving pedal robot developed in this study.