Hardware in the Loop Methodology for AEB System Development

Thanks to ADAS systems, vehicle and occupants safety has increased. These systems have however a great impact on design complexity, increasing the time necessary for the launch of the functionality on the market. In this work, a Hardware in the Loop tool and methodology that integrates the Autonomous Emergency System (AEB) is presented, with the objective to speed up the development process. A commercial brake-by-wire braking system has been installed on a static simulator. The unit stock AEB can be activated during the real-time simulation, thanks to a custom strategy reproduced via Software in the Loop approach. In order to assess the capabilities of the proposed methodology, two different controllers have been proposed: the first reproduces the AEB functionality of a commercial car, while the second represent a possible design alternative that must be evaluated during the design phase. The two controllers have been tested in EuroNCAP relevant scenarios, and the performances have been compared in terms of Time To Collision necessary to avoid the impact, deceleration request and final distance from the obstacle. The proposed methodology highlights the role of the static simulator as a development tool that can vastly reduce the time necessary for the development of the AEB system, thanks to an extensive testing of both hardware and control strategy.