The University of Michigan test city, M City, has unveiled a concept for evaluating the safety of highly automated cars.
The M City, a façade city that recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, has presented a new test concept. It’s about testing highly autonomous vehicles with respect to theirs vehicle safety,
Ford in the M-City
The concept is to check the safety of the vehicles before they are to get on the road. It is not obligatory for the vehicles, but it is to be based on voluntariness. The so-called ABC test concept should be independent and represent a solution for safety in autonomous road traffic. It regulates the test on the test field, in the simulation and on the road.
The development is due to the fatal accidents that occurred last year. Especially the deadly accident a Uber test car in Tempe in the US state Arizona had gone through the media. Another misfortune occurred when a Tesla in autopilot mode on a Highway barrier bounced. These accidents have that trust reduced to technology and even triggered fears. The vehicles should actually save lives,
In addition to the increase in safety, the concept serves to increase confidence in autonomous vehicle technology. It also aims to speed up the introduction.
The safety assessment of the M City consists of three steps. First, there should be an evaluation of the vehicles in traffic situations, which are considered the most common sources of accidents. The car is then examined for its behavior in scenarios that most automated vehicles can handle, and lastly, how the vehicles react to scenarios beyond those mentioned. In the last part, the vehicles are therefore pushed to their limits.
The list of scenarios implies 50 traffic situations. One third of this is suitable for vehicles that drive slowly and follow a pre-programmed path. This means, for example, autonomous e-shuttles, as for example EasyMile or Navya getting produced.
Although the test concept is designed for the M City, you could also prepare it for other test areas. For theAmerican Center for Mobility (ACM) you could just scale it up.
A detailed description of the concept as PDF
About David Flora
I’ve been writing about the topic of Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and talk about it on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de