Driving and Steering Robot for Vehicle in the Loop Tests on a Steerable Vehicle Test Bench

Abstract

Complete vehicle test rigs enable the development and validation of drivetrain and assistance functions under comparable and reproducible operating conditions. A challenge consists in the realistic simulation and test environment on the test benches. Current test procedures and new technologies, such as Real Driving Emission Tests and Autonomous Driving, require a reproducible and even more detailed simulation of the real test environment. Curve driving in particular is gaining in importance. This results from the significant influence on energy consumption and autonomous driving functions with lateral guidance, such as lane departure and evasion assistance. The reproducibility can be additionally increased by the use of a driving robotic. At today's vehicle test benches, pedal and shift robotics are predominantly used for longitudinal dynamic tests in the performed test procedures. In order to meet these new test automation requirements for vehicle test benches, a cooperative operation of accelerator pedal and steering robotics is needed on a test bench setup suitable for this purpose. In this publication, the authors present the setup of a complete vehicle test bench for use in automated and reproducible vehicle-in-the-loop tests during cornering. The focus is on the test bench-specific setup with steerable front wheels, the actuators for simulating the wheel steering torque around the steering axle and the robotics for pedals and steering. Results from various test series are presented and the potential of the novel test environment is shown. The results are reproducible between test series due to the closed-loop operation without human driving influences at the test bench. The importance of driving robotics integrated into the test automation is thus underlined.