Automotive radar sensors play a vital role in the current development of autonomous driving. Their ability to detect objects even under adverse conditions makes them indispensable for environment-sensing tasks in autonomous vehicles. As their functional operation must be validated in-place, a fully integrated test system is required. Radar Target Simulators (RTS) are capable of executing end-of-line, over-the-air validation tests by looping back a received and afterward modified radar signal and have been incorporated into existing Vehicle-in-the-Loop (ViL) test beds before. However, the currently available ViL test beds and the RTS systems that they consist of lack the ability to generate authentic radar echoes with respect to their complexity. The paper at hand reviews the current development stage of the research as well as commercial ViL and RTS systems. Furthermore, the concept and implementation of a new test setup for the rapid prototyping and validation of ADAS functions is presented. This represents the first-ever integrated radar validation test system to comprise multiple angle-resolved radar target channels, each capable of generating multiple radar echoes. A measurement campaign that supports this claim has been conducted.

Shorter development times, increased standards for vehicle emissions and a greater number of vehicle variants result in a higher level of complexity in the vehicle development process. Efficient development of powertrain and driver assistance functions under comparable and reproducible operating conditions is possible on vehicle test benches. Yet, the realistic simulation of real driving environments on test benches is a challenge. 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 driving environment. Due to this, the simulation of curve driving in particular is gaining in importance. This results from its significant influence on energy consumption and Autonomous Driving functions with lateral guidance, such as lane departure and evasion assistance. Reproducibility can be additionally increased by using a driving robot. At today’s vehicle test benches, pedal and shift robots 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, the cooperative operation of pedal and steering robots is needed on a test bench setup suitable for this purpose. In this publication, the authors present the setup of a vehicle test bench to be used in automated and reproducible vehicle-in-the-loop tests during steering events. 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 robots used for pedals and steering wheel. Results from various test series are presented and the potential of the novel test environment is shown. The results are reproducible in various test series due to the closed-loop operation without human driving influences at the test bench.

The complexity of ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance Systems) and AD (Autonomous Driving) functions increased in the last years. As the effort required for conventional test methods has grown significantly, new test procedures on vehicle test benches have been developed. This paper deals with Vehicle in the Loop testing on vehicle test benches for ADAS and AD functions. The focus is set on the vehicle body movements caused by the vehicle on the test bench. For this purpose, the different pitch motions for road and test bench are derived using a vehicle dynamics model. On this basis, a novel model approach is developed, which uses the Lagrange's II. equation to determine the pitch motion of the vehicle on the test bench. The validity of the new model approach is confirmed by measurements and creates a generic basis to consider the influence of the vehicle's pitch motion while testing ADAS and AD functions on a vehicle test bench