The development of control strategies for autonomous vehicles requires a reliable and cost-effective validation approach. In this context, testbeds enabling repeatable experiments under controlled conditions are gaining relevance. Scaled vehicles have proven to be a valuable alternative to full-scale or simulation-based testing, enabling experimental validation while reducing costs and risks. This work presents a 1:5 scale modular vehicle platform, derived from a commercial Radio-Controlled (RC) vehicle and adapted as experimental testbed for control strategy validation and vehicle dynamics studies. The vehicle features an electric powertrain, operated through a Speedgoat Baseline Real-Time Target Machine (SBRTM). The hardware architecture includes a high-performance Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with embedded Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is implemented to enhance positioning accuracy by fusing inertial and GNSS data, providing reliable estimates of the vehicle position, velocity, and orientation. Two path-following algorithms, i.e., Stanley Controller (SC) and the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), are designed and integrated. Outdoor experimental tests enable the evaluation of tracking accuracy and robustness. The results demonstrate that the proposed scaled testbed constitutes a reliable and flexible platform for benchmarking autonomous vehicle controllers and enabling experimental testing.

The design and testing of innovative components and control logics for future vehicular platform represents a challenging task in the automotive field. The use of scale model vehicles constitutes an interesting alternative for testing assessment by decreasing time and cost efforts with a potential benefit in terms of safety.The target of this research work is the development of a customized scale vehicle platform for verifying and validating innovative control strategies in safe conditions and with cost reduction. Consequently, the electrification of a radio-controlled 1:5 scale vehicle is carried out and a customized remote real-time controller is installed onboard. One of the main features of this commercial product is its modular characteristics that allows the modification of some component properties, such as the viscous coefficient of the shock absorbers, the stiffness of the springs and the suspension geometry. The original vehicle is equipped with a 2-stroke internal combustion engine, whose throttle command is provided by a common radio transceiver/receiver unit. The original configuration is commonly adopted for radio-controlled race car competitions, but the presence of a noisy combustion engine is not well suited for implementing a precise and accurate control logic based on onboard sensor measurements; hence, the conversion into an electric vehicle represents the adopted solution in this research activity.In particular, the electrification process accounts for the replacement of the internal combustion engine and fuel tank with a brushless DC motor, a battery pack, and a planetary gearbox. CAD tools are exploited for the selection of the replacement components and the design of the mounting systems. Additionally, a Speedgoat Baseline Real-Time Target Machine is installed for implementing the customized control logic, developed in MATLAB/Simulink environment, for controlling the traction electric motor and the steering servomotor.After a preliminary bench testing phase, a remote control is implemented for the validation of the system through maneuvers typically carried out for vehicle handling analysis.