Flexible Target Carrier

Purpose and goal

Experience from previous research projects indicate that existing commercial target carriers are not well suited for use in the projects, both owing to the high cost (and thereby low availability) as well as the rigid implementation. Ad hoc adaptations of functionality is often desired, and in most cases the requirements on the equipment are lower for research projects than for e.g. Euro NCAP testing. Therefore, this project aims to develop a target carrier platform aimed at less demanding applications, with a lower cost per unit and an open interface.

Expected results and effects

At the end of this project, AstaZero expects to have access to a target carrier prototype which can be used and modified by other research projects, thus simplifying e.g. experimentation with new concepts and testing methods. The projects will also get increased access to more relevant testing equipment. Furthermore, the developed platform can because of its low cost be used to increase the efficiency with which the test track is used, by freeing up high precision equipment to be used only where the high precision is needed.

Planned approach and implementation

The project will establish a requirements specification, and thereafter develop an electric drivetrain and chassis, as well as positioning and control to meet the specification. The project aims to investigate a number of advanced control techniques to steer the platform. The work is done partly via master´s theses in collaboration with Chalmers. Moreover, an open source software library enabling support for the ISO 22133 standard will be developed. The result is shown with a demonstration.