and V2X Communication in Vehicle Dynamics Control

The Central System project focuses on realizing a transport system using state-of-the-art technology to develop and demonstrate a holistic solution to support and operate autonomous vehicles in cooperation with infrastructure elements. The project aims to implement the system for testing purposes in the beginning but should evolve for transport operation and control.

In today’s mainstream for operation of highly automated vehicles the primary environmental model for vehicle guidance is generated based on the ego vehicle’s perception system and extending the own local sensor signals with infrastructure’s and other vehicles’ information. The proposed solution builds up the global environment model externally in a cloud and supports the individual vehicles with a comprehensive world model or even can control them. The system will collect all information from both the vehicle and infrastructure side and fuse them in a cloud-based, real-time digital twin.

In contrast to common belief, a digital twin is not just an accurate representation or model of a real system in a digital environment, but in addition, and essential is the communication and interaction between the real system and digital twin. This adds a lot of complexity, and the application is often in the early stages of development so far.

Figure 1: Real and virtual BEV with four electric motors to enhance vehicle safety (controllability), dynamics, and performance

Within the work package of the Central System project (consortium), to be addressed by this research unit in cooperation with STARD and BME, the real system is a battery-electric vehicle with four individual motors. The car has been designed and built by STARD, and a digital representation is set up in the simulation environment SIMPACK and validated on the proving ground ZalaZONE.

The main goals of the work package are to explore the benefits of the over-actuation of the vehicle within the overall project aims and the potential of “cloud control”. This means addressing different possibilities to ensure a safe vehicle motion in upcoming critical situations, such as changing road friction or the unexpected occurrence of an obstacle ahead. This information has been sent to the cloud, and the resulting vehicle control may either be performed entirely in the cloud, only on the vehicle controller (by sending an updated trajectory) or in a split solution. A live demonstration is planned to experience the results.

References

Mandl, Philipp, Johannes Edelmann, and Manfred Plöchl. "Enhancing controllability and path tracking with overactuated autonomous vehicles., opens an external URL in a new window" (2023). Proceedings of IAVSD2023, opens an external URL in a new window.

Spiryagin, Maksym, Johannes Edelmann, and Colin Cole. "Vehicle system dynamics in digital twin technologies., opens an external URL in a new window" Vehicle System Dynamics (2023).

Spiryagin, Maksym, Johannes Edelmann, Florian Klinger, and Colin Cole. "Vehicle system dynamics in digital twin studies in rail and road domains., opens an external URL in a new window" Vehicle system dynamics 61, no. 7 (2023): 1737-1786.

Researchers

• Philipp Mandl
• Daniel Klein
• Florian Klinger

Project Funding

FO999886467, “Central System - Central System for Supporting Automated Vehicle Testing and Operation”, which is part of “EUREKA Austria Hungary call for projects on cross-border testing of automated driving”

Project Partners

• STARD
• BME
• TU Graz
• Robert Bosch Kft.