CO.ACT is an open-loop test, where the controls of a vehicle are actuated in a simple way. The steering wheel as well as the pedals and the gearshift lever can be provided individually or in combination with any excitation signals. Therefore VEHICO offers special actuators that meet the diverse requirements of daily test operation. The actuators are designed that they are universally adaptable to different vehicles and easy to handle. A driver can still freely sit in the vehicle and operate the vehicle in the usual way.
Steering Robot
The VEHICO Steering Robot is available in different performance levels from a light version primarily for small steering angel velocities with 180 °/s up to a steering robot providing steering angel velocities of 1200 °/s at 60 Nm. This meets the requirements of the NHTSA for testing of electronic stability systems in accordance with FMVSS 126. Our steering robots are characterised by following features:
- use of the vehicle's own steering wheel
- adaptable to all standard steering wheels
- airbag triggering unaffected
- manual steering while steering robot is switched passive
- steering maneuvers up to 1200 °/s
Pedal Actuator
VEHICO has downsized the pedal actuator as far as the indiviual drive can be mounted on top of a commercial pedal. Thus the pedal remains accessible from above and can be overridden manually at any time. Each pedal has an own drive and is individually controllable. Unlike a conventional driving robot or brake robot the VEHICO pedal robots can be used to actuate any pedal redardless whether it is a gas pedal, brake pedal or clutch pedal.
- use of the vehicle's own pedal
- compact design, the driver's seat remains free
- equipped pedals can be overridden by driver
- typical duration for clutch peda operation: < 0.3s
- automatic adaption to the vehicle individual pedal travel
- suitable for manual and automatic transmission vehicles
Failsafe Emergency Brake System
During unmanned and security-related test procedures one must ensure that the vehicle can be brought to a halt at all times even with a failure of individual system components of the driving robot. The emergency brake system uses the vehicle's brake pedal and can be triggered wirelessly from outside the vehicle. This is an optimal addition to conventional driving robots or custom driving dynamic controls, to enhance security during autonomous vehicle tests.
- fail-safe operation of vehicle's own brake pedal
- range of the wireless radio link up to 5 km
- safe operation even during power failure
- independently from other systems in the vehicle
Gearchange Robot
The gearchange robot is designed for vehicles with manual transmission. Unlike a conventional gearchange robot the compact design of our system allows the installation on the gear lever itself, and thus guarantees a fast and easy installation in any vehicle. Through a one-time teach-in procedure of the switching points a quick adaptation to the respective test vehicle is guaranteed.
- use of the vehicle's own gearshift lever
- compact design, the driver's seat remains free
- manual gearshift possible with installed robot
- teach-in of the vehicle's individual switching points
- gearshift duration faster than 800 ms
Range of Application
All components are either individually or in combination available. Simple actuation of the steering wheel, the pedals or the gearshift lever can be realised as well as complex trajectories, such as a precisely defined steering maneuvers during a braking, acceleration or gearshift process. Such tests are used in various areas of experimental vehicle development, e.g.
- chassis development (Pulse Steer, Sine Steer, Fishhook, etc.)
- automation of roller dynamometer test benches
- unit tests in test labs
- etc.
