European automotive engineering consultancy Horiba MIRA has confirmed that its collaboration with GNSS specialist GMV NSL to develop new and improved passenger car platooning solutions, on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), will move into a live trials phase in Q1 2022, encompassing both simulated and physical testing during 2022.
The project aims to advance platooning – the process of optimizing the co-ordination of traffic streams – by embracing a number of technologies. The first of these is cooperation between all the cars in the platoon to share information about their respective positions on the roadway. Cooperative positioning is enabled with a variety of range-finding sensors, such as radar, with data being shared between cars via low-latency wireless communications. Finally, in order for this data to be ‘trusted’ to inform the management of the positions of the cars in the platoon, it is evaluated by an integrity algorithm.
Horiba MIRA states that the integration of these technologies will unlock a series of benefits for individual drivers and wider society. A platoon automatically optimizes the flow of vehicles along highways and prevents the characteristic phenomenon of waves of braking and acceleration events, known as perturbations, transmitting through streams of traffic when vehicles are manually driven at high levels of density, such as during rush hours.
Horiba MIRA’s responsibility is to implement the relevant hardware and software to support V2X communications and develop the platooning algorithm that will dynamically optimize performance. Its vehicle-in-the-loop simulation capabilities will also enable seamless progress from simulation-based development to proving ground trials within 2022.
Tim Edwards, Horiba MIRA’s chief engineer for CAV Technologies, said, “Along with our partners at the European Space Agency and GMV NSL, we are excited to be moving this important project forward into the technical evaluation and testing phases. We are breaking new ground with this approach to car platooning, which is an evolution of the developments achieved in vehicle safety through advanced driver assistance systems.
“With platooning we have the opportunity to also make significant improvements to efficiency by integrating connected and automated driving technologies. And, as congestion becomes less tolerable and the demand for mobility seems set to rise, it brings further benefits of improved traffic efficiency and road utilization.”
The project is funded by the European Space Agency under the ESA Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) and will inform the ESA’s future developments and contribute to applications of GNSS and communication technologies within the automotive sector.
