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COVER STORY: RIP ATDs – With the adjustment in priority from crash protection to prevention, the days of the humble crash test dummy may be.AUTONOMOUS CRASH TEST: What’s driving AV safety? – Automated functions are playing an increasingly significant role in driving. What affect does this have on crash scenarios and how should it be tested? Leading experts have their say.

ARTIFICIAL DUMMY SHOULDER: Shouldering responsibility – One of the most important advances in crash test dummy design is set to create life-saving standards for safety in passenger cars, and it is all to do with loosening the shoulders.

GLOBAL NCAP: Global standard? – In our increasingly homogeneous world, car makers have become corporations with true global reach. Does this mean we can look forward to an NCAP standard that is applicable all around the globe? CTTI spoke to NCAPs and OEMs to gauge their opinions.

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COVER STORY: 5G – Why automotive test beds will determine the success or failure of the next big technology paradigm shift.

MOTION SICKNESS: ILL EFFECTS – Developers reveal how they’re working to alleviate the effects of kinetosis in occupants of autonomous vehicles.

OEM INTERVIEW: FOREIGN EXCHANGE – Frank Jordan, director of innovation and advanced engineering at Opel, discusses how PSA’s takeover of the company impacted the testing and development of the sixth-generation Corsa.SEATING: SEATING ADVANCES – Can testing make back pain a thing of the past? ATTI examines the latest analysis methods and test tools being adopted to increase passenger comfort.

Note to iPad and iPhone readers: to view this digital edition with the latest interactive features, please ensure you have upgraded your tablet or iPhone to at least the iOS 5 Operating System.

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Download the Automotive Testing Technology International App NOW to read the latest issue! The App is free and gives you access to a library of back issues.

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OEM INTERVIEW: UNDER THE RADAR – New models are often shrouded in secrecy, but Rivian’s skateboard architecture enabled the foundation of the new OEM’s models to test undetected for 18 months.

SIMULATION: SCREEN STARS – Engineers are relishing the benefits of digital test tools in all areas of vehicle development from design through to production. ATTI takes a look at some of the latest OEM investments in simulation.

UNIVERSITY FOCUS : MAKING CONNECTIONS – The UK’s University of Warwick is a key player in Midlands Future Mobility, an initiative designed to make it easier for businesses to get their products to market.>

AUTOMOTIVE TESTING EXPO EUROPE 2019: SHOW PREVIEW – Automotive Testing Expo Europe 2019 is set to be the biggest and best yet, with more brand-new technologies being launched than ever before.

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MCLAREN SENNA: Discover how the British sporting marque successfully completed the development of its stunning new road-legal hypercar in just 30 months!

POLESTAR: Chief test driver Joakim Rydholm discusses how a successful rally racing career has prepared him for his most important challenge to date – testing and developing the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid GT coupe.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE: How will automotive testing have changed in 20 years? Industry experts map out the road to 2038.

20 YEARS OF ATTI : We look back at some of the biggest and best stories reported by the magazine over the past two decades.

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The facility will allow for testing of various levels of autonomy and enables the company to evaluate FCA vehicles using test protocols from third parties, such the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), US New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP), plus additional automatic electronic brake test simulations.

“The all-new facility at Chelsea Proving Grounds will help support and enable the successful roll-out of the company’s five-year plan laid out earlier this year,” said Mike Manley, CEO, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and COO, NAFTA region. “Our ability to test for autonomous and advanced safety technologies enables FCA to offer our customers the features they want across our brand portfolio.”

The autonomous highway-speed track offers the capability to develop autonomous vehicle systems under a wide range of challenging environments, including obstacles, tunnels, varying road lighting conditions, and interstate-style exit and entrance ramps. The command center covers more than 6,500ft² (603m³) and houses computer equipment vital to GPS capability and test vehicle communication. The ADAS facility accommodates testing of advanced iterations of automatic emergency braking and automated parking technologies on a new 35-acre paved test facility.

Chelsea Proving Grounds, which employs approximately 900 people, opened in 1954. Having undergone numerous expansions, it covers nearly 4,000 acres (1,620ha), boasts a road-surface total of 100 miles (160km) and features off-road replicas of the Rubicon and other trails.

Providing a number of possibilities for virtual testing of ADAS and display and control concepts, the new building features two high-fidelity and high-dynamic simulators from Bosch Rexroth, in which longitudinal, transverse and rotational movements of a vehicle can be represented simultaneously. According to BMW, this allows its engineers to realistically reproduce urban driving situations, enabling vehicle responses to be constantly enhanced.

The simulators’ high-fidelity motion platform features a hexapod and rotating yaw table on top of an X-Y table with an 18 x 15m (59 x 49ft) displacement, which helps to maintain the illusion of driving in a wide range of scenarios. Linear motors, together with a stiff structure, enable each machine to support a 6,000kg (13,230 lb) payload and deliver high accelerations of up to 1g. Furthermore, a wheeled track replaces conventional rails to support high speeds of up to 8m/s (26ft/s) in both longitudinal and lateral directions.

“Autonomous vehicles require significant testing before they can be allowed on the roads,” said Rik de Swart, sales manager, Motion Simulation Technology, Bosch Rexroth. “Our motion platforms provide the ideal solution for safely testing many different scenarios, even ones that would be impossible to set up in real life. These new systems for BMW raise the bar in several ways, such as the new gantry system needed to achieve the very large Y excursions.”

Construction of the new Driving Simulation Centre is part of BMW’s FIZ Future masterplan, which calls for the OEM’s central development facility to grow by some 50% through several stages up to 2050. The foundation stone for the first phase was laid in autumn 2017 and now the start of work on the new Driving Simulation Centre marks a further stage in the project.

It is being built in a central area between the Projekthaus and Aerodynamic Test Centre. Covering a total floor area of 11,400m² (122,700ft²), the facility will comprise 14 simulators and usability labs employing 157 people. BMW Group Research is planning to start work there in 2020.

Regarded by Holden as one of the most signigficant upgrades in the facility’s 61-year history, more than 7,500 tons of asphalt have been used to resurface the bowl-shaped circular track, reducing its roughness and sealing it to prevent water seepage.

“The proving ground and, in particular, the circular track are critical to Holden enabling development of vehicles for our local market, to tune suspension, steering and drivetrain characteristics for Australia’s unique conditions and customers,” said Holden vehicle development manager Jeremy Tassone.

“The proving ground team remains plugged into GM’s global engineering programs, providing engine and transmission calibration and input into product programs that reach beyond Holden and influence GM vehicles such as Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac that are destined for international markets.”

Since the 877ha (1,655-acre) facility was opened in 1957, Holden test drivers and engineers have clocked up more than 120 million kilometers, evaluating prototype, pre-production and current production vehicles on a road network that includes the banked high-speed circular track, ride and handling roads, rough tracks and others including the ‘Hill Route’, a twist course, a ‘rattle and squeak’ track, Skid Pad and mud and water baths.

Lang Lang is also home to Holden’s upgraded vehicle emissions lab, which conducts 3,000 emission tests annually. Following a recent A$8.7m (US$6.2m) upgrade to meet the latest US and European emissions standards the lab is now capable of measuring cars to Euro 6 regulations, which includes the measurement of exhaust gas particulates.

Climate controlled test cells using GM automotive software enable Holden engineers to test emissions from all vehicles – including gasoline, diesel and LPG models – at a range of temperatures from -40°C/F to 50°C (122°F).

DSRC 5.9GHz connected vehicle systems, which enable vehicles to communicate wirelessly with other similarly equipped vehicles, and to communicate wirelessly with the infrastructure, are being installed on cars at the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE) ­– the world’s largest such test environment, which operates throughout the city of Ann Arbor.

Earlier this year, Toyota and Lexus announced plans to deploy dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) systems on vehicles sold in the USA starting in 2021. Now, Toyota has invited more than 1,800 R&D team members and their families who live and work in Washtenaw County to have their vehicles equipped with the DSRC 5.9GHz V2X technology.

“Ann Arbor is an international hub for connected vehicle technology and research and it has everything to do with the community,” said James R Sayer, director, UMTRI. “This deployment allows us to gather data critical to advancing transportation safety. A fully operational deployment enables UMTRI to conduct US$3m-US$5m in research a year, making it a significant living laboratory.”

To date, US$50m has been invested in connected vehicles and infrastructure in Ann Arbor, beginning with the US$30m Safety Pilot DSRC 5.9GHz V2X technology Model Deployment, launched in 2012 by UMTRI and the USDOT. AACVTE funding partners include UMTRI’s Mcity, the Michigan Economic Development Corp and the City of Ann Arbor.

The TD-24-AC-T has chassis rolls with an axle weight rating of 20,000 lb (9,072kg) per axle and a maximum speed rating of 75mph (121km/h). It is road-legal in the USA, Canada and Mexico and the system can endure extreme temperatures and ambient weather conditions. The portable chassis dyno, which enables users to begin testing in less than 60 minutes, offers the ability to set up and test at altitudes of 10,000ft (3,048m).

“As our OEM customers experience more stringent emissions regulations, the TD-24-AC-T allows them the opportunity to perform environmental testing under real-world conditions,” said Jeff Brown, COO, Taylor Dynamometer. “This provides OEMs an economical alternative to their sophisticated, in-house, testing facilities.”

Larry Golding, CTO of Taylor Dynamometer, lauded the collaboration between the two companies, saying: “This is a great example of what the combined strengths of Taylor Dynamometer and Dyne Systems can deliver to customers. We’ve combined the expertise of AC dynamometers and controls that Dyne Systems brings to our organization, along with Taylor’s heavy-duty chassis dynamometer experience and combined it into a single product.”