•Notícia

The team of researchers of the UPC-Barcelona Tech Applus+ Automobile Safety Chair and Applus+ IDIADA has developed a testing facility to validate and standardize vehicle-based pedestrian detection technology. The facility—the only one of its kind in Europe—enables the simulation of the most dangerous situations according to accident studies, especially those occurring at intersections that involve vehicles and pedestrians. This tool is fundamental for improving road safety and bridges the gap in the regulation and standardization of this technology.

In recent years, efforts have been made to introduce new active and passive safety systems in cars to reduce the number of traffic accidents and mitigate their consequences.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), together with other measures, are contributing to a gradual reduction in the number of deaths in road accidents. These systems support the driver by identifying and preventing dangerous situations, increasing comfort, and detecting and evaluating the surroundings. They can even stabilize the vehicle and help the driver to carry out a maneuver without losing control. Some sensor-based systems help to prevent collisions at intersections, because they warn the driver when the vehicle is approaching a dangerous intersection.

New and emerging vehicle-based technologies include radar technology, which distinguishes obstacles on the road; LIDAR technology, which discerns obstacles using a light pulse; and camera technology, which analyzes the shape of an object to distinguish a pedestrian.

The research of the Applus+ Chair and Applus+ IDIADA has focused on the testing methodology for driver assistance systems and on the design of testing tools. These include the facility and the impact element, which simulates a pedestrian in both its shape and movement. The exterior layer of the impact element (the dummy simulating the pedestrian) is designed to absorb most of the impact energy and it has no rigid points that come into contact with the test vehicle.

To minimize damage to the test vehicle if there is contact, the pedestrian dummy is completely impact safe. The dummy has articulated extremities that make swinging movements similar to those of people's arms and legs. This movement is achieved by coupling the mechanical transmission of the longitudinal movement to the rotational movement of the extremities mechanism.

The pedestrian dummy movement system is synchronized with the movement and the trajectory of the vehicle on the track. This enables simulation of the different positions in which the pedestrian may be at the moment of impact with the vehicle.

The test platform is equipped with drive systems, mechanical components and a control system. It is located in the installations of Applus+ IDIADA, in l’Albornar (Tarragona). This makes it the first facility of this type to enable testing of pedestrian impacts.

The technology applied in the facility is a first step towards the possibility of simulating any obstacle that a vehicle may encounter on the road, such as a cyclist, motorcyclist, or a person with a pram.

Although there is an overall downward trend in the number of deaths in traffic accidents in Spain and throughout Europe, the average number of pedestrians who die from being run over in Europe is approximately 6,000 per year.

In Spain, 589 people died from being run over in 2007. On interurban roads, 15% of total deaths in traffic accidents (3,821 people) were pedestrians. On urban roads, 40% of total deaths in traffic accidents (740 people) were pedestrians.

In Barcelona during 2009, these percentages have remained steady because 16 of the 40 deaths in traffic accidents were pedestrians, making up 40% of the total.

The UPC-Barcelona Tech Applus+ Automobile Safety Chair is a joint initiative of Applus+ and the UPC-Barcelona Tech that aims to disseminate and research aspects of automobile safety. After ten years of work, the Chair has become a reference center of research into automobile safety and of teaching within the UPC-Barcelona Tech. It offers the only postgraduate course on automobile safety in Spain, as well as free-elective subjects in this field.Applus+ IDIADA is an international automobile company that collaborates with the UPC-Barcelona Tech and carries out its product development based on the provision of engineering, testing and certification services. The success of the company is due to an international team of highly qualified engineers and technicians, as well as its modern facilities, test tracks and laboratories