NI Technology Improves Safety Test for Autonomous Vehicles

NI, provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve engineering challenges, announced the Vehicle Radar Test System (VRTS). Engineers can use the VRTS to test 76–81 GHz radar technology from the R&D lab through high-volume production test and from individual radar sensors to integrated advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The VRTS is available through select NI Alliance Partners who provide system integration and support.

The VRTS combines NI’s mmWave front-end technology, a PXI Vector Signal Transceiver (VST) and application-specific software. The VRTS integrates a 76–81 GHz vector signal generator/analyzer designed for dynamic obstacle generation and RF characteristic measurements. It uses a more comprehensive approach to radar test that includes traditional and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test techniques.

NI will distribute the VRTS through VRTS Specialty Partners including Hirain Technologies, Konrad Technologies, Linktron and Noffz Computer Technik.

“We can use the VRTS to configure the industry’s most advanced ADAS test systems to improve the safety and reliability of vehicles,” says Michael Konrad, Konrad Technologies founder and CEO and cofounder of the ADAS Innovation in Test (IIT) Consortium. “The advanced synchronization capabilities of PXI combined with the ease of use of LabVIEW allows us to simulate even some of the most advanced sensor fusion environments combining GNSS, radar, cameras and even lidar.”

The VRTS scales from a base configuration that can emulate two obstacles to configurations that can emulate four independent obstacles per PXI chassis. Key VRTS attributes include the ability to simulate Doppler effect velocity of up to 250 km/hr, minimum obstacle range of 4 m, object distance resolution down to 10 cm, support for multiple angles of arrival and variable radar cross sections. The VRTS includes both object simulation capabilities and the radar measurement suite. In addition, engineers can use the VRTS to simulate scenarios ranging from a pedestrian walking across the street to lane-change driving scenarios.

The VRTS empowers engineers to build smart, customized test systems to verify automotive radar sensor performance.

To learn more about the VRTS, please visit NI.