How to test a self-driving car: simulation after simulation
How to test a self-driving car: simulation after simulation
2024-03-14
ITRI forecasts that one in three cars will be self-driving by 2040. Tests of self-driving cars are well underway in Taiwan. In 2023, a fleet of self-driving buses was able to operate successfully in an urban area in a trial. Such self-driving buses have been described as “MRT-esque.” But how do engineers go about testing self-driving cars? We take a visit to Taiwan Car Lab to find out more about the technologies being developed in the industry.
The self-driving cars of sci-fi movies are starting to appear in real life. As an IT superpower, Taiwan is not going to be left out of the field.
This is Taiwan Car Lab, a center for testing self-driving cars. Chang Lung-yao is the director of the internship program here.
Chang Lung-yao
Taiwan Car Lab
To get a self-driving car on the road, you have the legal side, the environmental side, the lifestyle aspect, the applications – you need involvement from students from many different fields.
So how exactly do you test a self-driving car? The Taiwan Car Lab looks like a tiny city or a huge driving school. The closed lab environment enables companies and scholars to safely test all kinds of technologies related to self-driving cars. The lab contains 13 types of highway installations, as well as soft test targets simulating pedestrians, cyclists and other cars. Engineers can design a road simulation to test the technologies they are developing.
In the lab, self-driving cars come across many of the kinds of situations they might encounter on real roads – deciphering traffic signals, dealing with complex traffic situations, avoiding a sudden scooter passing by. All these simulations test the capacity of the car.
These tests are not an idle exercise of devil’s advocate. Smart traffic systems will rely on each vehicle being connected to the Internet of Things. They will be updated with messages about real-time road conditions, the arrival of ambulances, and traffic signals. This data will help vehicles avoid accidents, traffic jams and roadblocks. If a self-driving car relied only on GPS technology, they would lose connection when entering a tunnel or another obstruction, which could be disastrous or render them immobile. That’s why 5G technology and infrastructure will be needed to maintain stable connectivity, constituting a vital prerequisite for self-driving cars.
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AI發展迅速 帶動自駕車未來發展
2024-03-14
根據工研院的評估，2040年，全球每三輛汽車當中，就有一輛是自駕車。而台灣的車輛研究測試中心經過多年的研發，在2023年年底，也成功讓兩輛巴士以「自駕隊列」的方式，在市區裡運行；簡單說，就是「類捷運」的方式。自駕車愈來愈蓬勃發展蓬勃，但自駕車上路之前，要怎麼測試，才能確保上路絕對安全呢？帶您一塊到「台灣車輛測試中心」瞭解箇中秘密。
科幻電影中常出現的自駕車，已經開進我們實際的生活當中了。不要懷疑，身為IT大國的臺灣，當然不會置身自駕車領域之外。
這個臺灣智駕測試實驗室，是一個專門負責幫自駕車考試的場域。負責這次實習生計畫的總導師，是張龍耀博士。
[[臺灣智駕測試實驗室 張龍耀]]
“自駕車上路，它必須包含了在法規面、在環境面、在生活面、在應用面，其實它是有非常不同的領域的這些同學們需要加入”
自駕車的考試，到底是怎麼進行的呢？眼前有點像是座小型城市，又有點像是超大型駕訓場地的，就是臺灣智駕測試實驗室，考驗自駕車的場域。這個封閉的測試環境，讓業界或學研單位，能安全的驗證自駕車相關的各種技術，測試場內設置了13種道路設施，以及行人、自行車、車輛等軟式測試目標物，讓研究單位，能針對實驗需求進行路況模擬。
自駕車在測試場裡，會遭遇到各種現實可能會遇到的狀況，例如辨別交通號誌、應付複雜的車流、突如其來的機車騎士等等，層層關卡考驗著自駕車的應變能力。
關卡之所以要這樣設計，當然不是在刁難自駕車，未來的智慧交通系統裡，每一輛汽車都要維持聯網，不論是即時路況訊息、救護車通訊，還是交通號誌等基礎設施訊號，所有資訊都和車輛串聯與溝通，可以有效地避免意外、塞車或其他交通阻礙，如果自駕車只能使用傳統的GPS衛星定位，進入隧道或是有遮蔽物的地方，就會失去訊號，動彈不得，當然行不通。在這種情況下5G設備、技術，能否持續穩定的傳送，與接收訊號，就變成自駕車的必要能力了。
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