Closer to Zero vision initiative

with new technology

Throughout my years in the automotive industry, I have closely followed developments in the area of safety. Until a couple of years ago, these developments primarily involved improved passive safety through systems with airbags, safety belts and deformation zones.

The efforts that are being made to combat the threat of climate change impact heavily on the transport sector. Reduced fuel consumption requires smaller cars made of lighter materials. Unfortunately, this carries a risk of negatively affecting road safety. To maintain and improve today’s safety, cars will increasingly be required to have active safety systems. This means that vehicles/infrastructure will be equipped with technology to prevent accidents occurring. This could for example mean that a car is braked automatically when it approaches an obstacle at too high a speed, that automatic systems will take control if the car goes into a skid etc. Active safety can be very effective, but it is conditional on the systems being reliable, that they deploy at the right moment and never otherwise. Usually this cannot be tested in real environments, but for safety reasons must be carried out on special test tracks.

Great need for new testing facilitiesNew safety systems are being developed at a fast pace and the automotive industry is on the verge of a technological watershed. Because testing and verification is such an important part of the vehicle development process there is an international demand for test tracks and expertise within the area. AstaZero’s facility is currently the only test facility in the world specifically developed for tests and research surrounding active safety. The facility is strategically placed in the centre of the West Sweden automotive cluster and the assembled expertise that exists within the field of safety. In the long term AstaZero will therefore benefit the general public, society and industry in a number of different areas.

Pether Wallin, CEO, AstaZero

About AstaZeroAstaZero is the trademark for ASTA – Active Safety Test Area AB. The company is owned by SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and Chalmers University of Technology, and is supported by Test Site Sweden, AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Autoliv, Scania, the Swedish Transport Administration,Region Västra Götaland, Vinnova and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. AstaZero will develop an open environment for traffic safety research where public agencies, academia,research institutes and industry can work together to boost competitive development. Planning for AstaZero began in 2007 and the inauguration of the facility is scheduled for 2014.

Project planAstaZero will guarantee a world class track, offer a range of services that will lead to great customer satisfaction and a customer interface that is characterised by high service levels, efficiency and professionalism.

The time schedule for stages is as follows:• 2012- Design and start of ground works• 2013- Construction• 2014- Inauguration

The track sections and functions have been developed after very careful study, both of existing test facilities around the world and of the areas that will be relevant for tests within active safety in the future. Extensive work is also underway in gathering information about future requirements within the automotive cluster; all to ensure that from an international perspective, AstaZero can

provide the most complete range within testing and research involving active safety.

What is active safety?In its most basic form, active safety is about avoiding collisions and other incidents, rather than giving protection when a collision has occurred. This is possible due to new and advanced technology where the vehicles and the infrastructure communicate with each other. It therefore makes it possible to avoid road accidents before they occur, for example at a junction where a bus might meet an inattentive cyclist. Because the active safety systems are based on entirely different technology (e.g. proximity sensors and automatic vehicle take-over) than today’s passive collision protection systems, completely new facilities and equipment adapted for the new technology are required, something that is lacking in Sweden and the rest of Europe today.

Research and developmentActive safety is a relatively new research areaand the need for research is therefore great.As an open environment, one of AstaZero’stasks is to be open to all research in the fieldof active road safety; something that mayhelp to shorten lead times for innovation. Theunique research environment and proximityto leading European network will meangreat opportunities in the future, both forthe single researchers and for major projectsand collaborations within the field.

testing ground

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”Active safety is the future A world unique”

AstaZero has adapted its offer based on the varying customer needs. Customers choose if they want their tests to be carried out in secret or not, and if they want to rent the entire facility or only one or a few of the different track sections:

• Simply hire the facility itself• Hire the facility and available expertise (different extents depending on requirements)• Hire the facility, expertise and subsequent analysis• Use AstaZero as an external development partner to carry out the entire research project

The facility

The City Area is primarily used to test the vehicle’s capacity to interact with the surrounding environment to avoid hitting pedestrians, cyclists, buses or other road users. The City Area will consist of four blocks and will cover a number of different sub-areas such as:• Town centres with varying street widths andlanes, bus stops, pavements, street lighting,building backdrops etc.• Road system with different kinds of testenvironments such as roundabouts, T-junction,return loop and ”lab-area”. Connections to theRural Road occur in two places.In the future there are plans to supplement theurban environment with a further five blocks.

City AReA

MultilAne RoAd

HigH SPeed AReA

In the High Speed Area a number of differentavoidance tests can be carried out, includingavoidance manoeuvres at very high speeds upto 250 km/h. The tests here will primarily be ofcommunication technology, vehicle dynamics andfunctional reliability. The tests will be possiblethanks to AstaZero’s comprehensive knowledge ofmeasurement and positioning technology.When fully developed, in addition to the multilanetrack, two acceleration stretches will also be partof the High Speed Area. To achieve rational testing the High Speed Area will also have a return road.

RuRAl RoAd

The Rural Road is specially designed for different tests of driver behaviour. Half will be designed as a highway for 70 km/h and half as a highway for 90 km/h. Here is the opportunity to use hidden obstacles that cross the roadway at the same time as the monotonous environment means that it is easy for the driver to lose concentration. The rural road has a hidden slip which means that drivers carrying out tests on other track sections can be introduced without being aware of it. This means that tests can be as realistic as possible.

PRoving gRound CenteR

AstaZero’s Proving Ground Center is in planning. Broadly stated, the Center will offer office space with the option of long and short term rental. The building will also have research areas which will be available for longer or shorter periods. These areas will be adapted to each customer’s requirements, and adapted for both open and closed projects. Because AstaZero will become a focus point for active safety, there will be the possibility of holding conferences in the Proving Ground Center’s premises.

Communications technology (v2v and v2i)An important aspect of active safety is based on new and advanced technologies which allows vehicles to communicate with each other (V2V) and their environment (V2I). At AstaZero´s facility, customers will be able to test the very latest in communications technology.

Several different scenarios will be tested on the Multilane Road, such as lane changes, different collision scenarios and crossing scenarios. Focus is on vehicle dynamics, communications technology and functional reliability. The Multilane Road must be at least 1000 meters long to build up the test scenarios. It must be possible to change the direction of travel in different lanes. This requires a signal and boom system. It will also be possible to build a temporary central barrier and different types of traffic barriers railing.

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AstaZero has many advantages, both to the public, to society and industry.

Closer to vision Zero through improved traffic safetyAstaZero’s primary objective is to strive to meet Vision Zero, because traffic and road use is a major and increasing cause of fatalities around the world. In 2010, the UN announced a ten year focus on road safety, challenging the countries of the world to increase their own national, and global, road safety work. The countries were encouraged to develop road safety strategies and programs and to set up ambitious goals for road safety. The EU has also set ambitious goals for road safety. There were 35,000 fatalities on the roads of Europe during 2009. In the same year 1,700,000 people were injured on the roads. According to the 2011-2020” (EU893) policy, the objective is that member countries must together have reduced the number of road accidents by 50 percent by the year 2020. By investing in active safety, AstaZero will create conditions for

reducing traffic accidents. In addition to reducing loss of life, this will also have positive economic effects.

More collaboration within the vehicle clusterAstaZero intends to offer a test facility and expertise that can support the European automotive industry, suppliers and research and development players within the field of safety.Thanks to the broad range of opportunities on offer, the facility can also become a meeting place where large and small companies within measurement technology, sensor technology and safety systems can create clusters and have access to a testing ground that is unique to the world.

World-class research environmentAstaZero will not only provide a unique test environment, but will also help clients to analyse and draw conclusions from the results by supplying research engineers and other technicians who can assist in testing, development and

research projects. In time, this will create an even higher level of analytical expertise around the automotive industry in the Västra Götaland region, which will benefit international customers because it will allow them to test all aspects of active safety in one place.

environmental benefitsAchieving energy efficient transport while maintaining road safety places new demands on the traffic systems of the future. Zero emissions vehicles will, for technical reasons (for example battery technology), need to be considerably lighter than present day cars. Although reducing the size of the cars is a better use of raw materials and resources, it also means that safety will need to be improved because the lighter vehicles will be travelling on the same road network as heavy goods vehicles. The development of active safety systems at test facilities such as AstaZero is therefore a condition of being able to introduce small light cars, while maintaining safety.

Benefits of Asta Zero

For customers, the major benefits of AstaZero are:

• The opportunity to test all aspects of active safety in the same place.

• The opportunity to test what has not previously been possible.

• The opportunity to develop products with the help of the very latest technology.

• The opportunity for more collaboration within the European automotive cluster.• The opportunity to influence the facility’s design for individual requirements.

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www.astazero.com

P.O. 8077, SE-402 78 Göteborg, Sweden, Tel: +46 767777400, info@astazero.com, Address: Lindholmspiren 3, 417 56 Göteborg

Contact: VD Pether Wallin, Mobile: 0767-777400, Mail: pether.wallin@astazero.com

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