Uniquesec’s solution cuts down on long hours of test driving autonomous cars

Getting closer to the realization of self-driving cars, one major concern would be the safety of these cars. The problem is, today’s test driving approach for verification is time-consuming and insufficient. Gothenburg-based company, Uniquesec AB, has its first patent for solving this problem just granted; a radar verification technology that replaces 250 YEARS of test-driving without leaving the lab.

“This is a landmark in the development of a technology which is going to ensure safety of driver assistance systems and autonomous driving,” Dr. Kasra Haghighi, CEO of Uniquesec AB, comments.

Proper test driving? Perhaps in a hundred years.

The market for automotive safety is growing rapidly, bringing radars in need of verification to almost every car. But radars are by nature hard to verify and test. Automotive radars are usually tested in driving expeditions. However, these expeditions cannot cover all likely scenarios a car might encounter in real life, and are not repeatable and accurate. It is calculated that for proper verification of autonomous driving with existing facilities, tens and sometimes hundreds of years of test driving is needed which is a very long time.

Repetition is key.

ASGARD1 is the name of the new product based on Uniquesec’s patented technology for verification of automotive radars. It replicates signatures of countless number of scenarios through analytic methods, using a pre-recorded database or a combination of both. Scenarios can be set in detail by specifying types of vehicles, pedestrians, road and traffic situations, environmental elements as well as weather conditions. The product does not only cover a large number of test scenarios but also makes it possible to repeat the same test scenarios several times, which is a key element for the development of radar-based driver assistance systems and their reliability assessment.

Distinctive in-lab testing.

This technology provides in-lab testing opportunities; ASGARD1 is placed in front of the vehicle or radar under test inside the lab and emulates electromagnetic emissions analogous to real radar reflections. Uniquesec believes that this product is outstanding for automotive systems verification due to:

• Access to controlled ground truth for accurate verification
• Considering rare, dangerous scenarios and corner cases
• Being reproducible with the possibility of exhaustive testing

“The project was initially started as a tool for enabling advanced signal processing for target identification. But later, it was shifted to address the complex and multi-modal world of automotive radars. In no doubt, it will transform the way the safety of autonomous driving and driver assistance systems are ensured,” says Dr. Haghighi.