NI Demonstrates Autonomous Vehicle Test Solutions

NI (Nasdaq: NATI), the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today new technology demonstrations of test solutions for the rapidly expanding autonomous vehicles market. These test solutions include all facets of vehicle design, verification and production, and will be on display at the Automotive Testing Expo (ATE) USA 2016 in Novi, Michigan, October 25–27.

Automotive companies today face increased testing challenges, exacerbated by the emergence of the connected car and semi- and fully-autonomous vehicles. Both OEMs and suppliers need flexible test systems that can quickly adapt to changing technologies and standards while also delivering a high-level starting point to speed up system implementation and deployment.

At ATE, NI will showcase the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Radar Test Solution for performing RF measurements and target simulation for radar sensors; the HIL Simulator based on the new SLSC open architecture for switches, loads and signal conditioning; and the Direct Injector Control Module (DCM) for driving and controlling any type of injector.

• The ADAS Radar Test Solution combines NI’s recently released PXIe-5840 second-generation vector signal transceiver (VST) with banded, frequency-specific upconverters and downconverters designed to test the 76–81 GHz radar band with 1 GHz of real-time bandwidth. Engineers can program the VST’s FPGA with LabVIEW to use the ADAS Test Solution for radar target emulation, in the range from 1 m to 250 m with a resolution of 10 cm.
• NI’s HIL Simulators are built on open standards like PXI and SLSC, giving customers complete test coverage by taking advantage of a massive breadth of native I/O and signal conditioning that includes cameras and RF for testing automotive radar.
• The DCM is an integrated, turnkey test and measurement device. Built for injector research, validation and test, it gives customers the flexibility to control any engine and drive a large variety of injectors with complex control solutions and advanced injection profiles.

NI has also extended its platform with an ecosystem of industry-leading partners in the connected car and advanced vehicle technology space. Showcased in the NI booth this year will be Averna for infotainment test, Bloomy for battery management system test, Danlaw for V2X communication, IPG for ADAS simulation and test and Signal.X for in-vehicle noise and vibration analysis.

“From concept to production, NI smarter test solutions can help customers reduce cost across all stages of vehicle development and future proof their test systems against rapidly expanding test requirements,” said Chad Chesney, vice president of data acquisition and embedded systems at NI. “Built on the modular platforms of LabVIEW, VeriStand and PXI, customers gain the cost benefits of commercial off-the-shelf tools and the breadth of measurement and control capabilities to help them maximize test coverage.”

To see these demonstrations in person, visit NI’s booth (#1000) at ATE USA 2016, or visit https://www.ni.com/en-us/innovations/automotive/ to learn more about NI HIL systems.