Oxford Technical Solutions

OxTS has just launched a new generation of its popular inertial and GPS navigation systems for vehicle testing.

With OxTS’ unique RT-Backpack system, car-to-pedestrian tracking is now more accurate and reliable than ever. The portable RT-Backpack is an additional component for the popular RT-Range systems which are used for vehicle-to-vehicle position and lane tracking measurements. The RT-Backpack has been specifically designed to offer a complete solution for pedestrian/motorcyclist detection and avoidance tests. The unique RT-Backpack helps car manufacturers to develop vehicle-to-pedestrian tracking systems by giving an objective and accurate measurement of the distance from the car to the pedestrian (or motorcyclist) with up to 2cm position accuracy.

OxTS has been awarded a contract to supply NHTSA, a division of the US Department of Transportation, with its RT-Range measurement system, which is used for testing advanced driver assistance systems, such as Forward Collision Warning or Lane Departure Warning.

NHTSA's FMVSS126 test is being adopted as a worldwide standard for vehicle safety by the United Nations Working Party on Brakes and Running Gear group. In the United Nations' version of FMVSS126 the RT2500 Inertial and GPS Navigation system is listed as recommended equipment.

Vehicle testing and benchmarking is often limited by the use of human test drivers. Some tests require high precision and repeatability over a series of tests which is often difficult to achieve even for experienced test drivers. In order to achieve more repeatable, reliable and precise test results, integrated robot drivers can be used. SEA Ltd. has designed and manufactured an Automated Test Driver (ATD) which incorporates their steering, braking and throttle robots.

Reliable, continuous positioning is critical for most surveying applications. However, when faced with problematic GPS conditions, such as near buildings or trees, GPS signals are frequently blocked or reflected.

OxTS will show its RT2500 and RT4000 Inertial and GPS navigation systems at the Automotive Testing Expo in Stuttgart. The systems complement the very successful RT3000 product range which is used by all major car manufacturers worldwide. The RT family of products are high-precision GPS-aided inertial navigation systems for measuring motion, position and orientation of vehicles in real-time.

OxTS will present its RT-Range system at the conference 'Active Safety through Driver Assistance' taking place in Munich from 7th – 8th April 2008. The RT-Range systems are used for testing and validating Advanced Driver Assistance Systems such as Collision Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning or Blind Spot Detection. Visitors will have the opportunity to see a live demonstration of the RT-Range measurement system. A Hunter- and a Target vehicle will be equipped with the system, so that visitors can see live and real-time results.

Measuring roll and pitch on an inclined or tilted test track can lead to irregularities in your test results. This can now be compensated by using an RT Inertial and GPS measurement system from OxTS.

The new RT2502-250 Inertial and GPS system is ideal for measuring slip angle, roll, pitch, position, heading and many more measurements in real-time with high accuracy.

Combining the OxTS RT-Range system with ABD's Autonomous Robots solves the problem of repeatable driving for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) testing.