The Need

Road departure can be extremely dangerous for vehicles. Some vehicles are equipped with road departure mitigation systems to prevent this from happening. However, testing these systems can be difficult and costly, as it involves crashing vehicles into roadside objects.

The Technology

The concrete divider surrogate is a lightweight, soft, and sturdy roadside object that mimics the characteristics of a concrete divider relative to vehicle sensors. It can be used in the testing of vehicles, such as autonomous vehicles and/or vehicles with a road departure mitigation system. The surrogate can be crashed into by a vehicle without damaging the test vehicle or the surrogate in many cases.

Commercial Applications

• Testing of autonomous vehicles
• Testing of road departure mitigation systems
• Testing of other vehicle safety systems

Benefits/Advantages

• Cost-effective, lighhtweight, soft, and sturdy design for testing of vehicle safety systems
• Reduced risk of damage to test vehicles
• Mimics the characteristics of a concrete divider relative to vehicle sensors