autoELF: Reflexes of Automated Vehicles at Low Speeds

Summary

Automated driving at low speeds opens up a wide range of applications that make everyday life noticeably easier – for example, fully automated parking, which is shown in this demonstration together with the research vehicle autoELF. At the same time, the demands on the safety of automated vehicles are increasing: they must maneuver precisely in densely built-up areas and be able to react quickly and reliably to unexpected obstacles. Particularly small and vulnerable road users – such as children at play – must be reliably detected and protected even in restricted visibility conditions.

State of the Art

Limiting driving speed is a frequently mentioned strategy for the gradual introduction of highly automated driving. One established use case is automated valet parking, where vehicles drive to a parking space without a driver and park themselves. To date, such systems have mainly been based on infrastructure sensors and are primarily used in highly controlled environments such as parking garages.

Technological Innovations

By taking a holistic view of the low-speed range, further promising fields of application for automated driving were identified. A sensor setup specially developed for the close range demonstrates the technical challenges associated with scaling such applications beyond controlled environments. There is a particular focus on the reliable and rapid detection of particularly small and vulnerable road users, such as children at play – a safety aspect that is given little consideration.