Curiel-Ramirez Luis A, Adlon Tobias, Burggräf Peter, Ramirez-Mendoza Ricardo A, Beyer Moritz, Gert Denny
Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, 14380, Mexico City, Mexico.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 5;14(1):8019. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58627-1.
In recent years, the automotive industry has witnessed significant progress in the development of automated driving technologies. The integration of advanced sensors and systems in vehicles has led to the emergence of various functionalities, such as driving assistance and autonomous driving. Applying these technologies on the assembly line can enhance the efficiency, safety, and speed of transportation, especially at end-of-line production. This work presents a connected automated vehicle (CAV) demonstrator for generating autonomous driving systems and services for the automotive industry. Our prototype electric vehicle is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and systems for perception, localization, navigation, and control. We tested various algorithms and tools for transforming the vehicle into a self-driving platform, and the prototype was simulated and tested in an industrial environment as proof of concept for integration into assembly systems and end-of-line transport. Our results show the successful integration of self-driving vehicle platforms in the automotive industry, particularly in factory halls. We demonstrate the localization, navigation, and communication capabilities of our prototype in a demo area. This work anticipates a significant increase in efficiency and operating cost reduction in vehicle manufacturing, despite challenges such as current low traveling speeds and high equipment costs. Ongoing research aims to enhance safety for higher vehicle speeds, making it a more viable business case for manufacturers, considering the increasing standardization of automated driving equipment in cars. The main contribution of this paper lies in introducing the general concept architecture of the integration of automated driving functionalities in end-of-line assembly and production systems. Showing a case study of the effective development and implementation of such functionalities with a CAV demonstrator in a more standardized industrial operational design domain.
近年来,汽车行业在自动驾驶技术的发展方面取得了重大进展。车辆中先进传感器和系统的集成带来了各种功能的出现,如驾驶辅助和自动驾驶。将这些技术应用于装配线可以提高运输效率、安全性和速度,特别是在生产线末端。这项工作展示了一种用于为汽车行业生成自动驾驶系统和服务的联网自动驾驶车辆(CAV)演示器。我们的原型电动汽车配备了用于感知、定位、导航和控制的最先进传感器和系统。我们测试了各种将车辆转变为自动驾驶平台的算法和工具,并在工业环境中对原型进行了模拟和测试,作为集成到装配系统和生产线末端运输的概念验证。我们的结果表明自动驾驶车辆平台已成功集成到汽车行业,尤其是在工厂车间。我们在演示区域展示了原型的定位、导航和通信能力。尽管存在当前行驶速度低和设备成本高等挑战,但这项工作预计车辆制造的效率将大幅提高,运营成本将降低。正在进行的研究旨在提高更高车速下的安全性,考虑到汽车中自动驾驶设备的标准化程度不断提高,这对制造商来说将成为一个更可行的商业案例。本文的主要贡献在于介绍了在生产线末端装配和生产系统中集成自动驾驶功能的总体概念架构。展示了一个在更标准化的工业运营设计领域中使用CAV演示器有效开发和实施此类功能的案例研究。