Autonomous vehicles for sensor testing

Flanders Make offers extensive testing platforms for autonomous and electric vehicles – both indoors, on the road, and in the field.

Our testing infrastructure allows companies to develop, validate, and demonstrate their sensor technologies in realistic conditions.

Autonomous indoor vehicles

Our test platforms consist of AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles), mobile robots, drones and localisation equipment. Here too, the open control architecture ensures maximum flexibility in developing and testing your own solutions.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)

We make our AGVs available for testing components at the system level, such as localisation and navigation solutions.

Drones

We offer the industry localisation and control solutions for their specific drone activities. This includes:

• Accurate and robust localisation solutions using inexpensive sensor sets and advanced algorithms.
• Automation and control solutions for safe and efficient operation.
• Customised solutions for industrial use cases such as automatic inventory/machine monitoring for warehouses using drones.

Mobile robots & robotarms

We provide two mobile robots and one robotic arm as:

• A test platform for combining data to perform an autonomous function
• A training tool for robot programming

eRTIS

eRTIS is an integrated real-time imaging sonar for 3D detection and perception in harsh environments that make the use of visual-based sensors impossible (dark, dusty, water particles, etc.). The entire environment in front of the sensor is captured in a single measurement. We offer eRTIS for:

• 3D detection
• Imaging in harsh environments where visual-based sensors cannot be used

Autonomous road vehicles

We have various automated road platforms at our disposal, ranging from karts to fully equipped cars. Thanks to their open control architecture, these vehicles can be used for:

• validating your own control strategies,
• testing new sensor technologies,
• and demonstrating applications in your own working environment.

Electrical vehicle with individual wheel control

We built an electric drive system with four motors, additional sensors, automatic steering and a computer into a Range Rover Evoque so that we can drive autonomously.

The vehicle serves as a research and test platform for electrification and autonomous driving. You can validate your own solutions or use our test vehicle to develop and try out innovative ideas.

Hybrid vehicle with in-wheel e-motors

We built a P4 hybrid-through-the-road powertrain, with in-wheel electric motors in the rear wheels, in a Range Rover Evoque. Each rear wheel is equipped with its own active suspension.

The vehicle now serves as a research and test platform for vehicle control aspects (e.g. torque vectoring) and research into improving driving comfort.

Testing equipment for electric and hybrid vehicles

We offer our expertise in testing electric and hybrid vehicles on a dynamometer and on the road, as well as in monitoring vehicle fleets. Our infrastructure and equipment enable us to apply our expertise and carry out comprehensive evaluations of vehicles, their performance and their behaviour. We also offer the following testing options:

• Testing and evaluating drive components and subsystems via the Open Vehicle Platform;
• Power electronics and testing the vehicle's powertrain up to 350kW
• Charging infrastructure for cars in G2V and V2G mode;
• Performance of charging systems (including standard test and analysis communication protocol (PWM, PLC));
• High-accuracy measurement methods specially developed for the analysis of electrical signals as described in IEC 61851-1;
• Testing and validation of control system units (CSUs) and energy management systems (EMSs) for vehicle drives.

Autonomous agricultural vehicles

For autonomous agricultural vehicles, we offer a realistic test environment to investigate and refine autonomous operation and navigation in challenging conditions.

Our test platform consists of:

• A tractor with automatic steering on board, equipped with a front loader.
• An open control platform connected to it. This platform enables rapid prototyping control for:
  • the autonomous execution of work tasks with different tools;
  • autonomous driving on unpaved terrain.

In addition, the connected open control platform can also be used to test innovations in the areas of:

• autonomous operating and driving functions;
• implementation of new hardware, components and subsystems in a relevant environment.

New software routines, including AI applications, can be deployed on the various computer units, including the specific platforms for autonomous driving and platforms for rapid control.

Recorder

Realistic data for fast development

In the development cycle of autonomous mobile systems, real observation data is essential for improving software and algorithms. Our Recorder accelerates this process.

Sensors, cameras and GPS systems on a mobile platform capture real-world observations — both indoors and outdoors. This allows the robustness and accuracy of software to be tested on the basis of synchronised data sets, without the need for a physical prototype.

The Recorder is available for:

• Registration in company-specific environments with the sensors available on the platform.
• Generation of fully synchronised datasets in the indoor and outdoor environment at Flanders Make.
• Testing of new sensors integrated into the platform's open HW/SW architecture.
• Testing of new sensor configurations.