Mobile Data Acquisition and Field Testing

Vehicles and their components undergo numerous test runs – from the concept, from prototype towards production; from simulation conducted on a computer to tests in test stands, and mobile tests in the field. Measurement equipment and DAQ systems are needed for:

Road Load Data Acquisition (RLDA) mainly on test tracks in proving grounds but also in the field, measuring vehicle response to typical load cases
Vehicle Dynamics, Brakes (ABS, ESP), Tyres, Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS)
Powertrain and overall drivetrain performance testing
Endurance testing and winter and summer (cold and hot) country testing with extreme ambient and temperature conditions and grounds

Under test, vehicles and components are subjected to real conditions of use. They are sometimes exposed to extreme conditions, dealing with arctic or desert temperature, humidity, water, dust, dirt, shock, vibration or even crash.
Whether you are testing passenger cars, commercial vehicles, military vehicles, or trains, each vehicle places special demands on field testing and requires testing in line with the target application, validating the attributes of the products.

Flexible Testing, Measurement and Data Acquisition

HBK provides flexible measurement and mobile DAQ solutions for many test setups in mobile and field testing:

The perfect scalable setup embraces all kind of physical inputs covering sensors measuring strain, acceleration, forces and moments, displacement/height, temperature, voltage and current to drivers biometric information. On top of that adding time-synched acquisition of vehicle bus data, satellite-based position and speed or even the full kinematics of the vehicle plus video recording the whole test scenario.
Powerful data recording in standard QuantumX or ruggedized SomatXR format, optimized for utilization in harsh environments allows reliable and safe acquisition of data.
Cutting-edge software solutions: catman® convenient online processing, easy operation, robust recording in binary files and script-based automation routines. Transform massive amounts of acquired data into insights with Aqira, a web-based platform for enterprise-level data management and search, streamed data analytics by nCodeDS plus reporting to all stakeholders.

Users benefit from user-friendly, complete solutions for mobile data acquisition and testing or monitoring.

Questions? Contact us!

Your Benefits

Reliable Test Equipment for Harsh Environmental Testing

High signal quality due to noise robust technology
Wide temperature range: –40 to +80 °C, dew point resistant
High degree of protection against dust, dirt, humidity, and water (IP65/IP67)
Vibration-proof up to minimum 10 g and shockproof upu to 75g (MIL-STD210 grade)
10,000+ plug cycles
Significantly reduced cabling and cost due to distributable system concepts

Everything from a Single Source

Large selection of transducers
Complete and perfectly matching measurement chains
Scalable rugged data acquisition solutions for any channel size
Powerful software solutions with:
- catman for visualizing and analysing acquired data in field and lab
- Aqira to accelerate decision making with faster analysis and data research

User-friendly solution

Centralized or distributed system topologies allow for a maximum flexibility
Clear user interface ensures ease of use in all major steps
Scalable and expandable for future-proof investments
Stand-alone touch screen operation without a PC possible
Automation of testing with scripting functionality in the data recorder
Attended or unattended autonomous recording

Mobile Data Acquisition – Test Environments

Road Load Data Acquisition (RLDA)

RLDA as a testing method is executed mainly on test tracks in proving grounds and measures vehicle response to typical load cases. It includes essential vehicle and driving parameters, such as mass, inertia, rolling resistance, road characteristics, and vehicle speed. Typical tracks to measure the load are Belgian pavé, axle bumps, sine waves, rough tracks, ramps, gravel pits, and many more variants. RLDA is part of the overall structural integrity process of a program.

Proving Ground Mobile Testing: Road Load Data Acquisition (RLDA) - Image 1

Image Vehicle Dynamics, Brakes (ABS, ESP), Tires, Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) and Autonomous Vehicle Testing

Vehicle Dynamics, Brakes (ABS, ESP), Tyres, Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS)

Vehicle dynamics testing deals with the investigation and analysis of the vehicle in motion, its ride and handling, economy, comfort, and safety attributes. It includes measuring the inertial kinematics of the vehicle, wheel forces, displacement and height sensing and vehicle bus data.

All kinds of longitudinal, lateral, and vertical dynamics are captured. Many of the test scenarios and manoeuvres are standardized by ISO and SAE test procedures ensuring repeatability and traceability including step steer, sinusoidal steering, lane change, brake tests and many more.

The tests are carried out by test drivers guided by their DAQ recorder and its script-based software or driving robots, automating the test scenarios. Often, these tests are used to investigate and optimize electronics and its functional software combined with homologation tests. Test results of the overall vehicle dynamics are also used to valid simulation models.

Performance and Efficiency Testing

Powertrain, transmission, and overall drivetrain performance testing is still part of mobile testing campaigns. In scope are tests of acceleration 0 – 100 km/h running on straight tracks, high-speed ovals, or hill tracks. To analyse the overall efficiency of vehicles, everyday driving conditions are tested in true field trials meeting the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). These trials include all measurements along the propulsion from energy source to road, plus other supporting data sources.

Image Performance Testing on the Test Track

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Endurance Testing and Extreme Weather Testing

After completing vehicle development, the vehicle is subjected to a so-called endurance test, one of the final vehicle development steps before a vehicle is approved for mass production, ensuring high-quality standards, legal demands, and customer satisfaction. During the endurance testing phase, a fleet of vehicles is driven in a multitude of different driving profiles in different testing locations all around the world, on both public roads and proving grounds.

Vehicle test programs often include durability and performance tests in extreme weather conditions, from cold land winter tests to hot land summer tests in deserts. Even under such conditions, all vehicles must operate safely and smoothly.

Winter: Durability and drivability tests on icy roads, through snow, and in temperatures down to –40°C. Programs include cold start testing of powertrains, heat ventilation and automatic climate control system (HVAC) validation. Tyres get a special focus according to FMVSS, ASTM, SAE, and ISO standards.
The installed DAQ equipment often stays outside in the completely frozen vehicle and shortly after start-up it runs through the dew point without any major effect in measurement results.

Summer: The durability and performance of the complete vehicle, its powertrain, HVAC and many other parts is tested under extreme hot temperatures up to 50°C, including off-road and sand driving capability.
The DAQ equipment is often installed next to the propulsion and needs to deal with high ambient heat going up to 80°C apart from device self-heating stressing the overall measurement job.