THI conducts research into “black box” for highly automated vehicles

If an accident occurs involving a highly automated vehicle, how is it possible after the event to determine with any certainty whether the accident was caused by the driver or the vehicle itself? THI is conducting research into fast and reliable accident clarification as part of the research network SAFIR – specifically in the “Safe Electric Mobility” subproject headed by Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger.

In the AHEAD working group initiated by THI scientist Klaus Böhm, the THI has joined forces with Allianz, Axa, Continental and Dekra to analyse which data has to be collected and stored in a vehicle for the entire journey (e.g. location, time, driver identification) and which data is only required in the event of an accident (e.g. photos, crash data). This forms the basis for the question of how a “black box” in the vehicle might be designed with a view to achieving data economy and data privacy compliance.

THI has now presented the first results of its research work to high-ranking representatives from politics and business who are involved in the fields of accident research and highly automated driving. The next step will involve vehicle manufacturers with a view to ultimately issuing recommendations for political decisions in a joint position paper.

About SAFIR: 

THI's research network SAFIR links the university with more than 20 partners from industry and public institutions with the aim of increasing road safety to a new level based on a wide range of research projects. A project volume of approximately EUR 7.4 million is available for this purpose, to be provided over a period of four years by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as industrial partners as part of the funding line “Starke Fachhochschulen – Impuls für die Region (FH-Impuls)” (Strong Universities of Applied Science – Stimulus for the Region). SAFIR uses the infrastructure of THI's CARISSMA research and test centre, which is to be established as the scientific control centre for vehicle safety in Germany. The acronym SAFIR stands for “Safety for All – Innovative Research Partnership on Global Vehicle and Road Safety Systems”.