Introduction
Dooring is a scenario that was added to the Euro NCAP vehicle assessment under the ‘Vulnerable Road User protocol’ in 2023.
We have created a bespoke solution for this assessment: A combination of the VBOX ADAS sensor pack and complementary sensors, all synchronised to the time, position and speed of both the Vehicle Under Test (VUT) and the Vulnerable Road User (VRU) target that will provide immediate pass/fail results. This eliminates the need for lengthy post-processing.
The dooring scenario assesses vehicle technologies in place to protect VRUs from car doors opening unexpectedly in their paths. Points are awarded for systems that notify the driver of the presence of a VRU and emit a warning within a prescribed range and speed of the VRU.
Additional points are awarded if the doors temporarily lock when a VRU is present in a defined path trajectory.
Historically, Dooring was primarily assessed offline by reviewing video data. The VBOX Automotive Dooring solution utilises 100 Hz data and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication to specify the exact time, position and speed of the VRU at the time of the prescribed driver actions.
There are two tests in the plugin to satisfy the Euro NCAP Dooring protocols:
- Information test: In this test, the door opening mechanism is not activated, and the VUT is only to give an information cue (i.e., a solid warning light)
- Retention test: In this test, the door handle mechanism is operated at the required longitudinal range, and the visual cue must also flash to be considered a warning. Extra points are awarded if the door remains closed during this test.
Test Methods
There are various methods of carrying out the test. This solution was designed to be carried out within the VBOX ecosystem; however, you can also use V2V data from other sources, such as an AB Dynamics robot controller.
VBOX Ecosystem
The VBOX system is the primary method and utilises all the equipment listed in the Equipment List in this guide. It relies on V2V communications between the VBOX inside the VUT and the VBOX attached to the VRU target. This allows complete independence from other ongoing VUT assessments.
It utilises a VRU target travelling within the specification, for example, a VRU-propelled soft target or a surrogate such as an e-scooter.
Within the VBOX ecosystem, the VUT and VRU communicate via the VBOX XB radios. These radios deliver the exact TTC, longitudinal range and lateral range at 100 Hz for an absolute time/position/speed at the required validation requirements (T’operate’, T’open’, etc.).
3rd party V2V communications
Alternatively, you may want to use the VBOX as the unit assessing the VUT and make use of existing V2V communication between the VRU target and the test vehicle (by a VRU operator, such as AB Dynamics).
In this instance, the V2V information of TTC, longitudinal range, and lateral range would be supplied by the AB Dynamics telemetry and input to the VBOX as signals over CAN.
| Note: When using AB Dynamics for V2V data, you must add a 100 ms delay to the VBOX signals to compensate for the delays experienced by the AB Dynamics controller during the data transfer. |