Development of a Drive-through Climate Tunnel for Autonomous Vehicle Development

A climatic chamber can replicate the weather conditions for an entire year, which allows tests to be performed faster, in weeks instead of years and thereby speeding up the product development circle. In traditional climatic wind tunnels, the test vehicles are usually strapped to the floor, and there is no relative motion, with the associated environmental effects, such as spray and soiling, which are not desirable for autonomous vehicle navigation since it relies on optical sensors. The proposed project attempts to develop a new climate tunnel that is long enough to drive through it. Computer-aided design and computational fluid dynamics will be used to develop the concept to facilitate the construction of a physical tunnel, which is then calibrated and used to generate precipitation data. The industry partner will gain insight in applying their analytics tools to the precipitation data. The interns will gain industry relevant skills.

Faculty Supervisor:

Martin Agelin-Chaab

Student:

Partner:

GlassHouse Systems

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Program: