Announcement of Truck Platooning Plan with Response Speed 30 Times Faster Than Humans
DAF Trucks, Siemens, Honda, and Partners Raise Boundaries of Secure V2X Through Real-Road Demonstration

NXP Semiconductor and its partners held a demonstration event showcasing an intelligent secure traffic system currently in progress, ahead of the Electronica exhibition in Munich.

The demonstration included platooning operations on Munich roads, traffic light and vehicle synchronization, and vulnerable road user protection technology based on secure V2X technology. Additionally, NXP and DAF Trucks announced a truck platooning plan targeting 2017, with response times 30 times faster than humans. Upon achieving this goal, truck transportation operators will be able to expect improved efficiency and safety while maintaining superior data security in platooning operations.

NXP, DAF Trucks, TNO, and Ricardo previously succeeded in a demonstration of truck platooning with 0.5-second intervals between trucks. Trucks connected via V2X technology completed platooning operations without issue at 11-meter spacing using high-performance cameras and radar systems at 80 km/h.

The consortium is now proceeding with collaboration to reduce the minimum distance between trucks by an additional 40% (0.3 seconds, equivalent to 7 meters at 80 km/h). In this new environment, the platooning system must react 30 times faster than a human driver with high reliability, and wireless communication between trucks must occur on a millisecond (ms) scale.

Through robust sensor fusion and integrated control systems, stable functionality is ensured, generating, monitoring, and maintaining platooning and driving modes, and functioning identically even in cases of external hazards or internal system malfunctions. Even if internal systems malfunction, the transport formation remains safely maintained.

To safely maintain shorter driving intervals, the system will require high functional safety. This is achieved through the use of NXP's ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) certified components, including microcontrollers, microprocessors, power management ICs, and networking components. System development is based on the NXP BlueBox platform, which integrates most of the previously mentioned components.

Enhanced radar detects road obstacles (such as vehicles cutting in) more quickly and accurately, smoothly adjusting the distance between trucks. To this end, NXP also unveiled a new high-performance radar microcontroller (link) at the 2016 Electronica exhibition.

Ron Borsboom, Director of Product Development at DAF Trucks, stated, "Achieving response times 30 times faster than humans in platooning is not an easily attainable difficult task. While considerable research and development remains necessary to realize this, we are pursuing an ambitious plan with NXP to demonstrate improved response times in 2017."

Kurt Sievers, Head of NXP Automotive, added, "NXP has conducted over one million test days worldwide with smart mobility partners using secure V2X communication based on the RoadLINK™ solution. Our testing has proven RoadLINK's maturity and strong security level, and this product is being applied to the first production vehicles. The current demonstration results conducted together with DAF Trucks, Siemens, Honda, and other partners show that the power of ultra-high-speed, security, and direct communication is significant."