The UNICARagil subproject “Safe estimation of vehicle dynamic state with self‑observation via a dedicated hardware platform” delivered a fully integrated Fahrdynamik‑Zustandsschätzung (FZS) module that continuously estimates the vehicle’s three‑dimensional position, velocity, acceleration, roll, pitch, yaw, yaw rate, slip angle and additional parameters. The hardware platform incorporates a redundant inertial measurement unit (IMU), a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a precise time reference on a single board equipped with four central processing units. It reads odometry data from four intelligent dynamics modules and fuses all available sensor streams to produce a real‑time estimate of the vehicle’s dynamic state. The fusion algorithm evaluates the accuracy and integrity of the estimate, detects sensor faults and failures, and supplies quality metrics such as standard deviation and confidence bounds. In a field demonstration with the autoSHUTTLE vehicle, the system successfully transported more than 200 passengers through a demanding course at the project’s final event in Aldenhofen. The data fusion proved robust enough to compensate for a complete loss of odometry data without any loss of estimation accuracy, underscoring the reliability of the self‑observation approach. Post‑processing of the recorded data confirmed that the FZS maintained the required precision and integrity levels across all test scenarios, and the evaluation of the post‑processing results is documented in the project report. The modular architecture allows different sensor‑fusion implementations to compete on the same interface; a parallel implementation by iMAR and the partner PSG (TU Darmstadt) was used for comparative assessment. The safety assurance of the FZS module was performed by the partner PSGD, which verified that the module meets the functional safety requirements defined in the project’s safety case. The overall system is designed to integrate seamlessly into the Open Automated Driving Framework (OADF) and uses standard communication protocols such as DDS and RTPS.
The project was carried out from 1 February 2018 to 31 May 2023, a total of 64 months, under the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research framework program “Microelectronics from Germany – Innovation driver of digitization” (2016‑2020). The funding reference is 16EMO0293. iMAR Navigation GmbH, headquartered in St. Ingbert, served as the project lead and was responsible for the design, implementation and integration of the hardware component of the FZS module. The partner PSGD handled the modular safety assurance and verification of functional safety. A parallel sensor‑fusion implementation was developed by PSG (TU Darmstadt) to provide a comparative baseline. The project’s objectives, as defined in the September 2018 version of the overall UNICARagil project description, remained unchanged throughout the duration, although the scope of work expanded to include additional tasks necessary to secure project success. The collaboration among the partners ensured that the FZS module met the stringent accuracy, integrity and fault‑tolerance requirements required for automated agile vehicle concepts, and the resulting technology is now positioned for further exploitation in other automotive applications.