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Modern heavy vehicles may be equipped with an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) designed to increase highway safety. Depending on the vehicle or manufacturer, these systems may detect objects in a driver’s blind spot, provide an alert when the ADAS determines that the vehicle is leaving its lane of travel without the use of a turn signal, or notify the driver when certain road signs are detected. ADASs also include adaptive cruise control, which adjusts the vehicle’s set cruise speed to maintain a safe following distance when a slower vehicle is detected ahead of the truck. In addition, the ADAS may have a Collision Mitigation System (CMS) component that is designed to help drivers respond to roadway situations and reduce the severity of crashes. CMSs typically use radar or a combination of radar and optical technologies to detect objects such as vehicles or pedestrians in the vehicle’s path.

Heavy Vehicle Event Data Recorders (HVEDRs) have the ability to capture important data surrounding an event such as a crash or near crash. Efforts by many researchers to analyze the capabilities and performance of these complex systems can be problematic, in part, due to the challenges of obtaining a heavy truck, the necessary space to safely test systems, the inherent unpredictability in testing, and the costs associated with this research. In this paper, a method for simulating vehicle speed sensor (VSS) inputs to HVEDRs to trigger events is introduced and validated. Full-scale instrumented testing is conducted to capture raw VSS signals during steady state and braking conditions. The recorded steady state VSS signals are injected into the HVEDR along with synthesized signals to evaluate the response of the HVEDR. Brake testing VSS signals are similarly captured and injected into the HVEDR to trigger an event record.

Event Data Recorder (EDR) technology has been incorporated into the Electronic Control Modules (ECMs) of many on-highway heavy trucks. One benefit of this technology is its applicability to vehicle collision investigation and reconstruction ( Goebelbecker & Ferrone, 2000 ; van Nooten & Hrycay, 2005 ). However, collisions that cause extensive damage to the truck may cause a loss of electrical power to the ECM, which might interrupt the data storage process. This research is an attempt to determine the effects of power loss on heavy vehicle ECMs 1 , and the associated effects on data collected by the EDR function. Controlled testing was conducted with Detroit Diesel, Mercedes, Mack, Cummins, and Caterpillar engines, and power failures were created by artificially interrupting power between the vehicle's battery and ECM at predetermined intervals. EDR data from the test vehicles were extracted after each test, and the presence or absence of new data was examined.