German auto and truck parts manufacturer specializing on tyres Continental AG, Conti for short introduces an indoor and automated brake test facility that will offer driverless testing of brakes on different surfaces.
The new facility was built near Hannover with a budget of US$16 million. It is designed to enhance the braking tests without having humans as test drivers and to ensure that the tests will be completed 24/7 without having to wait for a new season to come to test them on the different road conditions.
However, the company said that the facility will not give results yet as the road surfaces are still being stabilised.
The facility uses the same technology with roller coasters. The vehicles will move around the rails of the facility with a maximum speed of 62.5 mph with the use of a linear motor that is capable of increasing the speed of a vehicle that weighs 3.5 metric tonnes in 5 seconds.
According to Conti, the facility is about 1,000 ft. long and can run 15 tests per hour. (RJA)