This year, for the second time, we had the honor to participate in the WARA-PS event in Gränsö Slott, Sweden, one of the WASP research arenas.

On behalf of BME, Dr. Zsolt Szalay, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Automotive Technologies, gave a presentation on the research results of the BME Automated Drive Laboratory, and Dr. Ádám Bárdos, Head of the Vehicle Dynamics and Control Research Group of the Department, Managing Director of iMotionDrive Ltd., participated in the prestigious scientific event.

The event was also the occasion to announce a collaboration between ABConnect, a spin-off from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and iMotionDrive, a spin-off from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.  ABConnect is a start-up company specialising in cooperative networking and communication solutions. Together, the two new companies will develop remote vehicle control and automated vehicle management based on next generation communication solutions.

“We are honored to have been invited to participate in Sweden’s largest research program and I am proud to have spoken at this prestigious innovation event in Sweden, which is at the forefront of innovation in Europe and the rest of the world.” – summarized Dr Zsolt Szalay after his presentation.

Dr Ádám Bárdos concluded – “We look forward with great excitement to working with ABConnect and to future joint demonstrations.”

The WASP (Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program), Sweden’s largest ever individual research program, promotes industry-relevant international research excellence in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software development.

WARA-PS stands for “WASP Research Arena for Public Safety”, a cross-disciplinary arena that supports research on cooperative systems for public safety. Public safety and security research is gaining interest and importance both nationally and internationally, and requires new technical solutions that can showcase the achievements in autonomous systems and software research.

WARA-PS provides a framework for researchers to apply their competences in different areas of security, such as trajectory planning, augmented reality, optimal control and sensor fusion. The research carried out under the project is supported by relevant industry players such as Saab Kockums, Saab Aeronautics, Saab Surveillance, Combitech and Ericsson, to name just a few.

The 8-year WASP program has a total budget of SEK 6.2 billion, of which SEK 4.9 billion is funded by the Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), and the companies themselves provide industrial resources and expertise, as well as opportunities for cooperation between science and industry.

The research for the development presented at the event was funded by the European Union under the National Laboratory for Autonomous Systems (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00002).

Visitors to the IAA International Motor Show were impressed by the brilliant engineering combination of classic design and cutting-edge technology.

The IAA MOBILITY 2023 international automotive exhibition took place in Munich from 5-10 September, showcasing more than 300 industry innovations and attracting over half a million visitors. At the invitation of HIPA, a racing car jointly developed by Mouldtech Ltd., Robert Bosch Ltd. and the BME Competence Centre for Innovative Vehicle Technologies – electric, but at the same time reminiscent of the 1950s – was also on display. To improve the vehicle’s electric powertrain, the chassis, the drive system and the body were redesigned through the coordinated efforts of the partners. Hundreds of visitors stopped and took photos every day to admire the results of this value-creating Hungarian engineering achievement. Many of them asked how to get their own vehicle like this. The good news is that the factory in Zalaegerszeg is ready to produce not only electric but also petrol models.

Prof. Máté Zöldy, Head of the Competence Centre for Innovative Vehicle Technologies at the Department of Automotive Technologies of BME, said, “I am proud that the work of my colleagues and our students and the cooperation with our partners has resulted in one of Hungary’s flagship projects at the International Motor Show. Sharp industrial projects accelerate the transfer of knowledge between the university and partners, which helps us to become even better!” The completed vehicle is not only a marketable product, but also serves the teaching and research activities at the university.

Our department, in collaboration with Mouldtech Kft and Robert Bosch Kft, is participating in the development of the Tipo 184 retro racing car. As part of the project, our colleagues, Dr. Máté Zöldy, Dr. Péter Harth, and Ádám Nyerges, along with Bálint Kocsis representing Robert Bosch Kft, were present at this year’s Silverstone Classic festival, where a version of the Tipo 184 racing car had its own booth. From Mouldtech Kft, Dávid Tímári, Róbert Zsédely, Benjámin Hegedűs, and Soma Sárosi attended.

England has a rich tradition in motorsports and preserving automotive heritage. At the festival, we had the opportunity to see the decades-long evolution of racing sports up close. First, in the paddock area, where teams were feverishly preparing for the races. Later, on the track, various categories saw daring pilots continuously making laps on the Silverstone asphalt. The area around the racetrack was filled with displays of beautiful, unique, and rare cars from local car clubs. Additionally, a separate tent showcased Formula 1 cars from recent decades. The Tipo 184 racing car fit perfectly into this environment and attracted a lot of attention. Its ’40s-inspired design was a breath of fresh air, as most racing cars present were from later eras.

We sincerely thank Mouldtech Kft for the opportunity to participate!

The Csonka János Hall, the laboratory of the Department of Automotive Technologies, was buzzing with horns and children’s noise for a few days, hosting nearly 150 primary school children.  Dr Zsolt Szalay, Associate Professor, gave a presentation on self-driving cars to the program participants.

In the framework of the Children’s University programme organised by BME between 10-14 July, our department also hosted children interested in engineering, who may become the engineers of the future. Dávid Tollner, a PhD student from our department, gave a seminar for the children and also acted as the youngsters’ host. In total, 5 groups of 20-30 children arrived and were shown the interior of the cars and the lower structure of a lifted car, an electronically controlled vehicle, which gave a glimpse into the future of self-driving cars, and the opportunity to experience an electric car as a passenger. Acceleration power measurement was also demonstrated on the performance bench of the Competence Centre for Innovative Vehicle Technologies, and other transport equipment owned by the department was also available for experimentation.

In his presentation at the Children’s University programme, Dr Zsolt Szalay talked about the conditions under which smart cars can operate, the functions they will be able to perform, and why it is important to test and inspect these vehicles very carefully before releasing them on the road. He began his presentation by saying: „It is a huge responsibility to talk about the technology of the future in a way that is understandable and motivating for the generation of the future. It is my undisguised aim to infect some of you with this subject, so that we will see you as vehicle engineers or any other engineers in the halls of our University.”

Robert Bosch and BME (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) have concluded a three-year joint development project to support the production of autonomous vehicles. The closing event held on 13^th June 2023. at the Bosch Budapest Innovation Campus of Robert Bosch Ltd. hosted key scientist of the project who presented and demonstrated the main development results. The joint project employing nearly 30 BME researchers, PhD and MSc students and about 60 development engineers from Robert Bosch Ltd. started in spring 2020 and was closed at the end of May 2023. András Kemler, Managing Director of technical areas, location manager at Robert Bosch Ltd., who coordinated the cooperation with BME, said at the closing event of the project: “The success and experience of the three-year joint work with the participation of nearly 60 experts have laid the foundation for the continuation of the cooperation.” Dr. Zsolt Szalay, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Automotive Technologies at BME, added, “I am very happy and proud that our university was able to provide real value to one of the world’s largest industrial companies through collaboration and teamwork.” The project was financed by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund within the framework of the “Support for market-driven research, development and innovation projects (2019-1.1.1-PIACI KFI)”

An organic part of smart city and innovative highway traffic concept are the shared, connected, and highly automated vehicles. Less kilometers driven and better organized traffic can result in the reduction of travel time and also a decreased level of emission and noise. Components that support automated vehicle functions therefore make a significant contribution to safer, cleaner, greener and more efficient transport. However, to achieve these goals, continuous technological development is indispensable. Effective and successful research and development processes require the use and improvement of rigorous, but always supportive validation and verification methods, and the use of cutting-edge test procedures.

Robert Bosch Ltd. and BME with the involvement of ZalaZONE proving ground performed a three year long joint research and development project with the main focus on validation and verification of sensors and components for automated driving. The project covered the development and extension of the validation and verification concept and process for the newest generation front camera and radar – including performance-, stability- and robustness measurements. For this purpose, a multi-sensory reference measurement system was developed. This system is capable of generating reference data supporting the evaluation and validation of the above sensors.

The researchers identified the test requirements and developed the methodological framework and the related software and hardware for the validation and verification of camera and radar-based environment sensing components to be used for automated vehicle functions. They developed software to support the testing of automated hardware reliability and HiL/SciL (Hardware-in-the-loop/Scenario-in-the-Loop) testing methodology, which combines real and virtual test environments to test significantly more traffic situations than in case of the previously available testing methods.

dr. Zsolt Szalay