Humanetics and Mcity Announce Collaborative Partnership to Advance Active Safety Testing

Humanetics and Mcity are collaborating to spearhead mobility innovation by
providing access to leading-edge active safety testing technologies at the
University of Michigan’s Mcity Test Facility for joint development of
advanced software and robots for new mobility applications.

These tools will make it easier for commercial and academic researchers at
the Mcity Test Facility to conduct comprehensive and accurate evaluations of
emerging autonomous and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
technologies.

“By combining the resources and expertise of Humanetics and Mcity, this
partnership will accelerate the development and deployment of connected and
automated vehicle technologies,” said Mark Westen, president, Humanetics
Safety. “This relationship will contribute to ongoing efforts focused on
creating a safer, more efficient, and sustainable transportation ecosystem.”

Humanetics will provide Mcity with a variety of its Active Safety robotic
test platforms, which can mimic a range of road users – such as pedestrians,
bicyclists, motorbikes and children. In addition, Humanetics will provide
training services and TrackBase Connect, a holistic software solution to
help manage complex test scenarios and co-ordinate the execution of the
different vehicles, traffic lights and pedestrian platforms on the proving
ground.

“A major goal of the partnership is to fully integrate Humanetics’ dynamic
test system into the Mcity Test Facility environment, which will simplify
test setup and support running complex tests more quickly and easily,” said
Mcity Managing Director Greg McGuire.

“The most critical part of testing automated systems is safely dealing with
other people on the roads – in cars, trucks, buses, on bikes, etc., – and
how they use our road network,” McGuire said. “That’s what Humanetics is
good at and that’s where we need to be innovative as a state and as a
country if we’re going to improve road safety more broadly.

Last year, traffic deaths fell slightly in Michigan but remained stubbornly
high at more than 1,100, representing a 15% increase since 2018, according
to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. The National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration’s latest projection for 2022 fatalities
estimated that more than 42,000 people died on U.S. roads last year, down
less than 1% compared to 2021.

McGuire said Humanetics’ robots will also be incorporated into Mcity’s
Safety Assessment Program, a two-part protocol for testing the safety of
automated vehicles before widespread deployment on public roads. The Safety
Assessment Program exemplifies the kind of testing that could be conducted
using Mcity 2.0. Mcity is adding digital infrastructure to the physical
infrastructure of the Mcity Test Facility to create Mcity 2.0, a
cloud-based, augmented reality test bed for connected and automated vehicles
that will be available to academic researchers nationwide. The National
Science Foundation is funding the work.

In addition, the robots could be used inside the Mcity Test Facility to
explore infrastructure safety applications as they relate to cities of the
future.

As part of their collaboration, Humanetics will become an affiliate member
of Mcity, a public-private mobility research partnership led by U-M that
funds academic research and works with partners to deploy mobility
innovations in addition to operating the Mcity Test Facility.

Mark Westen said, “Humanetics and Mcity are excited about the potential
impact of their collaboration on the future of connected and automated
vehicles. By working together, we are committed to advancing the boundaries
of safety testing and supporting the adoption of innovative technologies
that will shape the transportation landscape for decades to come.”

About Humanetics (Website: https://www.humaneticsgroup.com/)

Humanetics is a high-tech global industrial technology group (including
Human Solutions, Avalution, mg-sensors, ADT-LabTech, Fibercore, HITEC Sensor
Development, and OpTek Systems). We are organized into three divisions
(Safety, Digital and Sensors) focused on precision engineering and software
development that puts humans at the heart of industrial design. We have
facilities worldwide, with our global corporate headquarters in Farmington
Hills, Michigan, USA.

About the Mcity Test Facility (Website: https://mcity.umich.edu/)

The Mcity Test Facility is the world’s first purpose-built proving ground
for testing connected and automated vehicles and technologies. Located at
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the facility provides a controlled
and realistic environment for developing, testing, and validating the latest
advancements in connected and automated vehicle technologies. The test
facility is operated by Mcity, a public-private mobility research
partnership led by U-M.