Skoda’s Polygon site deploys latest tech to test vehicles

What do remote-controlled bicycles and inflatable cars have in common? Both are used to develop Skoda advanced safety systems at the ‘Polygon’ in Uhelnice, Czech Republic. The facility is home to the company’s safety development programme, it’s where every new model and new piece of active technology is put through its paces.

The carmaker says the first Skoda crash test took place in May 1972 with a Skoda 100, while the inaugural test of an active safety system, ABS, was in 1992. In the very earliest days of safety experimentation and validation, rockets were used to fire cars down roadways into walls. Thankfully test procedures have come on a long way since, with a suite of robots and remote-controlled road users assisting with the testing.

Features such as Front Assist, Lane Assist, Crew Protect Assist and Emergency Assist, plus all new systems, can be tested in a safe and controlled environment. Updated systems can also be developed further, ensuring result accuracy and consistent test parameters.

Front Assist is a collision-alert safety system that monitors the situation ahead with radar. Faced with a collision it applies the brakes, preventing the car from hitting the obstacle ahead entirely or minimising the damage if a crash is unavoidable. The advanced technology can work a speed differential of up to 37mph (60kmph), and is standard across the entire Skoda range, from the Fabia to the Superb and all-electric Enyaq.

In order to develop Front Assist, Skoda safety engineers have a suite of technologies and equipment at their disposal at the Polygon, including inflatable, remote-controlled pedestrians, bikes and cars. Along with robotics systems installed in the test Skoda itself, the speed and course of the car, and the obstacles, can be pre-programmed, ensuring every test is identical and allowing the engineers to tweak the safety technology for maximum effect.

A system like Crew Protect Assist can also be tested using the inflatable and remote-controlled obstacles. This feature pre-tensions seatbelts, closes the car’s windows leaving a 5.5cm gap and closes any sunroof completely. Crew Protect Assist is available across the Scala, Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq, Superb and Enyaq ranges.

With a test driver behind the wheel, engineers can programme and develop features that help motorists in the event they steer aggressively away from a potential obstruction. Should a driver swerve, the car uses systems like Lane Assist to assess the car’s surroundings – whether it’s a gravel or grass roadside, a white or yellow line, or another car. It can then help the driver steer, adjusting the rate of turn at the car’s wheels.

Developing a new safety feature can take years, with hardware and software simulations, and then physical tests and up to 50% of that time taken up with validation. Emergency Assist brings the car to a gentle and controlled stop with the hazard warning lights on and the horn sounding intermittently if the driver is deemed to have been inactive for 25 seconds. Skoda engineers working on such a system will test various onboard camera or radar positions, for example, ensuring maximum coverage and in turn maximum customer benefit.