Tesla: ADAS Test Intern

(September 2015 - February 2016)

In my first internship at Tesla Motors, I was part of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Performance Test group. The role of our team was to design test rigs/devices and perform testing for the autopilot/range features of all vehicle models. I had two major design projects, whose details are explained below.

Aside from my design projects, I helped perform proving grounds testing of active safety features based on NHTSA and EuroNCAP procedures. These features included AEB, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Autonomous Parallel Parking.

My first project was to design, fabricate, and test a mechanical rig for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) testing. The rig utilized a EuroNCAP Vehicle Target EVT, and was built to mitigate crashes as a result of failed braking. This project involved CADing via CATIA v6, as well as working closely with the fabrication and machine shops on site. Once built, the rig was taken to vehicle proving grounds and AEB testing was performed.

Autonomous Emergency Braking Test Rig

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Technical Development

The technical skills that I developed included:

Test fixture design and assembly
CAD design in CATIA v6
Creating drawings for onsite and outsourced fabrication
Interfacing with and helping out fabrication shop
EuroNCAP test procedure compliance and test execution

Pedestrian Braking Robot

My second project was to design an electro-mechanical system to test the Pedestrian Braking feature. This involved an autonomous 4-wheeled robot that was used to drive a EuroNCAP pedestrian dummy out in front of an approaching vehicle.

I developed the overarching design which included determining the main components: BLDC motors, motor controllers, batteries, data acquisition system, hardware, etc. My mentor and I worked closely together on the mechanical design which was then fabricated. My internship finished in the beginning of the integration phase; thus, in my last week I ensured smooth turnover of information to the next intern.

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Technical Development

The technical skills that I developed included:

Overarching design of a complicated electro-mechanical system
Specing of powertrain components (batteries, motor controllers, motors, etc.)
Design of mechanical components in CATIA v6
Creating drawings for onsite and outsourced fabrication
EuroNCAP test procedure compliance and test execution