Today in a talk with Olof Eriksson

Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background.

My name is Olof Eriksson. I am 63 years old, married and we have a grown-up son. I live in a flat in down-town Stockholm, Sweden. I have a master’s degree from the technical university of Lund. My professional experience has always been in electromagnetic sensing in different areas, both military and civilian. Out of work I like to ride my bike and music, especially classical, is important to me.

What is your title and/or role in the project?

I am a Research Specialist at Veoneer Research. In this project I am the technical expert in radar for automotive applications. The automotive use cases and requirements are in many cases very different compared to “normal” radar applications. My job is to map these requirements to technical radar performance parameters. I also need to consider the need for a solution that will fit into the structure of a car and that has a cost that is acceptable by the users.

What are your contributions to the project? (Specify what deliverables and/or tasks you are responsible for)

I am the technical lead for the work packages “Primary demonstrator: in-cabin car safety sensor for pre & post-crash passenger monitoring“ and “Automotive System integration, System implications, Advanced processing & Sensor fusion”.
The Veoneer team is responsible for the definition and requirements of the use cases. We will also define, specify and integrate the radar sensor into a real vehicle. This vehicle will be used as a test bed and for functional demos. We will collect data from multiple test scenarios and propose improved signal processing algorithms to enhance robustness.

What challenges can you foresee in the project?

We want to save lives. The use cases we are aiming for in this project are all safety related so it is of the highest importance that the system is very robust.
In all automotive radar applications, the environment, both with respect to the crowded traffic scenarios, the multiple reflecting objects, creating background clutter, and the varying environment, like temperature, rain etcetera, are issues that need to be handled in a way that will create user trust.

How do you think the project outcome could affect our daily life?

The radar sensor will have the ability to enhance vehicle safety both for in-cabin scenarios as well as for advanced driver assistant systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) applications. This will enable safer driving and reduce the number of fatalities and injured road users. It is also possible to use the sensor for multiple comfort systems in the car making driving more enjoyable. Creating trust in mobility is the main focus of Veoneer.