System and method for testing crash avoidance technologies

A wheel system adapted for use with a guided soft target (GST), the GST comprising a soft body removably attachable to a dynamic motion element (DME) such that the soft body detaches from the DME when the GST collides with a subject vehicle, the system comprising:

• a fork extending from the soft body;
• an axle connected to the fork;
• a tire body rotatably connected to the axle comprising an outer surface concentric with and encircling the axle, wherein the outer surface is substantially parallel to the axle;
• a ground-contacting tire ridge extending from and encircling the outer surface, and constructed to contact the ground when the soft body is attached to a DME;
• and
• a strap or cable connected to the fork on one end and to the soft body on the other end, the strap or cable provides a tension force that counteracts a portion of the gravitational force experienced by the tire body when the soft body is attached to a DME.

A soft body adapted to form the body of a Guided Soft Target for testing crash avoidance technologies in a subject vehicle, wherein the soft body is adapted to be mounted atop a motorized Dynamic Motion Element (DME) and when so mounted is adapted to collide with the subject vehicle while the DME is moving, the soft body comprising:

• a body comprised of closed-cell Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) copolymer foam with a durometer of between 50 and 90 Shore A and an abrasion resistance index greater than 20;
• a mounting surface formed into the body, the mounting surface constructed to detachably mount the soft body to the DME;
• and
• a wheel system comprising:
• an axle connected to the body positioned substantially perpendicular to a body longitudinal axis;
• and
• a tire body rotatably connected to the axle;
• wherein the tire body is constructed to contact the ground when the body is mounted to a DME, and the tire body rotates about the axle as the DME moves;
• and
• wherein the tire body comprises an outer surface concentric with and encircling the axle, the tire body comprising a ground-contacting tire ridge extending from and encircling the outer surface, wherein the tire ridge contacts the ground when the soft body is attached to a DME.