The central role of road markings for autonomous driving
21 May 2025
Room A (W2/3)
Real-world and integrated virtual testing
Automated driving systems are increasingly being introduced to public traffic. Road markings are used to transfer information about a safe driving path and convey traffic rules. Hence, automated vehicles are required to correctly recognize them. Road markings differ across countries due to a lack of internationally harmonized standards. Additionally, road markings can be damaged or soiled. The versatility of road markings is vast, which challenges proving ground operators to provide a wide range of road marking patterns for testing purposes. Thus, the research team at the Mercedes-Benz Test and Technology Center has developed a set of methods to alter road markings on test tracks in an agile manner. These methods allow the reproducible, realistic application of straightaways, curves with different radii, intersections, longitudinal lines, texts, symbols and even damaged or faded road markings.