Overview
ISO/TS 22240:2008 - Road vehicles: Vehicles safety information model (VSIM) defines a standard data model, storage approach and exchange format for all data relevant to vehicle safety tests. VSIM builds on the ASAM ODS base model for database storage and uses XML (including ATF/XML influences) for file-based data exchange. The specification covers metadata, test definitions, measurement channels, and references to multimedia results (photos, movies, diagrams, reports).
Key topics
- Data model foundation
- VSIM entities are derived from ASAM ODS base entities (Ao...). Core entities include VSIM, Safety_Test, Test_Object, Test_Component, Possible_Channel, channel, Physical_Unit, and Physical_Dimension.
- Exchange & storage formats
- Primary exchange format: XML (compatible with ATF/XML and ISO-MME conventions). Storage supports both database (ASAM ODS) and file-system references for large media.
- Measurements & channels
- Support for multidimensional channels, discrete values and calculated channels. Channels use ISO-MME location codes (composed of Test_Object, Position, Main_Loc, Fine_Loc, Dimension, Direction, Filter Class).
- Attributes such as default_filter_type and grouping (Possible_Channel_Group) help standardize signal handling.
- Results & multimedia
- Entities for photo, movie, diagram, report, and Image_History reference externally stored files while preserving descriptive metadata per ISO-MME.
- Units and dimensions
- Physical units and SI-based physical dimensions (exponents for length, mass, time, etc.) are represented using ASAM ODS entities.
- Test metadata
- Structured definitions for Type_Of_Test, Subtype_Of_Test, contact and requirement to capture administrative and legal/test-procedure context.
Applications
- Vehicle manufacturers (OEMs): standardize crash-test and active-safety test data across departments and suppliers.
- Test laboratories and certification bodies: exchange, archive and reproduce test datasets reliably for audits and regulatory submissions.
- Software/tool vendors: implement ASAM ODS-compliant repositories and XML import/export (VSIM) for data management, visualization and analysis tools.
- Researchers & integrators: combine sensor channels, video, and reports into consistent datasets for analysis, simulation feeding or long-term archiving.
Benefits include improved interoperability, long-term accessibility of safety data, and consistent channel naming using ISO-MME codes.
Related standards
- ISO/TS 13499 - Multimedia data exchange format for impact tests (ISO‑MME)
- ISO/PAS 22720 - ASAM Open Data Services (ASAM ODS) 5.0
Keywords: ISO/TS 22240:2008, VSIM, vehicle safety information model, ASAM ODS, XML, vehicle safety tests, ISO‑MME, channel code, test data exchange.