Tool for virtual test driving expands the possibilities for testing ADAS functions

Vector has released the new version 6 of DYNA4, the tool for virtual test driving. It expands the opportunities for testing ADAS functions through numerous improvements in the environment sensor models and the visualisation of scenarios. Furthermore, users benefit from new functions of the simulation standards ASAM OSI for sensor data communication and the road network ASAM OpenDRIVE.

With release 6, the simulation environment for virtual test driving provides many improvements for the development and testing of modern driver assistance functions. One of the main priorities is the real-time, close-to-reality modelling of the environment. A technological leap in graphic computing for 3D visualisation and camera image generation promotes the consistent application of physical lighting parameters in driving scenarios. This allows developers to test camera-based control systems in challenging lighting situations, including backlighting or strongly differing light intensities. To accomplish this, camera images are generated with an HDR and can then be arranged as a Bayer matrix. The solution further provides ASAM OSI ground truth information. The object information identified through image processing can be directly validated based on this information. The same also applies to other sensor technologies, including lidar, ultrasound or radar.

The solution is based on simulation standards and comprises a variety of interfaces to maximise the possibilities when employing the virtual test drives in an existing tool infrastructure. Based on the use of the ASAM OSI standard in DYNA4, object-based sensors are able to transmit information as OSI messages. Other applications receive this data to process them. For example, CANoe, where the data is utilised for remaining bus simulation in HIL mode and displayed in the Scene Window. ASAM OSI, therefore, considerably lessens the effort needed to set up and maintain the interfaces between the simulation and the sensors or ECU functions.

Thanks to the optimisation of the model structure, the new version 6 is more user-friendly in the consistent use from MIL, SIL to HIL. It is now even simpler to combine controller components into the virtual test vehicle. Different variants and development versions of a controller component can be exchanged with each other while the model interface remains constant, with no need for any further model changes. Moreover, flexible access to signal and control variables in the model has been simplified, allowing to manipulate them dynamically throughout a test run.