Mechanical Simulation Corporation, creator of CarSim and TruckSim, announced today it is making its industry-validated vehicle dynamics models available on the open and scalable NVIDIA DRIVE Constellation simulation platform, which is used for testing autonomous vehicles in the virtual world.
This means that every aspect of driving — from how long it takes the car to brake to how it performs on slippery roads — can be accurately recreated in simulation. The level of detail provided by the CarSim vehicle models, combined with the level of detail for the environment provided by DRIVE Sim, makes it possible for these tests to easily translate to real-world results.
DRIVE Constellation consists of two side-by-side servers in the data center. The first server, DRIVE Constellation Simulator, generates sensor output from the CarSim virtual car. The second server, DRIVE Constellation Computer, contains the DRIVE AGX Pegasus AI car computer, which receives the data, makes decisions and then sends vehicle control commands back to the simulator. This closed-loop process enables bit-accurate, timing-accurate hardware-in-the-loop testing and validation.
DRIVE Constellation is an open platform, offering a programming interface that allows users or ecosystem partners to incorporate their environment models, vehicle models, sensor models and traffic scenarios. By working with a variety of partners, the platform can generate comprehensive, diverse and complex testing environments.
Modeling Vehicle Dynamics
DRIVE Constellation simulates the environment, traffic scenario and behavior of the vehicle using dedicated models for each domain. The CarSim vehicle model simulates motion of the car in response to control inputs; like braking, steering and suspension, as well as real-world conditions, like slick or bumpy roads.
Since vehicle motion is so complex — 30,000 individual parts go into a single physical car — simulating it effectively requires a high-fidelity model. This ensures the tests performed in the virtual world accurately replicate real-world conditions.
Companies have been developing ways to test vehicle dynamics for years, including simulation. Because of the complexity of these vehicle models, automakers and Tier 1 suppliers have invested heavily in developing and validating their models.
With CarSim and TruckSim available on DRIVE Constellation, automakers and Tier 1s can get even more value out of their models by using them for autonomous vehicle testing.
Industry-Standard Addition to DRIVE Constellation
Mechanical Simulation’s CarSim and TruckSim models have become industry-standard tools for modeling vehicle dynamics and developing advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles. The models take into account all the complex vehicle subsystems, such as powertrain, steering behavior and aerodynamics, while also accurately replicating driver inputs for steering, acceleration and braking.
Automakers worldwide are already using these models to validate vehicle technology. With DRIVE Constellation, they can test it in a hardware-in-the-loop platform at scale.