An Application-Oriented Design Method for Networked Driving Simulation

Autonomous and cooperative vehicle systems represent a key priority in the automotive realm. In order to support the development, networked driving simulation can be utilized as a safe, cost-effective experimental replica of real traffic environments. In networked driving simulation, a group of independent systems collaborate to achieve a common task: multi-driver traffic scenario simulation. Different system complexity levels are necessary to fulfill the requirements of various application scenarios, such as development of vehicle systems, analysis of driving behavior, and training of drivers. With myriad alternatives of available systems and components, developers of networked driving simulation are typically confronted with high design complexity. There is no systematic approach to date for the design of networked driving simulation according to the application requirements. This paper presents a novel design method for networked driving simulation. The method consists mainly of a procedure model accompanied by a configuration software. The procedure model includes the necessary phases for the systematic design of application-oriented platforms of networked driving simulation. The configuration software embeds supportive decision-making processes that enable developers to create different system models. The design method was validated by generating system models and developing platforms of networked driving simulation for three different application scenarios.