Simulation Technology: The Key to Making Safe Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are one of the major achievements of the automotive industry, but there is a need to overcome several challenges to make them safe for users.

For the development of safe autonomous vehicles, it is mandatory to test the vehicles on different parameters before making them available for public use.

The traditional approach for testing was not much successful in examining the actual and accurate problems that may occur on the roads for autonomous vehicles.

So, to determine the possible threats of self-driving vehicles, autonomous simulator technology can play a vital role and provide better solutions. Using this technology, autonomous vehicle manufacturers can get a better idea of the possible threats a vehicle may face on the road and make necessary changes to make it safer for the users.

This article talks about the role of simulation technology in improving the safety levels in autonomous vehicles. But first, let’s quickly take an overview of autonomous vehicles.

Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles refer to those vehicles that require no human intervention.

These vehicles use advanced technologies such as the global positioning system (GPS), odometry, inertial measurements, sonar, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR)for identifying the driving-related changes on the road and controlling the vehicle’s features such as speed.

As per the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.5 million people lose their lives in road accidents every year and most of them are in the age group of 15–30.

So, the key objective for the development of autonomous vehicles is to ensure lesser traffic jams and better safety levels on the road.

However, the biggest challenge that the automotive industry is facing today in autonomous vehicles is safety concerns.

Role of Simulators for Autonomous Vehicles

There are primarily two steps involved in making a vehicle autonomous:

· Proper training for better driving capabilities

· Implementing the knowledge gained during the training in real time

There are several cases of autonomous vehicles where these vehicles have resulted in accidents because of the system failure in scanning the traffic warnings. To reduce such road problems and ensure better safety levels in autonomous vehicles, the demand for autonomous simulator technology is rising.

As per BIS Research, the global autonomous vehicle simulation solutions market is projected to touch the market value of $2.97 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 13.4% during the period 2022–2031.

Get your FREE sample report on the global autonomous vehicle simulation solution market

Simulator technology is the key element for the automotive industry in ensuring whether the technology used in autonomous vehicles is safe or not for the users before deploying them on the road.

In simulation technology, engineers help in identifying the challenging situation which can be encountered by autonomous vehicle users on the road.

Later, these challenges are turned into virtual situations by engineers through autonomous driving simulators software. It helps experts and autonomous manufacturers in analyzing and overcoming the issues for raising the safety levels of autonomous vehicles.

Platform for Autonomous Vehicle Simulation

There are various open simulators available for testing autonomous vehicles in the market.

Carla and Udacity autonomous vehicle simulators are among the two most preferred software.

The simulator needs to be installed with a different software before it can be used for testing. However, the outcome of this software is high in accuracy and can let the automotive manufacturers use different types of approaches for testing, such as the computer vision approach.

Also, this software can provide an option of testing the vehicles in different games such as GTA, NFS, etc.

Benefits of Autonomous Simulator Technology for Automotive Industry

Since simulation is done in a virtual world, it continues to be less expensive, providing better insights about autonomous vehicles and is less time-consuming too.

Simulation technology is the only way of practically examining the performances of autonomous vehicles instead of doing test driving for miles.

Following are the benefits of autonomous simulator technology in the automotive industry:

• Reduction in production time
• Reduce costs of the automotive products
• Improve the quality of the products

With simulation, automotive companies can economically and quickly finish the designing process for different technologies required by autonomous vehicles (such as LiDAR systems and lithium-ion batteries).

The simulation technology can also help in solving numerous challenges connected to the development of the autonomous vehicle. It allows the designers to virtually test various driving situations to check the autonomous vehicle’s technology, such as cameras, sensors, LiDARs, and actuators.

Market Overview of Autonomous Vehicle Simulation Solutions

The automotive industry is going through several advancements and changes leading to a change in the consumer’s behavior toward adopting zero carbon emission vehicles, but due to safety reasons, consumers are not able to do so.

As of now, the automotive industry and several other technology providers are focusing on raising the safety levels of autonomous vehicles, which is constantly increasing the demand for autonomous vehicle simulators.

Performing field trials on an autonomous vehicle with unverified technology can lead to critical situations because a single mistake while driving can result in an unseen and unexpected accident.

As a result, autonomous vehicle simulation technology is available in the market for ensuring safety and getting better outcomes of the simulation tests.

Major factors fueling the demand for autonomous vehicle simulation include:

• Rising demand for a reliable transport approach for better road safety
• Reduction of cost in development, training, and production of autonomous vehicles
• Growing need for virtual testing of autonomous vehicles before hitting the actual road to decrease unanticipated accidents

Conclusion

Simulation technology is not only suitable for the driving aspects but can also help in improving the consumer experience. In the coming years, simulation can help in different ways and let the consumer have better safety levels while using autonomous vehicles. Also, it can help in raising the demand for autonomous vehicles, which can help in decreasing the carbon emission level coming out of fossil-fuel vehicles.