Proof of concept for Scenario-in-the-Loop (SciL) testing for autonomous vehicle technology

Abstract

The paper presents a novel simulation concept for autonomous and highly automated road vehicles, called Scenario-in-the-Loop (SciL) testing. SciL can contribute to a more efficient development, testing and validation of driverless cars, which is a pressing question of our days. SciL based testing introduces a new approach capable to simulate and control realistic traffic scenarios around the autonomous vehicle under test realizing a Digital Twin technology for testing. For realistic traffic generation a high fidelity microscopic traffic simulator (SUMO) and for visualization the Unity 3D game engine are involved. The proposed testing methodology was proved with a real world autonomous car. As a test environment for SciL demonstration ZalaZONE Smart City Zone was used. Two different traffic scenarios (platooning and valet parking with pedestrian dummy) have been successfully tested and demonstrated.