Cross-Platform Driving Simulator Scenarios to Use in the Roadway Design and Planning Process

This research project was the Initial Collaboration Project for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) as proposed to the USDOT in the SAFER-SIM proposal under Theme Areas: 1. Using driving simulators to conduct virtual road safety audits, and 2. Using simulation in the roadway design process to drive the road before it is built. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate that safety-centered road designs and evaluations that rely on human-in-the-loop simulation through the use of driving simulators could be conducted using different simulator platforms. This was accomplished by demonstrating that a core scenario compatible across multiple driving simulation platforms could be created using standard 3D modelling practices and custom software tools and by leveraging existing simulator scenario authoring tools. For the purposes of this research, the core scenario was defined as the visual environment and the road surface definition required for the subject to ‘drive’ the scenario. This project utilized two different simulator architectures: 1. At University of Wisconsin Madison (UWM)– Realtime Technologies, Inc (RTI), and 2. At University of Iowa National Advanced Driving Simulator–NADS MiniSimTM. The primary development performed by NADS included development of texture algorithms and software to apply texture to arbitrary ribbon geometry (e.g., a road surface), and development of a software tool and workflow to facilitate managing the NADS tile model library, which is a collection of 3D visual models with associated metadata used to create driving simulation environments. This tool would automate the management of tile categories and permit importing new models into the tile model library without requiring the end-user of the tool to manually manipulate or edit key configuration files. The goal for this project was to allow simulator end-users to quickly import non-native model files into the Tile Mosaic Tool (TMT). Imported files would then be available for use as any other standard asset. This report is divided into two sections: one describing the texture mapping algorithm and tool development, and one describing the model integrator tool for importing third party models into the NADS virtual asset pipeline.

• Record URL:
  http://safersim.nads-sc.uiowa.edu/final_reports/UI-3-Y1_Report.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Safety Research Using Simulation University Transportation Center (SaferSim)

  University of Iowa
  Iowa City, IA  United States  52242

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Allen, Shawn
  • Beadle, Amanda
  • Horosewski, Vince
• Publication Date: 2016-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 55p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Algorithms; Data files; Driving simulators; Highway design; Highway planning; Highway safety; Safety audits; Simulation; Texture
• Uncontrolled Terms: Human in the loop simulation
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Design; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01667377
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 25 2018 11:43AM