Closed-course testing has been, and continues to be, a fundamental part of vehicle safety evaluation. However, it has its limitations. Waabi has launched an alternative to closed-course track testing – mixed reality testing (MRT).
Test track limitations
As the automotive industry has evolved toward automation, closed-course testing has been adopted by autonomous vehicle (AV) developers, from basic driver assistance systems to self-driving technology spanning SAE levels two through five. Though the practice is valuable, test tracks have limitations.
Test tracks are often resource-intensive; and they are also difficult to reproduce constantly and precisely, and therefore cannot always act as a control. The diversity of scenarios is also limited, as real-world traffic involves millions of unique vehicles of every make and model, countless drivers and pedestrians, as well as all sorts of animals, debris and unexpected obstacles. A test track does not have access to these diverse scenarios. Developers may also find they are unable to test safety-critical scenarios as the use of real physical objects limits what can be assessed.
Specialized rigs, dummy props and sophisticated timing triggers have been designed as an attempt to solve some of these challenges, but they are expensive and fundamentally unrealistic.
Mixed reality testing
Waabi’s MRT enables the Waabi Driver to drive autonomously down a physical test track while simultaneously experiencing numerous intelligent, simulated actors that coexist in a hybrid reality, reacting with one another and to the physical world. The mixed reality works similarly to augmented reality goggles, blending the physical world with a virtual world.
Leveraging Onboard Waabi World, a version of Waabi’s neural simulator, developers can choose from new scenarios. To create these scenarios, Onboard Waabi World uses the physical sensor readings, which are modified so that the Waabi Driver can react to both the real and virtual elements, while driving in the physical world.
For example, traffic jams can materialize instantly, children can dart into the street from behind parked cars, animals can wander across the road, debris can appear in lanes creating hazardous obstacles, and emergency vehicles with flashing lights can suddenly appear ahead.
Intelligent alternate reality
All of the virtual elements in MRT exist within a 4D neural digital replica of the real world, where AI-powered actors behave with human-like unpredictability and intelligence, mirroring the chaotic nature of the real world. Infrastructure can be created or modified on demand.
The alternate reality is enabled by Waabi World’s sensor simulation capabilities, which modify the multimodal sensor data from the physical sensors mounted on the truck, including the lidar and cameras, in real time. The modified sensor data flows directly into the full onboard software stack, causing the Waabi Driver to respond to virtual scenarios as if they were physically present on the track.
The MRT environment is capable of continuous, uninterrupted operation, allowing for non-stop testing without the need for pauses or preparation between scenarios. This enables Waabi to perform significantly more tests than was previously achievable.
In related news, Toyota Motor North America has begun construction on over US$50m in new facilities for vehicle and automotive technology testing and development at the Arizona Proving Grounds, with most of the work expected to be completed later this year. Read the full story here
