Virtual Testing of Autonomous Vehicles with PTV Vissim

Demonstrate acceptable reliability of AVs through simulation

Autonomous driving can be scary to some, but the many benefits can hardly be denied: Decreased congestion, reduced emissions, more efficient parking, lower transportation costs for everyone as well as a reduction in the cost of new roads and infrastructure. It would also significantly improve the mobility of elderly and disabled people. To achieve that automated future, autonomous vehicles would have to be driven millions of kilometres and sometimes billions to demonstrate their reliability. It would take hundreds of years to drive these kilometres – an almost impossible feat for many OEMs. Thankfully for you, these drives can easily be achieved through our simulation software, PTV Vissim.

An efficient alternative to real-world testing

PTV Vissim evaluates the behaviour of any level of automated vehicles virtually. You can create a comprehensive virtual testing environment representing real-world traffic conditions and infrastructure within our simulation software.

Through the simulation platform, you can examine the driving behaviour of autonomous vehicles and their impact on traffic flow. Thanks to the technology behind PTV Vissim, the software is capable of simulating autonomous vehicles depicting their own motion characteristics and their interaction with other connected or non-connected vehicles.

Digital twin of testbed centres

PTV Vissim can also be used to create a digital twin of testbed centres to facilitate the testing of AV controls in a real-world environment. For example, PTV Vissim was used by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) for the launch of Singapore’s first autonomous vehicle test centre called CETRAN. The AV test centre is designed to replicate the different elements of Singapore’s roads, with common traffic schemes, road infrastructure and traffic rules. 

Test all possible scenarios

Whether testing the behaviour of autonomous vehicles in the context of city traffic during rush hour, or on motorways, PTV Vissim provides a robust set of functionalities for conducting virtual reality tests in any possible situation for a wide range of customer interests from car manufacturers to transport authorities. With the provision of ready-to-use standard and customisable traffic scenarios, the software enables you to consider all local conditions, such as street or road types and behaviour of other vehicles in cities all around the world. Even the evaluation of extreme driving scenarios such as incidents or weather events in the simulation is possible.

High-fidelity simulation

Simulation is extremely valuable where the fidelity is high enough. PTV Vissim is fully integrated with other vehicle development tools like vehicle dynamics simulators including CarMaker to provide the level of fidelity required for detailed autonomous vehicle testing. With a wide range of flexible and customisable interfaces, the simulation tool is a perfect fit for any application used for the testing of autonomous vehicles connecting to other specialised software solutions like sensor simulation using PreScan.

Bypassing future uncertainty

Any level of automation can be simulated from Level One (Driver Assistance) to Level Five (Complete Automation). These can all be simulated in PTV Vissim accurately so that there is no uncertainty in the future. Questions such as what is the impact of 10%, 30%, 50% or even 100% implementation of AVs on the road, where is the tipping point, etc. can now be answered in our simulation software.