PTV Group and rFpro Partner to Deliver Realistic Traffic Simulation for ADAS and Autonomous Vehicle Development
- Seamless integration of PTV Vissim and rFpro for realistic co-simulation environments
- Closed loop interactions between high-fidelity vehicle and sensor models and large-scale traffic simulation
- Real-time DIL/HIL simulations and high-fidelity training data generated from the same scenarios
- Enhanced testing and validation of ADAS and autonomous driving systems in complex traffic scenarios
Karlsruhe 19 October 2026. PTV Group, part of the international brand Umovity, today announced the integration of PTV Vissim, its leading traffic simulation software, with rFpro, a high-fidelity driving simulation solution suite trusted by leading automotive manufacturers and motorsport organizations. By combining detailed traffic simulation with immersive vehicle-level driving simulation, the integration creates a powerful environment for developing, testing, and validating ADAS and autonomous driving technologies for both real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) applications as well as high-fidelity training dataset generation.
The new integration brings together the strengths of both simulation environments, enabling automotive engineers and researchers to evaluate vehicle behavior and automated driving functions in highly realistic, dynamic traffic scenarios.
rFpro is recognized for its physically accurate virtual worlds and road surface representations that are highly immersive for human drivers as well as vehicle and sensors models, making it a preferred solution for a wide range of vehicle development and validation programmes. PTV Vissim complements this with detailed, large-scale traffic simulation that realistically models interactions among vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, and traffic control systems.
The integration enables seamless co-simulation and consistency between the two environments, including a common road network and coordinate system that can be established through the widely-adopted ASAM OpenDRIVE standard. Closed loop interactions are achieved through PTV Vissim’s Driving Simulator Interface, which facilitates the exchange of vehicle positions, speeds, and orientations between the simulation environments. As a result, ego vehicles simulated in rFpro and AV elevate, powered by rFpro, can interact naturally with the surrounding traffic generated by PTV Vissim.
This combined solution enables users to recreate realistic urban and highway scenarios in which automated vehicles must respond to complex traffic conditions, vulnerable road users, and traffic signal operations. By bringing together high-fidelity vehicle and environment simulations and easy-to-define, realistic traffic behaviors, the fully-integrated simulation solution provides a comprehensive ecosystem for testing and validating ADAS and autonomous driving systems under real-world conditions.
"rFpro gives engineers highly-accurate virtual environments in which to test, and PTV Vissim now adds realistic traffic behaviours that react to the vehicles under test," says Matt Daley, Technical Director at rFpro. "Our AV elevate
simulation solution expands possibilities, enabling engineers to find out how an ADAS or automated driving system copes with real-world behaviours, such as vehicles cutting in aggressively or pedestrians stepping out into the road. This can all be done at great scale, safely and repeatably, long before testing occurs on public roads."
"The combination of PTV Vissim's realistic traffic simulation and rFpro's high-fidelity driving environment creates a powerful platform for automotive innovation," says Hilary Aylesworth, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Umovity Software by PTV Group. “As the industry accelerates the development of connected, automated, and autonomous vehicles, engineers need testing environments that accurately reflect the complexity of real-world traffic. Together, we are helping make that possible."
About rFpro
rFpro provides engineering-class simulation environments for the global mobility industry. Its solutions are used for the development, testing and validation of autonomous vehicles, ADAS, sensors, on-board control and hardware systems, vehicle dynamics and human factor studies. rFpro’s customers include the world’s largest car manufacturers, premier motorsport teams, tier one suppliers and sensor developers. The top ten OEMs that were early adopters of rFpro simulation solutions have successfully launched road cars which started their developments, not on physical test tracks or proving grounds, but in rFpro’s virtual environments. In 2019 rFpro was acquired by AB Dynamics plc.
PTV Group is a leading global software company for traffic planning, simulation, and real-time management. With more than 40 years of experience in the field of mobility, the Germany-based company provides software products based on proprietary algorithms ranging from microscopic and macroscopic modeling and simulation of traffic to real-time traffic management, benefiting more than 2,500 cities and municipalities. Bridgepoint acquired a majority stake in the company in January 2022 in order to further accelerate its growth together with shareholder Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Since 2023 PTV Group and Econolite are united under the brand Umovity.
Umovity (PTV Group & Econolite). Mobility for Humanity.
Umovity is a global market leader for end-to-end traffic management and transportation technology that takes a holistic approach to provide safer, smarter, and more sustainable Mobility for Humanity. Uniting the best-in-class solutions for intelligent traffic management systems, cloud-based adaptive traffic control, real-time traffic management software, controllers, cabinets, and sensor products by Econolite, and simulation and predictive modeling software by PTV, Umovity enables innovators and decision-makers in politics, municipalities, and industry to shape smart and livable communities, multimodal mobility, as well as Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV). For more information, visit www.umovity.com.
Media Assets
The integration of PTV Vissim with rFpro’s High-Fidelity Driving Simulation Platform creates a powerful environment for developing ADAS and autonomous driving technologies.