AImotive, a specialist in AD and ADAS technology, has released aiSim 3.0, the next generation of its ISO 26262-certified simulator for the development and validation of ADAS and AD systems. The new simulator brings multi-node and multi-client capability together with physics-based sensor simulation, which the company says enables high and measurable correlations between virtual and real-world testing from large-scale software-in-the-loop testing to real-time environments.
Multi-client support allows several ego vehicles or multi-ECU control systems to be placed in the same virtual environment to test interactions between numerous automated vehicles or system components. Meanwhile, the multi-node feature enables the distribution of sensor simulation to multiple computers to simulate physics-based models efficiently, even for the most complex sensor setups during real-time, hardware-in-the-loop testing.
AImotive states that the sensor simulation framework builds on the Khronos Group’s Vulkan API to improve multi-GPU raytracing performance. Vulkan creates a transparent pipeline for the simulation of various sensor modalities (cameras, radars, lidars) and efficiently shares tasks between available GPU resources. Since Vulkan is an open standard, aiSim runs from the cheapest notebook to the largest cloud cluster on all compatible systems, regardless of the manufacturer.
Szabolcs Jánky, aiSim product manager at AImotive, noted, “Virtual validation is the key for the mass deployment of AD features. After aiSim 2.0 became the world’s first ISO 26262, ASIL-D-certified simulator, with aiSim 3.0 we have created the next generation to support the entire automotive development process. It brings fidelity, automation and efficiency to any virtual validation and verification toolchain.”