Benefit of smart infrastructure on urban automated driving - Using an AV testing framework

Safe and reliable automated driving is one key towards the future of mobility. We use smart road side infrastructure, which increases the field of view of road users, to step-up safety and reliability. We validate our claims regarding safety and reliability by extensive use of virtual testing. In this article we show our hardware-in-the-loop AV Testing Framework. We use a real vehicle computer, which is running open source planning and control algorithms, to demonstrate our findings. This computer is integrated in our testing framework, where we conduct complex urban traffic simulations with varying traffic demands and different traffic situations. The Field of View of the tested Automated Vehicle is increased using additional sensors mounted in the infrastructure. With road side infrastructure support, the 180 virtual test drives on an urban intersection, show a better performance in traffic efficiency and driving comfort. The simulated vehicle did not get stuck or was involved in collisions at any time.