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+--- Thread: Research Mcity Test Facility unveils digital twin of itself (simulated design) (/thread-17022.html)
Mcity Test Facility unveils digital twin of itself (simulated design) - C C - Dec 16, 2024
Mcity unveils digital twin, making its physical AV testing facility available for free in the virtual world
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068427
INTRO: The first open-source digital twin of the Mcity Test Facility—the University of Michigan's test center for connected and autonomous vehicles and technologies—is now available to the public, giving researchers around the world a new free tool.
A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical environment that also exchanges data with that environment, enabling simulation and testing. The new Mcity digital twin, developed with support from the National Science Foundation, is the first open-source digital twin for mobility systems testing, including autonomous driving. It provides a faster, safer, less expensive way to test autonomous and connected vehicle software.
Researchers anywhere can use the facility's features—with a variety of road materials, markings, signals and intersections—to test their autonomous algorithms without having to make the trip to Ann Arbor.
"This takes our almost 10-year-old track and puts the digital replica directly over it," said Greg Stevens, Mcity's director of research. "That's a living, breathing manifestation of that physical track where people can do mixed reality testing and development."
The digital twin works with TeraSim, an open-source traffic simulator developed by Mcity researchers. It introduces other road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, and generates safety-critical events like potential collisions. Using traffic behavioral models calibrated with real-world data, it simulates both normal and high-risk driving scenarios.
Mobility officials have touted AVs, along with connected vehicles and infrastructure, as a path to safer, more efficient and equitable transportation. Still, a great deal of research remains ahead... (MORE - details)