A connected and autonomous vehicle hardware-in-the-loop simulator for developing automated driving algorithms

This paper is on a connected and autonomous vehicle hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) simulator for developing automated driving algorithms. This simulator allows the user to run highly realistic hardware-in-the-loop simulation of connected and autonomous driving functions. The HiL simulator of this paper consists of a dSPACE Scalexio system which runs Carsim Real Time with Traffic and Sensors and is connected to a dSPACE Microautobox electronic control unit and two Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) radios for V2X communication. The dSPACE Microautobox is the control unit in our actual autonomous vehicle which is a Ford Fusion Hybrid SE that has been completely automated. The development of the validated model of this vehicle which was used in the HiL simulator is presented first. Two applications are used to demonstrate the use of the HiL simulator in developing automated driving algorithms. The first one is a lane keeping controller that uses the soft camera sensor in the HiL model vehicle. The second one is a cooperative adaptive cruise control car following application that uses the two DSRC radios for vehicle to vehicle communication. The two applications are then combined together in the form of a very basic highway automated driving system. The aim is to extend this in the future to a basic Level 4 Highway Autopilot using the HiL simulator of this paper.