Millimeter-wave radar simulator targets autonomous driving
OTSL Inc, a developer and vendor of short-range wireless and embedded systems, has announced a 3D real-time millimeter wave radar simulator for autonomous driving. The AMMWR2 (Advanced Millimeter Wave Radar Simulator 2) enables real-time dynamic simulation of autonomous driving; target audiences include automotive manufacturers, system suppliers that develop and produce vehicle sensors, and semiconductor manufacturers that develop sensor devices.
AMMWR2 is the successor to AMMWR, which was introduced to the market five years ago, and is designed to track the leaps in functionality and performance that have since occurred. “With advances in the application of autonomous driving, expectations are growing for advanced simulation technology capable of virtually reproducing all types of driving conditions and verifying and validating safety and accuracy,” explained Shoji Hatano, CEO, OTSL and OTSL Germany GmbH. However, current autonomous driving vehicles only have Level 2 or Level 3 capabilities according to SAE International standards. To achieve fully autonomous driving through system monitoring at SAE Level 5, it is essential to include simulation of potential accidents caused by electronic device defects and sensor failures, he said. “AMMWR2 is the only millimeter-wave radar sensor simulator that spans from the electronic device level, including semiconductors and sensors, to the realm of autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) simulation,” the OTSL chief said.
The device uses ray tracing, which has previously only been used in the field of optical simulation and unique reflection and diffraction models. It uses a special three-dimensional computer-generated Unreal Engine 4 (EPIC Games, Inc.) map that implements reflection and diffraction models of roads, street trees, streetlights, traffic signals, signs and other objects to achieve real-time simulation of dynamic objects. The development of original measurement methods and the creation of reflection models from the data obtained through measurement enables accurate simulation of the reflection of radar waves, even taking into account the shapes and materials of vehicles, pedestrians, traffic signals, signs and other objects. The strengthened partnership with COSIDE, a SystemC AMS design and simulation tool for semiconductors that supports design from the circuit design to the system design level, can create an environment where simulation can be performed entirely in software without the need for any hardware, such as sensors or electronic control units (ECUs), or even the vehicle itself.
AMMWR2 provides a number of important updates. These performance and functional improvements will enable shorter development and testing lead times for manufacturers working on autonomous driving technologies.
- – Acceleration of the simulation engine through internal code optimization and super parallel processing techniques. This has improved the performance of ray-traced simulations by a factor of 10 or more.
- – By strengthening the partnership with COSEDA Technologies GmbH, which develops the SystemC AMS design and simulation tool COSIDE, various radars can be used as custom models, in addition to the unique radar models based on automotive radars that Tier-1 supplies with OEM, including Bosch’s FR5CPEC and Continental’s ARS540.
- – AMMWR2 now supports integration with the open-source CARLA simulator, which is widely used for developing and testing algorithms for autonomous driving.
AMMWR2 will be unveiled at the ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology Expo, a trade show for autonomous driving technologies (June 21-23, 2022, Stuttgart, Germany), and is expected to begin shipping globally by the end of this year.
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