A Vehicle-in-the-Loop Simulator with AI-Powered Digital Twins for Testing Automated Driving Controllers

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Zengjie, Badakis, Giannis, Galanis, Michalis, Bavarşi, Adem, van Hassel, Edwin, Alirezaei, Mohsen, Haesaert, Sofie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Zengjie
Badakis, Giannis
Galanis, Michalis
Bavarşi, Adem
van Hassel, Edwin
Alirezaei, Mohsen
Haesaert, Sofie
author_facet Zhang, Zengjie
Badakis, Giannis
Galanis, Michalis
Bavarşi, Adem
van Hassel, Edwin
Alirezaei, Mohsen
Haesaert, Sofie
contents Simulators are useful tools for testing automated driving controllers. Vehicle-in-the-loop (ViL) tests and digital twins (DTs) are widely used simulation technologies to facilitate the smooth deployment of controllers to physical vehicles. However, conventional ViL tests rely on full-size vehicles, requiring large space and high expenses. Also, physical-model-based DT suffers from the reality gap caused by modeling imprecision. This paper develops a comprehensive and practical simulator for testing automated driving controllers enhanced by scaled physical cars and AI-powered DT models. The scaled cars allow for saving space and expenses of simulation tests. The AI-powered DT models ensure superior simulation fidelity. Moreover, the simulator integrates well with off-the-shelf software and control algorithms, making it easy to extend. We use a filtered control benchmark with formal safety guarantees to showcase the capability of the simulator in validating automated driving controllers. Experimental studies are performed to showcase the efficacy of the simulator, implying its great potential in validating control solutions for autonomous vehicles and intelligent traffic.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_02313
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Vehicle-in-the-Loop Simulator with AI-Powered Digital Twins for Testing Automated Driving Controllers
Zhang, Zengjie
Badakis, Giannis
Galanis, Michalis
Bavarşi, Adem
van Hassel, Edwin
Alirezaei, Mohsen
Haesaert, Sofie
Robotics
Systems and Control
Simulators are useful tools for testing automated driving controllers. Vehicle-in-the-loop (ViL) tests and digital twins (DTs) are widely used simulation technologies to facilitate the smooth deployment of controllers to physical vehicles. However, conventional ViL tests rely on full-size vehicles, requiring large space and high expenses. Also, physical-model-based DT suffers from the reality gap caused by modeling imprecision. This paper develops a comprehensive and practical simulator for testing automated driving controllers enhanced by scaled physical cars and AI-powered DT models. The scaled cars allow for saving space and expenses of simulation tests. The AI-powered DT models ensure superior simulation fidelity. Moreover, the simulator integrates well with off-the-shelf software and control algorithms, making it easy to extend. We use a filtered control benchmark with formal safety guarantees to showcase the capability of the simulator in validating automated driving controllers. Experimental studies are performed to showcase the efficacy of the simulator, implying its great potential in validating control solutions for autonomous vehicles and intelligent traffic.
title A Vehicle-in-the-Loop Simulator with AI-Powered Digital Twins for Testing Automated Driving Controllers
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.02313