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Main Authors: Kaiser, Michael, Groß, Clemens, Otto, Lisa Marie, Müller, Steffen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21859
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author Kaiser, Michael
Groß, Clemens
Otto, Lisa Marie
Müller, Steffen
author_facet Kaiser, Michael
Groß, Clemens
Otto, Lisa Marie
Müller, Steffen
contents Testing and evaluating automated driving systems (ADS) in interactions with vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as cyclists, are essential for improving the safety of VRUs, but often lack realism. This paper presents and validates a coupled in-the-loop test environment that integrates a Cyclist-in-the Loop test bench with a Vehicle-in-the-Loop test bench via a virtual environment (VE) developed in Unreal Engine 5. The setup enables closed-loop, bidirectional interaction between a real human cyclist and a real automated vehicle under safe and controllable conditions. The automated vehicle reacts to cyclist gestures via stimulated camera input, while the cyclist, riding a stationary bicycle, perceives and reacts to the vehicle in the VE in real time. Validation experiments are conducted using a real automated shuttle bus with a track-and-follow function, performing three test maneuvers - straight-line driving with stop, circular track driving, and double lane change - on a proving ground and in the coupled in-the-loop test environment. The performance is evaluated by comparing the resulting vehicle trajectories in both environments. Additionally, the introduced latencies of individual components in the test setup are measured. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and highlight its strengths and limitations for realistic ADS evaluation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_21859
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evaluating Interactions between Automated Vehicles and Cyclists using a coupled In-the-Loop Test Environment
Kaiser, Michael
Groß, Clemens
Otto, Lisa Marie
Müller, Steffen
Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
Testing and evaluating automated driving systems (ADS) in interactions with vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as cyclists, are essential for improving the safety of VRUs, but often lack realism. This paper presents and validates a coupled in-the-loop test environment that integrates a Cyclist-in-the Loop test bench with a Vehicle-in-the-Loop test bench via a virtual environment (VE) developed in Unreal Engine 5. The setup enables closed-loop, bidirectional interaction between a real human cyclist and a real automated vehicle under safe and controllable conditions. The automated vehicle reacts to cyclist gestures via stimulated camera input, while the cyclist, riding a stationary bicycle, perceives and reacts to the vehicle in the VE in real time. Validation experiments are conducted using a real automated shuttle bus with a track-and-follow function, performing three test maneuvers - straight-line driving with stop, circular track driving, and double lane change - on a proving ground and in the coupled in-the-loop test environment. The performance is evaluated by comparing the resulting vehicle trajectories in both environments. Additionally, the introduced latencies of individual components in the test setup are measured. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and highlight its strengths and limitations for realistic ADS evaluation.
title Evaluating Interactions between Automated Vehicles and Cyclists using a coupled In-the-Loop Test Environment
topic Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21859