VTD is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Just occasionally something happens that intersects engineering simulation with my domestic world …. Recently some autonomous vehicle simulation colleagues, Karthik Krishnan and Yijun Fan, and I got into a deep discussion about whether MSC Software’s VTD (Virtual Test Drive) ADAS/AD simulation toolset can realistically simulate poor daylight on a murky day with complex reflections of rain water in puddles, and people with umbrellas walking nearby. We were particularly interested in a woman carrying an umbrella on a rainy day across a road being detected by the virtual ADAS sensor on the front of a self-driving car. This got us arguing (as engineers frequently do) about whether or not VTD could actually simulate a character flying with an umbrella in front of the car!
You can read the full post of our insights on this topic on this MSC Simulatemore Blog, but Mary Poppins, beloved of my six-year-old daughter immediately sprung to mind with the famous word that children like to sing along to. And, no surprise, VTD could simulate Mary flying in front of a self-driving car as an 'edge case' on a murky, rainy day if you put the data in. Read more about 'edge cases' and how we simulated others like a bull moose crossing the road photo-realistically in the full blog.
If you are interested in the case for openness in virtual autonomous test driving, I would encourage you to read the thoughtful White Paper by Karthik and Yijun entitled 'Open Standards - Essential for Self-Driving?' where they outline the case for the necessity of validating future autonomous vehicles through the billions of virtual test miles they will inevitably have to go through for safety and verification purposes before they get certified to drive on our roads. And do check out our recent free Virtual Test Drive for ADAS/AD e-Book is available for download from our website to see what GM, BMW and Audi are doing in this interesting space....
And now off to fly a kite with a six-year-old....