Dynamic Virtual Object Generation for Testing Autonomous Vehicles in Simulated Driving Scenarios

A method to provide a graphical display output including a simulation for testing a design for a vehicle, wherein the simulation includes a virtual roadway system for testing a virtual vehicle that represents the design for the vehicle in the simulation, the method comprising:

• extracting object data from a set of accident data stored on a non-transitory memory, wherein the object data describes an object included in the accident data that contributed to a roadway accident occurring in a real world;
• extracting behavior data from the accident data, wherein the behavior data describes an erroneous behavior of the object in the real world that contributed to the roadway accident occurring in the real world;
• receiving user input data that describes a frequency of the object behaving erroneously in the simulation and a severity of the erroneous behavior of the object in the simulation;
• constructing an error model that describes a virtual object that represents the object in the simulation, wherein the error model is constructed based on the object data, the behavior data and the user input data so that the virtual object behaves in the simulation based on the behavior data and the user input data;
• and
• generating the graphical display output including the simulation based on (1) a roadway model that describes the virtual roadway system, (2) a vehicle model that describes the virtual vehicle and (3) the error model, wherein the simulation includes graphics that graphically depict the virtual vehicle present on the virtual roadway system that includes the virtual object behaving dynamically in the simulation based on the error model.

A non-transitory memory comprising computer code which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform steps to provide a graphical display output including a simulation for testing a design for a vehicle, wherein the simulation includes a virtual roadway system for testing a virtual vehicle that represents the design for the vehicle in the simulation, the steps comprising:

• extracting object data from a set of accident data stored on a non-transitory memory, wherein the object data describes an object included in the accident data that contributed to a roadway accident occurring in a real world;
• extracting behavior data from the accident data, wherein the behavior data describes an erroneous behavior of the object in the real world that contributed to the roadway accident occurring in the real world;
• receiving user input data that describes a frequency of the object behaving erroneously in the simulation and a severity of the erroneous behavior of the object in the simulation;
• constructing an error model that describes a virtual object that represents the object in the simulation, wherein the error model is constructed based on the object data, the behavior data and the user input data so that the virtual object behaves in the simulation based on the behavior data and the user input data;
• and
• generating the graphical display output including the simulation based on (1) a roadway model that describes the virtual roadway system, (2) a vehicle model that describes the virtual vehicle and (3) the error model, wherein the simulation includes graphics that graphically depict the virtual vehicle present on the virtual roadway system that includes the virtual object behaving dynamically in the simulation based on the error model.