A digital twin of the Mcity Test Facility, the University of Michigan’s state-of-the-art facility for testing connected and autonomous vehicles, is now available to the public for research and testing.
The university calls the virtual replica the first open-source digital twin for mobility systems testing. The virtual environment was created with help from a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
“This takes our almost 10-year-old track and puts the digital replica directly over it,” Greg Stevens, Mcity’s director of research, said in a press release. “That’s a living, breathing manifestation of that physical track where people can do mixed reality testing and development.”‘
The renowned testing grounds are used by automakers like Ford and top researchers to develop self-driving and connected vehicle technologies. With the tool, developers can test autonomous vehicles in the digital twin before real-world testing and without a trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Mcity digital twin includes roads, markings, signals, and intersections. It works with TeraSim, a traffic simulator that adds pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers. The software simulates events like near-collisions to test safety systems thoroughly.
The automotive industry was an early adopter of digital twin technology in the early 2000s. The detailed digital models of vehicles and components, which reflect their physical counterparts in real-time, are used for design, testing, and manufacturing processes.
Today, digital twins are used for everything from simulating crash tests and optimizing aerodynamics to predicting maintenance needs in connected vehicles. The technology is growing rapidly as automakers seek to reduce costs and accelerate innovation.