3DCoAutoSim: Simulator for Cooperative ADAS and Automated Vehicles

The field of intelligent technologies that range from intelligent control systems to wireless communications and sensing technologies is rapidly increasing, advancing thus the research on the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) field and the related innovative intermodal transport services, traffic management and road safety. Driving simulators make it possible to study driver reactions in a controlled environment. Accordingly, this paper presents the design and development of a flexible, modular tailored simulation tool to the specific requirements for investigating the effect of automation and V2X communication on drivers. Moreover, the simulator is linked to Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) for micro traffic emulations and connected to Robot Operating System (ROS) for architecture management and nodes handling. The proposed simulator was validated through various driving experiments, which were carried out over a selected scenario trajectory. The obtained results were compared with the results from field tests and different path tracking algorithms for automated driving showing the outcome a good performance and efficient functionality.