PTV Vissim Automotive: PTV Group’s traffic simulation software with special features for the Automotive Industry

Karlsruhe 16 July 2024. PTV Group, part of the international brand Umovity, is unveiling a powerful new edition of its industry-leading traffic simulation software, specifically designed for the automotive sector: PTV Vissim Automotive offers a range of new, comprehensive functionalities to build a highly responsive digital testing environment for all vehicle types.

For automotive manufacturers, vehicle simulation has become an indispensable part of the product development process. In the virtual environment, testing can commence in the early stages of a project, even when the design is not yet mature enough for physical testing or when prototypes are unavailable. Simulations allow for a variety and volume of tests that would be virtually impossible in the real world. They reduce time and costs, enhance vehicle safety, and minimize environmental impact. The microscopic traffic simulation software PTV Vissim has been a trusted development tool in automotive engineering for many years, when it comes to integrating realistic traffic scenarios into the virtual test environment. For example for optimizing the range of electric vehicles during powertrain development or for validation of automated driving functions such as the Highway Assistant.

PTV Vissim Automotive now offers a powerful new set of functionalities, making microscopic traffic simulation in automotive development easier, faster, and applicable to new use cases. The software provides a dynamic closed-loop test environment with realistic, reactive, and behavior-model-based surrounding traffic. Traffic scenarios evolve dynamically based on the interactions among road users (cars, cyclists, pedestrians, public transport, etc.) and the traffic network, enabling long test drives and exploratory testing without the need to predefine specific scenarios.

This virtual test environment can simulate realistic traffic situations, such as urban rush hour with frequent acceleration and braking, or highway journeys with on- and off-ramps at challenging interchanges. The stochastic nature of the simulation allows for testing an infinite number of variants from the same initial situation or repeating specific, particularly relevant simulation sequences. The wide variety of traffic situations in the simulation significantly enhances the relevance of the tests compared to standard cycles or fixed scenarios. Even AI-supported scenario mining based on simulated traffic flow is possible.

Traffic Generation Wizard and other features

Intelligent automation and presets simplify and accelerate the use of Vissim Automotive. The software offers a range of intelligent presets for the driving behavior of surrounding traffic, enabling quick selection and setup. The intensity of the test environment can be adjusted with different driving styles, ranging from comfort-oriented to aggressive. In aggressive traffic scenarios, for example, there are closer cut-in maneuvers, posing a challenge for the vehicle under test and its automated driving functions. A new traffic generation wizard can instantly transform an empty network into a bustling traffic environment with surrounding traffic and route decisions, which can then be easily adjusted for varying traffic densities.

New Behavior Model for Automated Driving

To reproduce the driving behavior for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) as realistically as possible, Vissim Automotive has enhanced its standard following model, which reflects human behavior in road traffic, with a newly developed behavior model for automated vehicles with specific behaviors for longitudinal and lateral guidance.

Data and interfaces

Vissim Automotive offers interfaces to the most important industry solutions such as IPG CarMaker, dSpace ASM, Hexagon Virtual Test Drive or MathWorks  Simulink enabling comprehensive co-simulations. The software supports OpenDRIVE network imports up to the latest version 1.8, thanks to a significantly improved import function. Additionally, a newly developed importer for external elevation data allows for easy integration of elevation and gradient information into the traffic network, enabling accurate driving resistance simulations.

"In today's automotive landscape, simulation is an indispensable tool for developing safe, efficient and future-proof vehicles," said Christian U. Haas, CEO of PTV Group, part of Umovity. "We're thrilled to provide our customers with an even more powerful and specialized simulation solution. PTV Vissim Automotive is specifically designed to address the industry's evolving needs, from optimizing alternative powertrain performance to rigorously testing the safety of automated driving functionalities."