How traffic simulations enable a faster mobility development in the automotive industry

The automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation, driven by increasing electrification, automation, interconnectivity, and a shift toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs) with centralized computing clusters. These advancements, coupled with rapidly evolving market demands, necessitate an accelerated product development cycle to reduce time to market. Virtual test centers and simulation tools play a critical role in speeding up development, improving cost efficiency, and enabling the testing of complex scenarios, such as autonomous driving in urban environments. 

At Toyota Technical Development Corporation (TTDC), we recently introduced a new ‘Digital Development DOJO’ as a digital development facility in Aichi, Japan. This advanced digital evaluation environment leverages a wide range of simulation tools, including PTV Vissim for microscopic traffic simulation and PTV Viswalk for microscopic pedestrian simulation. 

Overcoming barriers to Simulation Adoption

Despite the immense benefits of simulation in vehicle development, we see several barriers still hinder its widespread and efficient use as a standard tool. These include: 

Development environment installation: Allocating work hours for initial setup and assessing cost-effectiveness. 

Establishment and utilization: Creating high-accuracy models, integrating various tools, and ensuring employees are adequately trained. 

Further efficiency improvement: Automating processes, standardizing evaluation environments, and introducing methods for continuous technological enhancement. 

The ‘DOJO’: A Training Ground for Mobility Innovation

In Japanese, a dojo is a place where martial artists (Judo, Karate) refine their skills. In the same spirit, TTDC’s ‘Digital Development Center Digital Development DOJO’ serves as a training ground for mobility innovation, providing an environment for developing mobility controls – control algorithms for automated driving functions, advanced driver assistance systems, and powertrain strategies. These control strategies cover extensively from electric motor operation to advanced vehicle component controls running on an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). 

Our Dojo supports rapid control development for mobility technologies by integrating simulation tools, introducing necessary equipment, and seamlessly embedding them into the development process. It offers a flexible simulation environment that combines various software tools into a scalable platform, ready to be applied across different aspects of automotive development. In addition, the Dojo also offers training for the engineers.  

This service effectively removes barriers that previously hindered the adoption of simulation environments, accelerating progress toward a carbon-neutral future and next-generation mobility systems featuring automated vehicles. 

Digital Twin Verification Platform to simulate pedestrian-vehicle interaction

One of the key simulation tools showcased at the Dojo is DiIMo (Digital Inclusive Mobility), a digital twin platform that simulates human behaviors, predictions, and virtual experiences using real environmental data and pedestrian-vehicle interaction models. 

DiIMo is an interactive multi-simulator that allows users to experience different roles – such as pedestrians and drivers – within the same virtual space. Multiple users can interact in a dynamic traffic environment that replicates real-world cityscapes such as Nagoya and Toyota City, among others. 

The system measures driving and walking characteristics, collecting data that can then be used to develop more human-centered mobility solutions. 

Enhancing Virtual Traffic Reality

We integrated microscopic traffic simulation tool PTV Vissim and the pedestrian simulation tool PTV Viswalk into DiIMo. This enables users to interact with a highly realistic traffic environment populated by intelligent traffic agents. 

By changing the traffic parameters, users or test-driving systems can experience driving and walking in various traffic situations – from smooth traffic flow to congestion, and explore different levels of driving aggression. 

The fusion of human-centered DiIMo and traffic-centered PTV Vissim enables city planning evaluations alongside human behavioral assessments. As the virtual test environment continuously collects and analyzes individual behavioral data, it evolves dynamically, producing increasingly realistic and insightful traffic situations. This allows for deeper evaluations of human behavior and traffic system efficiency, paving the way for smarter, safer, and more efficient mobility solutions.