Automotive Engineering - November/December 2021 - 19

SIMULATION FEATURE
SIMULATING A FASTER ROUTE
to ADAS and AV validation
The Simphera sim offers a cloud-agnostic implementation for public/private clouds on IT infrastructures and
open interfaces (REST API) for integration into existing workflows (CI/CD pipelines).
With its new cloud-based Simphera platform, dSpace responds to demand from
global automated-vehicle development teams to help manage their expanding,
complex workload.
by Paul Seredynski
A
lready a well-known provider of hardwarein-the-loop
(HIL) and software-in-the-loop
(SIL) systems, dSpace has launched a new
scalable, cloud-based simulation platform
called Simphera, designed to speed development of
automated and autonomous vehicles by managing
computation-intensive validation of their driving functions.
Its web interface and cloud architecture are
geared towards global development teams, and the
sim features reusable models and scenarios to permit
continuous testing on SIL and HIL platforms.
The Paderborn, Germany-based dSpace is responding
to growing demand within the advanced automated-driving
systems (ADAS) and autonomous-vehicle
(AV) development communities to help manage the
number of tests that require large and scalable computing
infrastructures. The new sim platform also
serves the increase in virtual tests frontloaded into
earlier phases of ADAS and AV development.
" Simphera will make life easier in all phases of development
and validation - from the initial idea of an
algorithm to the release test of an ECU, " said Tino
Schulze, executive VP of automated driving & software
solutions at dSpace. " By providing this integrated
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
solution, we not only accelerate development, but also make it more
efficient, thereby increasing our customers' return on investment. "
Simphera's capability also has been enhanced with the recent integration
of the BTC ScenarioPlatform (see sidebar).
Prepare, simulate, validate
The Simphera simulation platform is based around three key modules.
The first, Prepare, provides the tools needed to generate and
modify artifacts required for development or validation tasks, including
sophisticated (or dedicated) sensor-, road- and traffic-simulation
models. The Simulate component brings the plant model together
with the controller in specific scenarios within interactive simulations
and lets users check algorithm behavior via visualization and measurement
functions. The third component, Validate, helps users perform
scenario-based testing on a large scale.
The initial Simphera release is focused on providing validation solutions
for autonomous-driving functions, scenario-based testing and SIL
testing. According to dSpace, its reusable models permit a more seamless
transition to automated HIL tests, and the traceability in troubleshooting
reduces cost while speeding development homologation.
" Everybody knows dSpace from hardware, because we are one of
the pioneers in HIL, " explained Michael Peperhowe, lead product
manager at dSpace for simulation models and scenarios, automated
November/December 2021 19
dSPACE
Automotive Engineering - November/December 2021

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