Google's Waymo leverages vehicle simulation software to improve its autonomous system's capabilities

May 23, 2018 | Case Study

In 2016, Rand Corporation published a report estimating that to achieve a high level of confidence that an autonomous vehicle (AV) system can prevent fatalities, the system must be tested for 11 billion miles. Although there are research groups like University of Michigan's Mcity investigating alternative testing methodologies to reduce the number of miles needed for validation, the industry has been looking to AV technology simulation software as a way to quickly reach the billions of miles needed. In August 2017, Waymo began publicly discussing its internally developed simulation software, Carcraft.