The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Exoskeletons
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Markets
    • Agriculture
    • Healthcare
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Mining
    • Security
  • Financial
    • Investments
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Earnings
  • Resources
    • Careers
    • COVID-19
    • Digital Issues
    • Publications
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
      • Robotics Business Review
    • RBR50 Winners 2022
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
    • Leave a voicemail

Waymo SimulationCity is a powerful tool for testing autonomous driving

By Mike Oitzman | July 6, 2021

Listen to this article
Voiced by Amazon Polly
Waymo Driver simulation of freeway

Waymo Simulation City is the test bed for Waymo Driver intelligence. | Image credit: Waymo

In a recent blog post, Waymo has taken the wraps off of the simulation software that it developed to help train the Waymo Driver Artificial Intelligence (AI). The software environment, called SimulationCity, is an internally developed environment that provides enough detail and fidelity that it doubles as a test environment for Waymo Driver perception and decision making.

SimulationCity provides a high fidelity simulation environment

According the company, SimulationCity is “enabled by the more than 20 million autonomous miles the Waymo Driver has collected on public roads, third-party data such as NHTSA Crash Data Systems and Naturalistic Driving Study Data, Waymo’s unique access to Alphabet’s state-of-art technical infrastructure, and the culmination of advancements in sensor simulation and machine learning techniques in areas such as intelligent agents, object trajectory generation, and high-quality automated data labeling.”

A split screen image showing the real world versus a simulation of the same scene in SimuilationWorld

The rendering engine within Waymo SimulationCIty enables the Waymo Driver engineering team to test routes. | Image credit: Waymo

The goal of any simulation tool is to test code and/or train AI-based algorithms. While the principles behind simulation started with video games, the concepts, tools, rendering and compute infrastructures that have grown up alongside the gaming world are now being employed for very real world problems. These environments need to have sufficient details such that sensors can leverage the simulated physics of the virtual world to enable the testing of the actual algorithms that will be used to control a real vehicle, in the real world.

The primary objective is to evaluate the performance of software and to also provide reinforcement training situations for the machine learning models. Simulation shortens the timelines while providing a massively accelerated testing period.

In addition to intra-city routes, Waymo has also generated simulated worlds and test environments for long-hauling trucking applications. According the blog, simulated worlds can be setup to test how Waymo Driver reacts to aggressive drivers as well as adverse environmental and lighting conditions (dusk or dawn).

To experience what it’s like to ride in a Waymo driven taxi, be sure to listen to the recent The Robot Report Podcast episode where Steve and Mike interview a passenger who experienced a real-world glitch in Waymo’s reaction to road construction. Waymo is working overtime to ensure that real-world, paying passengers have a positive experience, while they continue to perfect the system.

Takeaways

Waymo is well along the path to autonomy in autonomous vehicles, even if there is still a long road ahead to true Level 5 autonomy. Simulation is one of the keys to safely accelerating this journey. In the recent Waymo SimulationCity blog article, the company gives us a peak under the hood at the tools that they are using to improve their software and AI quality.

Waymo will continue to leverage the ongoing advancements in the underlying AI-processing and compute advancements. It is to be expected that every other autonomous driving company will also employ simulation to model, test and validate their software and control algorithms.

You may also like:

  • Waymo May 2020
    Waymo raises $2.5B for autonomous vehicle development
  • Top 10 transactions in robotics in 2020
    Waymo One now lets you book rides via Google Maps

  • Confused Waymo robotaxi shows challenges of scaling AVs

About The Author

Mike Oitzman

Mike Oitzman is Editor of WTWH's Robotics Group and founder of the Mobile Robot Guide. Oitzman is a robotics industry veteran with 25-plus years of experience at various high-tech companies in the roles of marketing, sales and product management. He can be reached at [email protected]

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles Read More >

waymo
UN allows autonomous vehicles to drive up to 130 km/h
Brian Gerkey with ROS Humble Hawksbill logo behind him
Brian Gerkey on the success of Open Robotics and ROS
june top 10 image
Top 10 robotic stories of June 2022
STARFISH gripper
RE2 hits technical milestone with STARFISH robotic gripper

2021 Robotics Handbook

The Robot Report Listing Database

Latest Robotics News

Robot Report Podcast

Brian Gerkey from Open Robotics discusses the development of ROS
See More >

Sponsored Content

  • Magnetic encoders support the stabilization control of a self-balancing two-wheeled robotic vehicle
  • How to best choose your AGV’s Wheel Drive provider
  • Meet Trey, the autonomous trailer (un)loading forklift
  • Kinova Robotics launches Link 6, the first Canadian industrial collaborative robot
  • Torque sensors help make human/robot collaborations safer for workers

RBR50 Innovation Awards

Leave us a voicemail

The Robot Report
  • Mobile Robot Guide
  • Collaborative Robotics Trends
  • Field Robotics Forum
  • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
  • RoboBusiness Event
  • Robotics Business Review
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About The Robot Report
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Exoskeletons
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Markets
    • Agriculture
    • Healthcare
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Mining
    • Security
  • Financial
    • Investments
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Earnings
  • Resources
    • Careers
    • COVID-19
    • Digital Issues
    • Publications
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
      • Robotics Business Review
    • RBR50 Winners 2022
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
    • Leave a voicemail