▲Photo of autonomous vehicle simulation (Source: Seoul Metropolitan Government Urban Transportation Office Traffic Information Division)


Reflecting road, traffic conditions, and weather conditions… ‘World-class’ implementation environment
Digital twin technology enables control and autonomous vehicle safety verification

Starting on the 28th, Seoul City will open its autonomous vehicle simulator, which allows for online mock driving, to the public free of charge.

Seoul City announced on the 27th that as part of the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone C-ITS construction project being promoted together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it will apply digital twin technology to vividly implement the “Sangam Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone Virtual Reality World” that is identical to reality.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government expects that this free opening of the autonomous driving simulator will provide ample opportunities for online operation verification and technology development ahead of actual operation of the “Sangam Autonomous Vehicle Demonstration Operation Zone,” while also creating an opportunity to promote the safety and industrialization of autonomous vehicles.

Based on a 3D high-definition (HD) road map that expresses even lanes, a virtual reality world specialized for autonomous driving was implemented using digital twin technology that reflects the urban environment such as buildings and street trees, actual road and traffic conditions, protection zones such as child protection zones, and even weather conditions such as snow and rain.

Seoul City is providing universities and research institutes with the world's best autonomous driving simulation simulator implemented with digital twin technology so that anyone can use it without time or place restrictions.It is planned to be open to small businesses, startups, and overseas companies free of charge.

Up until now, autonomous vehicle simulators have been sold mainly as expensive (100 million to 200 million won) foreign products, and since autonomous vehicle-related universities and companies had to build the road and traffic environment data themselves for simulated driving, it required a lot of cost and effort.

On the other hand, the simulator being opened this time is not only free, but it is also provided with buildings, roads, traffic environments, and even weather conditions implemented, so it can be used immediately without the cost and time required to build data for autonomous vehicle simulation driving, and it is expected to serve as a catalyst for the development of autonomous driving technology.

In particular, convenience is expected to be greatly improved by providing various evaluation scenarios in demo form, such as △changing lanes according to the route, △avoiding illegal parking, △recognizing traffic signals and complying with stop lines, and △avoiding pedestrians in blind spots, which are essential for autonomous vehicle operation.

In addition, since users can freely manipulate the simulated driving environment, verification is possible that is difficult in an actual environment, such as weather conditions (bad weather, changes in sunlight by time of day, etc.) and unexpected situations such as collisions with jaywalking pedestrians.

The simulator was not made using foreign technology, but was made entirely with domestic technology in collaboration with SK Telecom and MORAI, a company specializing in autonomous driving virtual reality construction. The city expects that this will serve as an opportunity to widely publicize domestic autonomous vehicle simulator technology to the global market.

▲Car simulator homepage initial screen (Source: Car simulator homepage)

The autonomous vehicle simulator will be open online and will be operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.Anyone can use it by completing a simple membership registration process on the TOPIS homepage (http:://topis.seoul.go.kr ⇨ Introduction to TOPIS ⇨ Click on Autonomous Vehicle Simulator).

The city plans to use the digital twin-based autonomous driving virtual reality platform not only for precise autonomous vehicle control and simulation driving, but also for autonomous vehicle safety evaluation.

This is a plan to verify safety in advance by mandating the submission of simulation test results prior to actual driving when issuing paid transportation permits for autonomous vehicles, and to implement a system that evaluates in real time compliance with the obligation to manually drive in child protection zones, sudden acceleration/deceleration, and driving ability in various dangerous situations during actual autonomous vehicle operation, thereby supporting the prevention of autonomous vehicle accidents and alleviating citizens' safety concerns about autonomous vehicles.

Seoul City plans to expand the autonomous driving virtual reality territory based on digital twins to major areas of the city in the future, starting with Sangam, Gangnam, downtown areas, and roads with exclusive central bus lanes.

Baek Ho, the head of Seoul’s Urban Transportation Bureau, said, “Seoul is the undisputed best autonomous driving city in Korea by opening an era of autonomous vehicle commercial transportation that can be used by all citizens.” He added, “By opening and expanding the world’s best digital twin-based autonomous vehicle simulation platform, we will gradually achieve our goals so that we can become an ‘open autonomous driving commercialization city’ that global companies seek out for technology verification and demonstration.”