Google has developed a digital simulation in the style of "The Matrix"

Google asks state authorities to certify unmanned vehicles according to the results of virtual rather than real tests. For these purposes, Google has developed an advanced simulator in the style of "The Matrix", writes The Guardian. The simulator contains all the roads of the state, model cars, drivers and pedestrians - each with its own autonomous little "intelligence".

Google unmanned vehicles have already driven more than 6 million kilometers in the simulator, facing real-world driving situations such as undercutting cars, wobbling cyclists and unpredictable pedestrians.

According to the existing rules, the automaker must test a new model in “controlled conditions” that best fit the real road situation. Usually this means the use of a landfill or blocked city streets.
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But Google’s suggestion makes sense. The company's engineers explain that on the computers in the data center, they can test the behavior of the car in more situations that are very difficult or impossible to create in these conditions. For this, we would have to block the streets and entire city blocks, use other vehicles and pedestrians, possibly at risk to their lives.

Google believes that car testing rules do not take into account the use of simulators, because it is a relatively new tool. At the same time, without it, Google can not do when finalizing the software.

For example, recently for unmanned vehicles have developed a new system of emergency braking. Cars with her drove more than 15,000 km in the simulator. For example, such situations were checked when a car at high speed approaches an intersection. The program calculates the probability of whether the car can stop normally, lose grip during emergency braking and cross the stop line.

“In a few hours in the simulator, we can test thousands and thousands of scenarios that will actually borrow for decades,” says Google, Katelin Jabbari. - And it's not just about physics. When modeling a possible accident, emotional expectations of passengers and other drivers are also taken into account. ” For example, if an unmanned vehicle is cut by a truck, then it slows down more than it needs in physics, because with stronger braking, the passenger feels safer.



However, there are critics who strongly oppose testing in the simulator. They say that the simulation can not simulate the real reaction of other drivers to the actions of an unmanned vehicle.

The California Department of Transportation has so far rejected Google’s certification proposal for testing in a simulator. He confirmed that the car should be run-in at the landfill before obtaining permission to sell and free use of such machines.