A Testing and Evaluation Method for the Car-Following Models of Automated Vehicles Based on Driving Simulator

The continuous advancement of connected and automated driving technologies has garnered considerable public attention regarding the safety and reliability of automated vehicles (AVs). Comprehensive and efficient testing is essential before AVs can be deployed on public roads. Current mainstream testing methods involve high costs in real-world settings and limited immersion in numerical simulations. To address these challenges and facilitate testing in mixed traffic scenarios involving both human-driven vehicles (HDVs) and AVs, we propose a testing and evaluation approach using a driving simulator. Our methodology comprises three fundamental steps. First, we systematically classify scenario elements by drawing insights from the scenario generation logic of the driving simulator. Second, we establish an interactive traffic scenario that allows human drivers to manipulate vehicles within the simulator while AVs execute their decision and planning algorithms. Third, we introduce an evaluation method based on this testing approach, validated through a case study focused on car-following models. The experimental results confirm the efficiency of the simulation-based testing method and demonstrate how car-following efficiency and comfort decline with increased speeds. The proposed approach offers a cost-effective and comprehensive solution for testing, considering human driver behavior, making it a promising method for evaluating AVs in mixed traffic scenarios.