Driving simulation company, rFpro, has launched the world’s first commercially available platform to train and develop autonomous vehicles in simulation. Using a digital environment to accurately represent the real world, the technology enables vehicle manufacturers to test their systems in every scenario imaginable.

Chris Hoyle, rFpro technical director said, “Autonomous vehicles are the future, but debate is rising about whether these vehicles should be allowed on our roads, if not, how do we develop them? Our platform enables vehicle manufacturers to thoroughly test their technology and be absolutely confident in their systems before validation on real roads. The vehicle hardware, such as the cameras and sensors, are already approaching the level required to achieve a fully autonomous world but it is the ‘brain’, the vehicles ability to make appropriate decisions, that needs to be further developed.”

The key to rFpro’s platform is the level of accuracy achieved replicating the real world in simulation. This enables the various sensors used for autonomous vehicles to react naturally and therefore test results are completely representative. The company has been producing a library of real roads created through highly-precise scanning technology, which forms the basis of the simulation. As it is a digital platform, users have control of all the variables, such as traffic, pedestrians, weather and location, enabling them to test every eventuality.

The technology has been developed over the last three years and has already been adopted by two major vehicle manufactures and three autonomous car developers. It is also being used by a driver-less motorsport series.