An integrated framework combining a traffic simulator and a driving simulator

Driving simulation has been used for many years now in research, industry and training to simulate virtual driving conditions. This is largely because simulation saves engineering time and costs, and virtual situations provide an easier and safer way to carry out road and traffic safety studies. Scenarios or scenes that realistically reproduce traffic behaviour according to the traffic flow theory has been developed since the 1980s and traffic simulators are a widely used technology in the research, planning, evaluation and development of new traffic systems (for instance Intelligent Traffic Systems). The aim of this paper is to explain how providing a simulation framework based on the integration of a driving simulation engine and a traffic simulation can respond to the issues addressed by offering multi-level and multi-domain simulation models. This paper describes the integration of the driving simulator SCANER and the traffic simulator Aimsun, where the driving simulator (including visual, audio and kinaesthetic restitution) manages the simulation in the immediate driver environment and the traffic simulator manages the whole road network situation, creating a large-scale, realistic and minutely detailed virtual world.