TRUDI: Testing Environment for Vehicular Applications Running with Devices in the Loop

Vehicles will be equipped with short-range wireless technologies with the aim to improve safety and traffic efficiency. Novel applications are thus being implemented for future cars and trucks, and one of the main issues is how to conduct tests and optimizations in an effective way, limiting the need to perform costly and time consuming experiments on the road. To cope with this issue, we have implemented a simulator with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), called TRUDI, where the hardware and the implemented applications are tested in the laboratory by injecting virtual positions of the vehicles with the support of a traffic simulator. TRUDI acts as a man-in-the-middle between the communication module and the application itself, making it possible to perform tests with the real devices and providing as an output a system ready for the road. Using TRUDI, it is possible to check the application with a few vehicles and real wireless devices or many vehicles using simulated communication components before moving to experiments on the road. As an example use case, an application for the intersection management is presented, where the driver is warned of the presence and speed of other vehicles approaching the same junction.