Our Solution

Sensor Testing and Simulation

dSPACE Sensor Testing and Simulation – Realistic Validation for ADAS and Autonomous Driving

dSPACE provides a comprehensive suite of Sensor Testing and Simulation solutions designed to validate camera, radar, and lidar sensors under realistic conditions—virtual environments, sensor hardware interfaces, and advanced HIL/SIL workflows.

What Is Sensor Simulation?

At its core, Sensor Simulation in the dSPACE ecosystem enables simulation of environment sensors—including radar, lidar, and camera—by executing physics-based sensor models in real time. These models generate raw sensor data, 3D point clouds, and target lists which feed directly into perception and ADAS ECUs for testing.

The platform supports deterministic real-time operation with high resolution, ensuring accurate, repeatable testing scenarios—even over 24/7 operation.

Core Platform: Sensor Simulation PC (HCP & HPP)

The Sensor Simulation PC is dSPACE’s high-performance hardware platform optimized for sensor modeling with GPUs and multicore CPUs. Two variants include:

  • HCP (High‑Core Performance): Ideal for complex sensor models requiring strong CPU performance.
  • HPP (High‑Parallel Performance): Equipped for larger multi-sensor setups with dual GPUs for parallel simulation.

Key features:

  • Preconfigured system for dedicated sensor simulation, no installation needed.
  • Fully integrated with dSPACE toolchain (HIL SCALEXIO, VEOS, AURELION, RTMaps).
  • Scalable multi-PC clusters for simulation of full vehicle sensor suites.

Software Integration: AURELION & Simulation Models

AURELION is a unified software solution for generating sensor-realistic data—including camera visuals (via real-time ray-tracing), lidar point clouds, and radar echoes—with matching ground truth metadata.

It operates across SIL, HIL, and cloud environments, allowing reuse of scenarios and test cases. Ideal for perception algorithm validation, data generation, and perception fusion testing

Simulation Models & Environments: dSPACE provides extensive model libraries for traffic scenarios, materials, road users, and sensors. These can be parameterized for dynamic simulation and realism in both validation and perception testing.

The Environment Sensor Interface (ESI) Unit

The ESI Unit enables synchronized injection of raw sensor data (camera, radar, lidar) into sensor ECUs via automotive-grade interfaces (e.g. GMSL, FPD-Link, MIPI).

Designed for HIL test benches, it supports up to 16 sensor channels with aggregated bandwidth beyond 50 Gb/s and FPGA-driven precision timing.

Use cases include both simulation-generated and recorded data replay—ideal for perception testing and sensor fusion development.

Use Cases & Workflows

  • HIL Testing: Connect Sensor Simulation PC or cluster to a SCALEXIO system for closed-loop HIL validation of perception and AD functions.
  • SIL / VEOS Testing: Offload sensor simulation to dedicated PC clusters during SIL testing, improving performance and modularity.
  • Scenario-Based Validation: Combine synthetic or recorded 3D environments with sensor models for robust corner-case testing. Measurement data and generated scenarios can be reused across sensor types.

Technical & Validation Benefits

  • High realism with ground truth data: AURELION outputs synchronized raw sensor data and pixel-perfect annotations for automated testing.
  • Modular and scalable: From single-sensor simulation to multi-PC distributed setups.
  • Interfaces for real-world integration: ESI unit supports mainstream automotive sensor interfaces for both simulation and live replay.
  • Certified compatibility: Sensors and simulation tools qualified per ISO standards and reused across HIL, SIL, and deployment environments.

Summary

dSPACE’s Sensor Testing & Simulation solutions—from the Sensor Simulation PC and AURELION to the ESI Unit—offer a unified, scalable, and validation-grade platform for sensor-based ADAS and autonomous driving systems. Whether running SIL, HIL, or cloud simulations, dSPACE enables early-stage, deterministic, and realistic assessment of perception algorithms and sensor hardware.

This ecosystem accelerates development cycles, increases test coverage, and supports seamless transitions from virtual simulation to real-world validation.

dSPACE strengthens sensor and environment simulation offerings for autonomous driving - Inside Autonomous Vehicles

For more details, please fill in your name and phone number/email, and a representative will get back to you soon.

Our Partners:

Would like to hear more?

Schedule a phone call
today!

On a call we will:

You can call us directly: