Realistic 3D Simulators for Automotive: A Review of Main Applications and Features.

Recent advancements in vehicle technology have stimulated innovation across the automotive sector, from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to autonomous driving and motorsport applications. Modern vehicles, equipped with sensors for perception, localization, navigation, and actuators for autonomous driving, generate vast amounts of data used for training and evaluating autonomous systems. Real-world testing is essential for validation but is complex, expensive, and time-intensive, requiring multiple vehicles and reference systems. To address these challenges, computer graphics-based simulators offer a compelling solution by providing high-fidelity 3D environments to simulate vehicles and road users. These simulators are crucial for developing, validating, and testing ADAS, autonomous driving systems, and cooperative driving systems, and enhancing vehicle performance and driver training in motorsport. This paper reviews computer graphics-based simulators tailored for automotive applications. It begins with an overview of their applications and analyzes their key features. Additionally, this paper compares five open-source (CARLA, AirSim, LGSVL, AWSIM, and DeepDrive) and ten commercial simulators. Our findings indicate that open-source simulators are best for the research community, offering realistic 3D environments, multiple sensor support, APIs, co-simulation, and community support. Conversely, commercial simulators, while less extensible, provide a broader set of features and solutions.

Synthetic Simulator for Surgical Training in Tracheostomy and Open Airway Surgery.

OBJECTIVE(S): To create and validate a synthetic simulator for teaching tracheostomy and laryngotracheal reconstruction (LTR) using anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts. METHODS: A late adolescent/adult neck and airway simulator was constructed based on CT scans from a cadaver and a live patient. Images were segmented to create three-dimensional printed molds from which anatomical parts were casted. To evaluate the simulator, expert otolaryngologists - head and neck surgeons performed tracheostomy and LTR using anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts on a live anesthetized porcine model (gold standard) followed by the synthetic simulator. They evaluated each model for face validity (realism and anatomical accuracy) and content validity (perceived effectiveness as a training tool) using a five-point Likert scale. For each expert, differences for each item on each simulator were compared using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests with Sidak correction. RESULTS: Nine expert faculty surgeons completed the study. Experts rated face and content validity of the synthetic simulator an overall median of 4 and 5, respectively. There was no difference in scores between the synthetic model and the live porcine model for any of the steps of any of the surgical procedures. CONCLUSION: The synthetic simulator created for this study has high face and content validity for tracheostomy and LTR with anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts and was not found to be different than the live porcine model for these procedures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5 Laryngoscope, 131:E2378-E2386, 2021.