Driving simulation software SILAB

The development of SILAB is based on many years of experience with practical applications of driving simulators. The features of SILAB are developed in close collaboration with its users (see References). Therefore, SILAB is an efficient tool for working on topics in the areas of research, development and training. The most important features of SILAB are:

Realism:

The components of SILAB create a realistic impression of driving:

complex simulation of vehicle dynamics
modern image generation for urban, highway and rural scenarios
numerous models for the behavior of other traffic participants, including vehicles and pedestrians
6 channel sound simulation

You can download recent screenshots of scenarios in the section Screenshots.

Scalability:

SILAB is PC-based and uses commercial off-the-shelf hardware. The simplest driving simulator based on SILAB consists of a PC, a monitor and a steering wheel used in video games. This minimum configuration can be extended stepwise - without changes in software - up to a driving simulator that has multiple image channels and a motion system. A description of different driving simulators that are used by the WIVW can be found here.

Application-oriented design of scenarios:

Within SILAB, users themselves can create scenarios. This includes the definition of road geometry, influence on the appearance of the surrounding landscape and detailed control of other traffic participants. In every case, a high density and reproducibility of scenarios can be guaranteed. The sequence of scenarios can be arbitrarily designed by the user. As a unique feature SILAB offers mechanisms to change the sequence of the scenarios during simulation. Thereby, it is possible to adapt the sequence to the behavior of the driver (e.g. performance adaptive training).

Extensibility:

The architecture of SILAB allows flexible integration of external hardware and software components via the communication protocols CAN, UDP and TCP/IP. Application-specific modules for SILAB can be written in the programming languages C++ and Java or in the scripting language Ruby. Several APIs offer detailed access to important components of the simulation, e.g. database, traffic simulation and image generation. Models that are developed with MATLAB/SIMULINK can be integrated by using MATLAB's RealTime Workshop.

Transparency:

All parameters of the simulation as well as all accumulated data can be recorded to disk. This includes inputs of the driver, physical quantities of the vehicle dynamics simulation, characteristics of the road geometry, information about other traffic participants and all data/parameters of extensions of SILAB (see above, "Extensibility"). During simulation, a comfortable graphical user interface allows the modification of all parameters and the observation of all data. In addition, all parameters can be changed automatically, depending on driver's position in the road network.