Summary

ACCAD produced an introductory animated visualization of the transformation of an existing intersection of a vehicle test course at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty, OH.

Project Team

ACCAD
Faculty PI: Maria Palazzi
Research Staff: Matthew Lewis
Graduate Research Associate: Alice Grishchenko

Transportation Research Center Inc.
Ron Burton, Vice President, Laboratories Business Unit
Sughosh J. Rao, TRC Research Scientist

OSU Center for Automotive Research
Joanna Pinkerton, Senior Associate Director,
College of Engineering

Project Description

ACCAD produced an introductory animated visualization of the transformation of an existing intersection of a vehicle test course at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty, OH, designed to accommodate autonomous/connected vehicle test.

The project involved the creation and rendering of animated virtual environments showing different possible scenarios for common vehicle testing environments including rural, residential, and urban roads. These visualizations were composited with drone-captured photography of the current landscape to enable a comparison of what currently exists and what is planned for the site.

Parametric software was developed to allow rapid visualization and adjustment of different road properties. Each different environment required varying types of road edges, markings, and surfaces. e.g., rural roads need narrow lanes and dirt edges while urban streets could have curbs, sidewalks, bike lanes, or diagonal parking. Buildings, lighting, and signage of different types were also created. A pipeline was created to import TRC's civil engineering CAD data into our animation software packages.

Background research for the project included a tour of the current site at TRC, as well as team visits to OSU's driving simulator facilities.

Project completed 2015-2016.