Modeling of Roads for Vehicle Simulator Using GIS Map Data

Recently, vehicle simulators are widely used to evaluate driver s responses and driver assistance systems. It needs much effort to construct the virtual driving environment for a vehicle simulator. In this study, it is described how to make effectively the roads and the driving environment for a vehicle simulator. GIS (Geographic Information System) is used to construct the roads and the environment effectively. Because the GIS is the integrated system of geographical data, it contains useful data to make virtual driving environment. First, boundaries and centerlines of roads are extracted from the GIS. From boundaries, the road width is calculated. Using centerlines, mesh models of roads are constructed. The final graphic model of roads is constructed by mapping road images to those mesh models considering the number of lanes and the kind of surface. Data of buildings from the GIS are extracted. Each shape and height of building is determined considering the kind of building to construct the final graphic model of buildings. Then, the graphic model of roadside trees is constructed to decide their locations. Finally, the driving environment for driving simulator is constructed by converting the three graphic models with the graphic format of Direct-X and by joining the three graphic models.