Thanks to a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Florida Polytechnic University will develop a large-scale Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulation facility for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), which it expects to be operational by the beginning of the spring semester in 2020.

According to Florida Polytechnic, HiL simulation is a “robust gateway” for the development and testing of complex real-time embedded systems.

“I thank the National Science Foundation for their support of Florida Polytechnic University’s research and development of autonomous vehicle technology,” says Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

“Autonomous vehicle research is critical to the future of transportation in the state of Florida, and I look forward to Florida Poly’s continued leadership in this space.”

Researchers from Florida Poly’s Advanced Mobility Institute will have a more realistic approach to the testing and verification procedures of this technology thanks to the HiL simulation facility. Researchers will work closely with students on practical and real-world projects related to CAVs, which will include research on how autonomous vehicles operate independent of weather or electromagnetic interferences, while surrounded by non-verbal human communication such as gestures and signals.

“So far we’ve been working and generating different scenarios as models for Software-in-the-Loop testing, but only doing it with software is not as realistic,” explains Dr. Arman Sargolzaei, assistant professor of electrical engineering and the grant’s lead investigator.

“The new Hardware-in-the-Loop facility will allow us to do testing that is closer to real-world scenarios.”

For Sargolzaei, Hardware-in-the-Loop implementation is a “great step forward” to achieving cost-efficient and safe test procedures before conducting experimentations on road or test tracks.

“Advancing Hardware-in-the-Loop application domain to the era of CAVs will lead to a set of exemplary breakthroughs in the field of transportation research,” Sargolzaei says.

“We are excited for the establishment of this new facility to accelerate our research mission, which is to make automated vehicle more safe and secure.”