energies Article Software Framework for Testing of Automated Driving Systems in the Traffic Environment of Vissim Demin Nalic 1, * , Aleksa Pandurevic 1 , Arno Eichberger 1 , Martin Fellendorf 2 and Branko Rogic 3   Citation: Nalic, D.; Pandurevic, A.; Eichberger, A.; Fellendorf, M.; Rogic, B. Software Framework for Testing of Automated Driving Systems in the Traffic Environment of Vissim. Energies 2021, 14, 3135. https:// doi.org/10.3390/en14113135 Academic Editor: Wiseman Yair Received: 2 April 2021 Accepted: 21 May 2021 Published: 27 May 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Institute of Automotive Engineering, TU Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; pandurevic@tugraz.at (A.P.); arno.eichberger@tugraz.at (A.E.) 2 Institute of Highway Engineering and Transport Planning, TU Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; martin.fellendorf@tugraz.at 3 MAGNA Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG Co. & KG, 8045 Graz, Austria; branko.rogic@magna.com * Correspondence: demin.nalic@tugraz.at Abstract: As the complexity of automated driving systemss (ADSs) with automation levels above level 3 is rising, virtual testing for such systems is inevitable and necessary. The complexity of testing these levels lies in the modeling and calculation demands for the virtual environment, which consists of roads, traffic, static and dynamic objects, as well as the modeling of the car itself. An essential part of the safety and performance analysis of ADSs is the modeling and consideration of dynamic road traffic participants. There are multiple forms of traffic flow simulation software (TFSS), which are used to reproduce realistic traffic behavior and are integrated directly or over interfaces with vehicle simulation software environments. In this paper we focus on the TFSS from PTV Vissim in a co-simulation framework which combines Vissim and CarMaker. As it is a commonly used software in industry and research, it also provides complex driver models and interfaces to manipulate and develop customized traffic participants. Using the driver model DLL interface (DMDI) from Vissim it is possible to manipulate traffic participants or adjust driver models in a defined manner. Based on the DMDI, we extended the code and developed a framework for the manipulation and testing of ADSs in the traffic environment of Vissim. The efficiency and performance of the developed software framework are evaluated using the co-simulation framework for the testing of ADSs, which is based on Vissim and CarMaker. Keywords: automated driving; scenario-based testing; software framework 1. Introduction The use of TFSS in automotive engineering has significantly improved the scope of the virtual testing of ADS. It is mostly used in co-simulation with other software tools for vehicle testing and simulation. There are various co-simulation platformss (CSPs) for the testing of ADSs in complex traffic environments. Hallerbach presented in [1]a simulation-based tool-chain to identify critical scenarios using a SUMO and a vehicle dynamic software. A framework coupling SUMO with vehicle dynamic software VTD for the development of ADSss is presented in [2]. In [3], a human-driven car from SILAB interacted over an interface with SUMO traffic participants in order to evaluate human interactions and the effect of ADSs in traffic. Implementing automated driving functions in MATLAB and coupling this with Vissim, an impact analysis of ADSs is performed in [4]. The CSP used in this work is based on the co-simulation between Vissim and CarMaker and is explained in greater detail below; see [5]. Common to all these interfaces is the fact that the vehicle under test has been developed separately from a certain vehicle simulation software. The traffic is created externally and imported by means of TFSS. In this study, the vehicle being tested is referred to as an EGO vehicle. As a form of TFSS, Vissim provides comprehensive traffic flow modeling options and the possibility to manipulate traffic participants, making it suitable for the testing Energies 2021, 14, 3135. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113135 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies