Scientists from China’s Baidu Research, the University of Hong Kong and U.S. University of Maryland invented the system called Augmented Autonomous Driving Simulation (AADS) that could make self-driving technology easier to evaluate in the lab and ensure more reliable safety before expensive road testing.

In the current simulator technology, the perception module of the self-driving car receives input from computer-generated imagery and mathematically modeled movement patterns for pedestrians, bicycles, and other cars.

It is a relatively crude representation of the real world and also expensive and time-consuming, according to the study.

The new system combines photos, videos, and lidar point clouds with real-world trajectory data for pedestrians, bicycles and other cars. Those trajectories can be used to predict the driving behavior and future positions of other vehicles or pedestrians on the road for safer navigation.
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