NTT DATA Automobiligence Research Center, Ltd.

ZIPC GARDEN release background

The PEGASUS Project, which is currently formulating an autonomous driving system safety evaluation method, advocates the need for a big loop that feeds back accident data and traffic environment data related to products after mass production and marketing, in addition to the conventional evaluation loop of the V-shaped process, as a development process to evolve and grow next-generation automobiles.
As the weight of software in the development and operation of autonomous vehicles increases in the future, the following innovations are expected to be realized by enabling virtual simulation using a digital twin space that accumulates, analyzes, and covers data and knowledge related to driving scenes.
・Innovations that enable safety verification at an early stage of the mass production process
・Innovations that save labor for testing and calibration
・Innovations to improve design and implementation through feedback of post-market operational monitoring results
ARC, the R&D center for automotive technology of NTT DATA Group, will continue joint research with J-QuAD, which is promoting the technological development of integrated control software for next-generation vehicle , to develop a safety validation method using a scenario-based development process under a virtual simulation environment for autonomous driving systems. We will turn these outcomes into software services and release as the ZIPC GARDEN series.

Overview and features of ZIPC GARDEN Automation

ZIPC GARDEN Automation is a cloud-based validation software based on proprietary algorithms and architecture researched and developed by ARC.
By effectively and efficiently analyzing data and knowledge about driving scenarios, ZIPC GARDEN Automation comprehensively and automatically generates critical scenarios to be executed in virtual simulations of autonomous driving systems.
Basic functions are provided as annual fee-based web services.
By providing also engineering services that respond to the individual developing environment of each automaker and supplier, we can also support the construction of an optimal development and operation environment (virtual private cloud) for each company.
As a result, effective safety validation of autonomous driving systems can be achieved mainly through virtual simulation, and the mass production of next-generation vehicles can be made epoch-making more efficient.
ARC has already released an open source version of GARDEN ScenarioPlatform, an autonomous driving system verification platform software, in June 2021.
In the future, we will update this open source version with new experimental functions as needed. By releasing it widely and free of charge to the automotive industry, we will understand the needs of companies in this industry and reflect the knowledge gained in the expansion of the ZIPC GARDEN service.

ZIPC GARDEN lineup and future development

Figure: Image of utilization of ZIPC GARDEN lineup in next-generation vehicle development process

ZIPC GARDEN plans to expand its service lineup in the future, and as the first step, we are releasing ZIPC GARDEN Automation, which has the above-mentioned automatic scenario generation function.
In the future, in order to further promote automation and virtualization of autonomous driving vehicles development, The next release will be below.
・ ZIPC GARDEN simulator (2023) equipped with virtual simulation execution function
・ ZIPC GARDEN DevOps (2024) supports product brush-up by feeding back to the vehicle development process while monitoring and learning the operating status of vehicles after mass production and sales.
Each function in the ZIPC GARDEN lineup will play the role of an intermediary in the development process of next-generation vehicles, bringing it forward as much as possible to save labor, and linking the entire cycle, including market operation and vehicle function updates, after vehicle mass production. Therefore, we will contribute to the safe and efficient mass production of next-generation vehicles and their further evolution.

* The contents of this release are subject to change without notice.
* ZIPC GARDEN is a registered trademark of NTT DATA Automobiligence Research Center, Ltd. in Japan.
* GARDEN ScenarioPlatform is a registered trademark of NTT DATA Automobiligence Research Center, Ltd. in Japan.
* Other product names, company names, and organization names are trademarks or registered trademarks of each company.

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