General Motors houses a lot of toys and incredible equipment at its Warren Technical Center, but the 360-degree vehicle testing simulator is one of the neatest pieces of machinery.
Roadshow recently was invited to have a look at how the massive piece of equipment works and what the simulator rig does for GM. Essentially, GM can test future vehicle features with the machine before taking it out in the real world. The current simulator is a fifth-generation model and is capable of roll, pitch and yaw for a better simulation experience.
Surrounding the vehicle and the simulator are massive screens with 4K resolution and a 5-terabyte-per-second image generator.
During the test, the simulator was set up for a self-driving car demo. During the demonstration, the passenger’s reactions to different styles of driving. For example, a slow and cautious test captured annoyed feelings as the car crept through intersections and drove slowly. But, an aggressive style captured expressions and biometrics of uneasiness as the self-driving car blew through pedestrian crosswalks and more.
GM couldn’t place a value on simulator rig, but we’d imagine it’s a sizable investment—and an important one as self-driving car technology continues to expand.
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