Digital Twin Simulations for Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Comprehensive Study

The concept of "Digital Twin" is a relatively new term that involves emulating artificial or physical systems. It employs a digital representation and modeling technique to extend and improve the life cycle of complex objects, systems, and processes. This study focuses on developing Digital Twin simulations for both connected vehicles, utilizing the Unity game engine, and automated vehicles, employing Ros, Rviz, and Gazebo. The physical environment and the digital world, which has three layers for the linked car digital twin, are the two main components of the proposed Digital Twin simulation architecture. First, the "hardware" component is emulated using Unity game objects, and the "software" aspect is simulated using the Unity scripting API. Additionally, external tools such as Python are integrated to enhance simulation functionalities. On the other hand, the digital world for the automated vehicle digital twin comprises two layers. Gazebo game objects are employed to simulate the "hardware," and Rviz is used to simulate the "software." The automated vehicle is equipped with Lidar, Camera, and Raspberry Pi. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system, as it accurately predicts and compares actual data and predicted data, such as Voltage and Speed. The Digital Twin approach presents promising possibilities for the realistic representation and analysis of both connected and automated vehicles.