The Oxbotica MetaDriver is a suite of tools that includes virtual world simulation, automated discovery of challenging scenarios, and real-time data expansion. These tools have been designed to help AVs answer three core questions: ‘Do I see it right?’, ‘Am I doing it right?’, and ‘Can I trust myself right now?’.
MetaDriver generates a vast bank of scenarios which are used to test and refine AV operations and behaviours without needing to physically drive in them, accelerating commercial readiness. Oxbotica MetaDriver also provides the ability to build a digital twin representation from real-world gathered data.
The AIs have learnt to automatically seek out rare, unusual, and unseen scenarios, known as “edge cases”, which allows both the testing of autonomy systems against “corner cases” and for the systems to learn to handle them. MetaDriver offers edge-case discovery rates at an average of 1,000 times faster than traditional testing methods, and up to 35,000 times faster in some situations.
Using MetaDriver’s data expansion, each ‘meta-mile’ can be tested in all conditions, including rain, snow, fog, and at night or in the day, eliminating the need to wait for various weather conditions to appear during real-world testing.
The advanced capabilities of MetaDriver enables much faster, targeted and diverse testing, which will give AV operators much greater confidence that their vehicles are equipped to operate safely, accurately and effectively.
Paul Newman, founder and CTO at Oxbotica, said, “Oxbotica MetaDriver is a suite of tools that offers so much more than straight forward simulation. Using the metaverse in this way provides us and our customers with practically unlimited test challenges, revolutionising how we are accelerating AV commercial deployment to make the Earth move.
“Oxbotica MetaDriver allows us to do the hard miles without the conventional need to physically drive the miles. The autonomous vehicle industry has become over indexed on the number of miles travelled as a synonym for safety, but what we actually care about is coverage of hard cases, not the endless miles endured. Oxbotica MetaDriver addresses this in a new and exciting way.”
