Scenario Description Language for Autonomous Vehicle Simulation Coverage

The patent creates virtual copies of the physical environment, vehicles, and scenarios through simulation. Instead of physically testing autonomous vehicles on real roads, the system generates digital replicas of roads, vehicles, pedestrians, and traffic conditions. This allows accurate scenario validation without the safety risks and repeatability issues of physical testing, as the same virtual scenarios can be endlessly reproduced without endangering human lives.

The patent replaces the mechanical physical testing system with a computational simulation system. Rather than physically maneuvering vehicles and recreating real-world conditions, the system uses software to model and simulate scenario outcomes. This substitution eliminates the need for physical risk while maintaining testing accuracy through sophisticated mathematical models of vehicle dynamics, sensor behavior, and environmental conditions.

The patent segments the vast scenario space into manageable components and parameters. Instead of attempting to enumerate every possible scenario simultaneously, the system breaks down scenarios into discrete elements such as vehicle states, environmental conditions, traffic patterns, and sensor readings. This segmentation allows for systematic exploration of the parameter space while maintaining computational tractability through structured organization of the validation process.

The patent employs partial action by focusing computational resources on the most critical and informative scenarios rather than attempting exhaustive enumeration of all possible scenarios. The system identifies and prioritizes scenarios that provide the highest validation value, such as edge cases and safety-critical situations, while using probabilistic methods to sample less critical scenarios. This approach achieves sufficient validation coverage without the prohibitive computational cost of complete enumeration.

The patent creates virtual replicas of physical scenarios that maintain realism while enabling efficient testing. The simulation system generates digital copies of roads, vehicles, pedestrians, and environmental conditions with high fidelity to real-world physics and behavior. These virtual copies can be instantiated and modified rapidly without the time constraints of physical setup, allowing numerous scenarios to be tested in parallel and significantly improving testing throughput while maintaining scenario authenticity.

The patent performs preliminary setup and configuration in the virtual environment before actual validation begins. Scenarios are pre-programmed with all necessary parameters, initial conditions, and expected outcomes. This preliminary action eliminates the time-consuming setup procedures required for physical testing, such as manually positioning vehicles, configuring test tracks, and coordinating human participants. The pre-configured virtual scenarios can be executed immediately, dramatically improving testing efficiency.