OpenCDA:An Open Cooperative Driving Automation Framework Integrated with Co-Simulation

TL;DR

OpenCDA is a modular, open-source framework that integrates co-simulation and real-time testing to facilitate development, validation, and comparison of cooperative driving automation algorithms.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, modular framework combining co-simulation, full-stack systems, and scenario management for CDA research, with benchmark algorithms and customizable modules.

Findings

Enables testing of CDA algorithms at traffic and individual levels

Supports easy replacement of modules for customized evaluations

Demonstrates effectiveness through a platooning example

Abstract

Although Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) has attracted considerable attention in recent years, there remain numerous open challenges in this field. The gap between existing simulation platforms that mainly concentrate on single-vehicle intelligence and CDA development is one of the critical barriers, as it inhibits researchers from validating and comparing different CDA algorithms conveniently. To this end, we propose OpenCDA, a generalized framework and tool for developing and testing CDA systems. Specifically, OpenCDA is composed of three major components: a co-simulation platform with simulators of different purposes and resolutions, a full-stack cooperative driving system, and a scenario manager. Through the interactions of these three components, our framework offers a straightforward way for researchers to test different CDA algorithms at both levels of traffic and individual autonomy. More importantly, OpenCDA is highly modularized and installed with benchmark algorithms and test cases. Users can conveniently replace any default module with customized algorithms and use other default modules of the CDA platform to perform evaluations of the effectiveness of new functionalities in enhancing the overall CDA performance. An example of platooning implementation is used to illustrate the framework's capability for CDA research. The codes of OpenCDA are available in the https://github.com/ucla-mobility/OpenCDA.