Driving SimulationExpert
SceneFactory-3D: Lifting 2D Traffic Scenes into 3D Physical Counterfactuals for Scalable Physically Grounded Safety Evaluation
In a preprint, the authors present SceneFactory-3D, a GPU-batched multi-agent driving simulator that uses per-wheel tire forces, suspension, and 3D terrain so road friction and grade physically change how vehicles execute commands. Across 1,024 matched 12-vehicle worlds per learned policy and 21 road conditions, valid work-zone passage dropped by 6 to 90 percentage points when surface friction fell from 1.0 to 0.18, and near-collision time-to-collision events increased for every learned policy. This matters because it shows safety conclusions from traffic simulation are sensitive to road physics that most scalable simulators ignore.