Tesla used Unreal Engine to simulate a San Francisco in order to test the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. Tesla goes through several testing steps before pushing any system updates to owners. The first is internal testing by Tesla employees in closed lanes and on public roads, but before that, Tesla tests in a simulated environment.
Electrek has obtained images of a Tesla simulation in which Tesla is rebuilding parts of San Francisco to test Autopilot and Fully Automated Driving (FSD):.
The automaker has even hired many of the environmental artists involved in some of these video games and other popular games (such as some of the latest games in the Call of Duty series) to develop the simulations.
Tesla currently has several “Autopilot Simulation” job listings, which describe the role of an “Autopilot Render Engineer”.
As an Autopilot Rendering Engineer, you will contribute to the development of Autopilot simulations by supporting and enabling the creation of photorealistic 3D scenes that accurately simulate the driving experience in a variety of areas and conditions. You will work across teams to deliver graphics techniques that create high-fidelity scenes and can faithfully reproduce Autopilot behavior in simulations.
