Simulating a perception sensor

1 . A simulator for a perception sensor, the simulator comprising:

a computing core for an execution of a simulation model of the perception sensor, the simulation model generating sensor data in such a way as the perception sensor would generate real sensor data in a real environment corresponding to the virtual 3D environment; and

an interface to transmit the sensor data to a test specimen and to read in control commands from the test specimen, the interface comprising an electrical connection for simulating a power supply from the test specimen to the perception sensor, and the interface comprising a controllable resistor for controlling an electrical resistance of the electrical connection,

the simulation model calculates a power consumption of the simulated perception sensor from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime and controls the controllable resistor such that a power consumption of the electrical connection corresponds to the calculated power consumption of the simulated perception sensor at any point in time during runtime of the simulation model.

2 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one variable value of the simulation model is a temperature of the perception sensor.

3 . The simulator according to claim 2 , wherein the simulation model takes into account a temperature dependence of an electrical behavior of at least one component of the perception sensor.

4 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one variable value is a specific operating variable for the perception sensor.

5 . The simulator according to claim 4 , wherein the specific operating variable is selected from: frames per second, exposures per image, and/or a linear or an exponential HDR output mode.

6 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical connection comprises a controllable capacitance which can be controlled from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime in accordance with the control of the controllable resistor.

7 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical connection comprises a controllable inductance which can be controlled from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime in accordance with the control of the controllable resistor.

8 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the perception sensor is an imaging sensor.

9 . The simulator according to claim 8 , wherein the imaging sensor is a camera, a radar, a LIDAR or a sonar.

10 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the computing core is a CPU, GPU or a FPGA.

11 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the simulation model generates synthetic sensor data based on a virtual 3D environment.

12 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the simulation model controls the controllable resistor such that the power consumption of the electrical connection corresponds to the calculated power consumption of the simulated perception sensor consistently through an entirety of the runtime of the simulation model.

13 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical connection comprises a controllable capacitance and a controllable inductance, which both can be controlled from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime in accordance with the control of the controllable resistor.

14 . The simulator according to claim 1 , wherein the test specimen is an ECU for an automotive application.

15 . A method for simulating a perception sensor based on a simulation model, the method comprising:

generating sensor data in such a way as the perception sensor would generate real sensor data in a real environment corresponding to the virtual 3D environment,

transmitting the sensor data to a test specimen and reading in control commands from the test specimen via an interface, the interface including an electrical connection for simulating a power supply from the test specimen to the perception sensor;

controlling a controllable resistor for controlling an electrical resistance of the electrical connection;

calculating a power consumption of the simulated perception sensor from variable values of the simulation model at runtime; and

controlling the controllable resistor such that a power consumption of the electrical connection corresponds to the calculated power consumption of the simulated perception sensor at any point in time during runtime of the simulation model.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one variable value of the simulation model is a temperature of the perception sensor and the simulation model takes into account a temperature dependence of an electrical behavior of at least one component of the perception sensor.

17 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein of the electrical connection comprises a controllable capacitance which are controlled from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime in accordance with the control of the controllable resistor.

18 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the simulator comprises a controllable inductance which are controlled from at least one variable value of the simulation model at runtime in accordance with the control of the controllable resistor.

19 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the sensor data is synthetic sensor data generated based on a virtual 3D environment.