Want to see how your automotive lighting design will work in the real world before spending a lot of money on fabrication and testing?

As a standalone night driving simulation tool, LucidDrive displays and evaluates beam patterns of vehicle headlamps under conditions that are as realistic as possible.

LucidDrive New Features

Introducing the new AFS PixelLight plug-in — a physical pixel light simulation method:

  • Projects the individual beam patterns of pixels during a virtual night drive in real time
  • Treats each pixel light headlight as one headlight beam pattern
  • Composes a beam pattern of 10,000 pixels or more
  • Compatible with LucidDrive version 2020.03
  • Compatible with the LucidShape 2019.09 Pixel Light functionality — enabling you to simulate pixel light sources, store the respective 3D LID datasets, and perform post-processing on the simulation results

LucidDrive Key Capabilities


AFS Masking PixelLight Feature

Beam Pattern Analysis

Multi-View Capability

Pixel light icon | Synopsys
Multi-View Capability icon | Synopsys

The LucidDrive AFS Masking PixelLight feature simulates pixel light technology by:

  • Detecting oncoming and overtaking traffic
  • Calculating bounding boxes
  • Creating user-definable shadow masks in headlamp light distributions

With Beam Pattern Analysis, you can:

  • Switch between various sets of headlamps to see the differences in beam patterns
  • Combine and mount any number of headlamps with different aiming positions
  • Include distance marker lines on the road to provide visibility targets for benchmarking
  • Display an aiming wall with ECE-Markers at any time during the drive simulation, as shown in the example on the left

LucidDrive provides a multi-view drive capability to:

  • Compare and troubleshoot headlamp beam patterns
  • If the luminous intensity distribution (LID) was generated spectrally by LucidShape, you can view color dispersion effects at a low beam's cut-off line caused by a projector lens




Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS)

Real Time

Custom Roads

Real Time Simulation icon | Synopsys
Custom Roads icon | Synopsys

AFS headlamps are among the most challenging innovations in automotive lighting. LucidShape is able to:

  • Simulate AFS
  • Simulate up to 30 light distributions simultaneously
  • Simulate other modern lighting models, such as daytime lights

LucidDrive runs in an automatic driving mode. You can:

  • Quickly switch between different lamps, viewing positions, road types and scenes
  • With the Wheels and Pedals add-on, control vehicle movements with a steering wheel, with gas pedals attached

Customize your virtual driving experience. LucidShape allows you to:

  • Choose from a large selection of road scenes
  • Easily create new courses with the Road Editor tool
  • Select from a broad variety of road types — the software will create a continuous, curved road
  • Add overhead signs, normal signs, trees, poles and other objects to the road




Video Export

Advanced Graphics

Traffic Simulation

Video Export icon | Synopsys
Advanced Graphics icon | Synopsys
Traffic Simulation icon | Synopsys

Create product demo videos with LucidDrive:

  • Automatically export all frames as bitmaps and merge them into a movie
  • Play the video in real time on computers without LucidDrive installed
  • Show your customers why they should use your products
Visit our product literature and demos page for example videos.

LucidDrive features photorealistic and texture-based graphics that:

  • Turn realistic physical models into graphics
  • Consider surface properties, such as reflectivity of the street pavement and the scenery (trees, roadside markers and traffic signs)
  • Use textures and the latest hardware shading technology
  • Are optimized to run best with NVIDIA graphics cards
See the LucidDrive system requirements for details.

The Traffic Simulation feature provides realistic simulations of headlight response to dynamic traffic and road conditions. You can:

  • Run high-accuracy calculations of traffic flows and patterns based on an intelligent driver model
  • Set user-defined parameters, such as vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration and braking capabilities
  • Use automatic lane-changing maneuvers
  • Find support for LucidDrive scripting to program customized vehicle behaviors

LucidDrive Manual: The Single Computer Solution


LucidDrive Manual (LucidDriveM) features an automatic driving mode for optimal headlamp evaluations.

  • Manually drive the virtual vehicle through the night scene
  • Use a low-cost, single computer system driven by popular gaming tools or a multi-computer system equipped with a real-life vehicle chassis and control units for vehicle dynamics or AFS control
  • The Wheels and Pedals add-on module converts LucidDrive into LucidDriveM
  • Toggle between automatic and manual drive
  • Use any off-the-shelf, plug-and-play hardware for car racing
Driving Simulation | Synopsys

Development of AFS Dynamics

The adaptive front lighting system control logic originally designed to operate with the real electronic control units can be used as a simulation module for LucidDrive.

Get Realistic and Custom Vehicle Dynamics

Export your car's vehicle dynamics to LucidDrive to replace the software's default vehicle dynamics module — for any vehicle including motorcycles.

LucidDrive Server Client: The Multiple Computer Solution


LucidDrive's Server/Client System (LucidDriveSC) allows the driving scene view to be split and displayed on multiple monitors to support up to a 360° view.

Hardware to Use

Several third-party vendors use very advanced driving cockpits, up to real-life vehicle chassis prepared for use in conjunction with driving simulators. Such systems may be turned into LucidDrive night drive simulators.

A high-end graphics card is recommended for client machines.

Show results on up to eight client computers (i.e. the number of monitors), depending on the server's power.

Road Simulation | Synopsys

More Information