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Gokul Kartha (Gokul Kartha)
Gokul Kartha (Gokul Kartha)

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OpenRoadSim – An Open Source Simulation Framework for Automotive Infotainment & Signal Testing

A modular, plugin-based framework to simulate vehicle signals, media, GPS, and more – built for automotive developers and testers.

Why I Built This
Working in automotive software, I realized there's no unified, developer-friendly tool to simulate vehicle signals (like CAN, GPS, media) in a modular, extensible way. Most tools are proprietary or too rigid.

So I built OpenRoadSim – a Python-based open-source simulation engine designed to help devs prototype, test, and replay vehicle signals in infotainment systems or HMI setups.

What Can You Do with It?

  • Simulate GPS paths (via NMEA replay)
  • Replay CAN messages on a virtual bus
  • Feed media metadata to infotainment systems
  • Write custom plugins to simulate new interfaces
  • Design realistic test scenarios for end-to-end feature validation

Architecture Highlights

  • Plugin System – Add or remove modules like CAN, GPS, Media independently
  • Scenario-Based Execution – YAML-defined test flows with timestamps and events
  • Lightweight CLI Interface – Easy to run and extend
  • Works on any of the linux systems (host)

Use Cases

  • Automotive HMI developers testing real-world flows
  • ADAS/IVI teams simulating user scenarios
  • QA engineers needing reproducible signal test beds
  • Automotive bootcamps and education

Getting Started
you can clone the repository and find more setup info in the README
git clone https://github.com/karthagokul/openroadsim

Contributors Welcome!
I'm actively looking for feedback, collaborators, and testers. Whether you're an automotive engineer, Python dev, or simply passionate about simulation tools – I’d love to hear from you.

Support & Spread the Word
If this project sounds interesting:

  • Star the repo on GitHub
  • Try running it and report issues
  • Contribute plugins, test scenarios, or documentation
  • Share with friends in the automotive/embedded dev space!

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