Within these constraints it becomes necessary to develop a simplified process whereby public Transportation engineers continue to design roadway projects using standard methods, and then integrate those designs into a virtual proving ground simulation – trying the designs in the same fashion the project will ultimately be used – by experiencing it in the four dimensional world of a driving simulator.

This paper presents an automated software application created to generate a driving simulator environment compatible with one driving simulator. There were two overriding requirements: minimum user interaction, and visualize a wireframe graphical representation of the engineering design. Variability in the design model (2D vs 3D) despite civil design standards was one challenge encountered during converter development. Especially problematic are junction and connective elements that make up the logical road network used by the scenario vehicles to navigate around the model. The converter currently works best with a 3D design model since 2D model design and elevation or Lidar elevation data were not available during development. The end product is a tool that has been successfully tested on one grade separated freeway interchange. Future work for increasing the capabilities of the tool will focus on creating textured surfaces and solids, extending the junction processing to improve curve definition, and supporting multi-level interchanges.