Provided is a system and method for imitating control signals from physical input mechanisms of a vehicle. Examples of such physical input mechanisms include a gas pedal, a brake pedal, and the like. In one example, the method may include receiving an acceleration value from a planning system associated with a vehicle and a state of the vehicle from a state estimation system, converting, via a software control node, the acceleration value and the state of the vehicle into at least one of an engine torque value and a brake pressure value, generating a control signal for controlling a speed of the vehicle based on the at least one of the engine torque value and the brake pressure value, and transmitting the control signal to a control system of the vehicle.