High-fidelity Physics-based Simulation of a UGV Reconnaissance Mission in a Complex Urban Environment

Physics-based simulations of autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) present unique challenges and advantages compared to real-time simulations with lower-fidelity models. We have created a high-fidelity simulation environment, called the Virtual Autonomous Navigation Environment (VANE), to perform physics-based simulations of UGV. To highlight the capabilities of the VANE, we recently completed a simulation of a robot performing a reconnaissance mission in a typical Middle Eastern town. The result of the experiment demonstrated the need for physics-based simulation for certain circumstances such as LADAR returns from razor wire and GPS dropout and dilution of precision in urban canyons.