Simulation-based Testing of Autonomous Ground Vehicles

Goodin, C., Carruth, D. W., Dabbiru, L., Hudson, C. R., Cagle, L. D., Scherer, N., Moore, M., & Jayakumar, P. (2022). Simulation-based Testing of Autonomous Ground Vehicles. Proc. SPIE 12115, Autonomous Systems: Sensors, Processing and Security for Ground, Air, Sea and Space Vehicles and Infrastructure 2022. Orlando, FL, USA: SPIE. 12115. DOI:10.1117/12.2620502.

Failures by autonomous ground vehicles (AGV) may be caused by many different factors in hardware, software, or integration. Effective safety and reliability testing for AGV is complicated by the fact that failures are not only infrequent but also difficult to diagnose. In this work, we will discuss the results of a three-phase project to develop a simulation-based approach to AGV architecture design, test implementation, and simulation integration. This approach features a modular AGV architecture, reliability testing with a physics-based simulator (the MSU Autonomous Vehicle Simulator, or MAVS), and validation with a limited number of field trials.