Virtual Simulations Environment Development for Autonomous Vehicles Interaction

Abstract

Abstract One of the primary verification criteria of the autonomous vehicle is safe interaction with other road users. Based on studies, real-road testing is not practical for safety validation due to its time and cost consuming. Therefore, simulating miles driven is the only feasible way to overcome this limitation. The primary goal of the related research project is to develop advanced techniques in the human-robot interaction (HRI) safety validation area by usage of immersive simulation technologies. Developing methods for the creation of the simulation environment will enable us to do experiments in a digital environment rather than real. The main aim of the paper is to develop an effective method of creating a virtual environment for performing simulations on industrial robots, mobile robots, and autonomous vehicles (AGV-s) from the safety perspective for humans. A mid-size drone was used for aerial imagery as the first step in creating a virtual environment. Then all the photos were processed in several steps to build the final 3D map. Next, this mapping method was used to create a high detail simulation environment for testing an autonomous shuttle. Developing efficient methods for mapping real environments and simulating their variables is crucial for the testing and development of control algorithms of autonomous vehicles.