Multi-domain modeling of environment and ecosystem of virtual off-road scenes for simulating ground vehicle autonomy

Abstract

Autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) operating in off-road terrain are influenced by a variety of factors that are unique to the off-road environment, especially the presence of vegetation. Accurately simulating the performance of AGV requires the creation of off-road virtual worlds that realistically present the characteristics of vegetation to simulations of the tires, chassis, and sensor systems. In this work, we present the development and implementation of a coupled soil moisture and vegetation growth model for generating synthetic off-road terrains for use in AGV simulations. These digital scenes have high geometric fidelity for simulating sensor systems used on AGV like terrestrial lidar. The vegetation model uses stored carbohydrates to predict growth cycles and takes multiple phenomenon into account including soil moisture, weather conditions, and seasonal variations. Results of AGV simulations in synthetic terrains are presented as a demonstration of the models utility.