An interactive physics-based unmanned ground vehicle simulator leveraging open source gaming technology: progress in the development and application of the virtual autonomous navigation environment (VANE) desktop

Mitchell M. Rohde; Justin Crawford; Matthew Toschlog; Karl D. Iagnemma; Guarav Kewlani; Christopher L. Cummins; Randolph A. Jones; David A. Horner

doi:10.1117/12.820069

30 April 2009 An interactive physics-based unmanned ground vehicle simulator leveraging open source gaming technology: progress in the development and application of the virtual autonomous navigation environment (VANE) desktop

Mitchell M. Rohde, Justin Crawford, Matthew Toschlog, Karl D. Iagnemma, Guarav Kewlani, Christopher L. Cummins, Randolph A. Jones, David A. Horner

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7332, Unmanned Systems Technology XI; 73321C (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820069
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2009, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

It is widely recognized that simulation is pivotal to vehicle development, whether manned or unmanned. There are few dedicated choices, however, for those wishing to perform realistic, end-to-end simulations of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The Virtual Autonomous Navigation Environment (VANE), under development by US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), provides such capabilities but utilizes a High Performance Computing (HPC) Computational Testbed (CTB) and is not intended for on-line, real-time performance. A product of the VANE HPC research is a real-time desktop simulation application under development by the authors that provides a portal into the HPC environment as well as interaction with wider-scope semi-automated force simulations (e.g. OneSAF). This VANE desktop application, dubbed the Autonomous Navigation Virtual Environment Laboratory (ANVEL), enables analysis and testing of autonomous vehicle dynamics and terrain/obstacle interaction in real-time with the capability to interact within the HPC constructive geo-environmental CTB for high fidelity sensor evaluations. ANVEL leverages rigorous physics-based vehicle and vehicle-terrain interaction models in conjunction with high-quality, multimedia visualization techniques to form an intuitive, accurate engineering tool. The system provides an adaptable and customizable simulation platform that allows developers a controlled, repeatable testbed for advanced simulations. ANVEL leverages several key technologies not common to traditional engineering simulators, including techniques from the commercial video-game industry. These enable ANVEL to run on inexpensive commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. In this paper, the authors describe key aspects of ANVEL and its development, as well as several initial applications of the system.

Citation Download Citation

Mitchell M. Rohde, Justin Crawford, Matthew Toschlog, Karl D. Iagnemma, Guarav Kewlani, Christopher L. Cummins, Randolph A. Jones, and David A. Horner "An interactive physics-based unmanned ground vehicle simulator leveraging open source gaming technology: progress in the development and application of the virtual autonomous navigation environment (VANE) desktop", Proc. SPIE 7332, Unmanned Systems Technology XI, 73321C (30 April 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820069

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available