Unreal as a simulation environment for offroad autonomy

Abstract

We describe contributions made to the Unreal gaming engine community supporting our development of algorithms that enable navigation in off-road and unstructured environments. Simulation of autonomous ground vehicles traversing complex 3D terrain requires accurate modeling of vehicle-terrain interaction. Widely used community gaming engines model this interaction well but do not include sensor model and other features found in open source tools. We have extended the Unreal engine to include models for LiDARs, IMU, and GNSS systems that are compatible with the Robot Operating System middle-ware. We have also added features that allow for the automated testing of off-road navigation algorithms.