USING SIMULATION IN THE DESIGN, TESTING, AND OPTIMIZATION OF AUTONOMY STACKS FOR AUTONOMOUS GROUND VEHICLES

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Date
2024-05-24Author
Zhang, Haorui (Harry)
Advisor(s)
Negrut, Dan
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The integration of autonomy in an increasing number of engineering systems, e.g., rovers, all
terrain ground vehicles, quadcopters, calls for effective tools that can assist one in developing
robust and efficient autonomy stacks (A-stacks). This thesis explores the use of simulation
technologies to enhance the design, validation, and optimization of A-stacks for autonomous ground
vehicles. Leveraging the Chrono simulation platform, which can model the vehicle dynamics and
sensor operation, this work underlines the critical role that simulation can play in autonomy
applications.
The thesis highlights the design of A-stacks through simulation, utilizing artificial intelli-
gence (AI) techniques to generate and refine control policies. The innovative use of Chrono’s
terramechanics simulations is a strength of this work, providing unique insights into the
vehicle-environment interaction. By leveraging simulations in a diverse collection of scenarios to
increase robustness, the development process reduces the reliance on extensive physical testing,
thus optimizing resource utilization and accelerating the development cycle.
The thesis also investigates the process of validation of simulation-designed A-stacks. By
employing techniques such as a priori predictions and a posterior measurements, this research
assesses the sim-to-real transferability and the predictability of A-stack performance. The work
suggests that simulation in not only useful to design the autonomy algorithms, but can also be used
to predict the performance of a particular A-Stack before being deployed in the real world. This is
accomplished through a so-called “random testing” regimen.
Subject
Mechanical Engineering
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/85419Type
Thesis