A Gamified Simulator and Physical Platform for Self-Driving Algorithm Training and Validation

We identify the need for an easy-to-use self-driving simulator where game mechanics implicitly encourage high-quality data capture and an associated low-cost physical test platform. We design such a simulator incorporating environmental domain randomization to enhance data generalizability and a low...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pappas, Georgios, Siegel, Joshua E., Politopoulos, Konstantinos, Sun, Yongbin
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133201
Description
Summary:We identify the need for an easy-to-use self-driving simulator where game mechanics implicitly encourage high-quality data capture and an associated low-cost physical test platform. We design such a simulator incorporating environmental domain randomization to enhance data generalizability and a low-cost physical test platform running the Robotic Operating System. A toolchain comprising a gamified driving simulator and low-cost vehicle platform is novel and facilitates behavior cloning and domain adaptation without specialized knowledge, supporting crowdsourced data generation. This enables small organizations to develop certain robust and resilient self-driving systems. As proof-of-concept, the simulator is used to capture lane-following data from AI-driven and human-operated agents, with these data training line following Convolutional Neural Networks that transfer without domain adaptation to work on the physical platform.