Sensor modeling for the Virtual Autonomous Navigation Environment

The Virtual Autonomous Navigation Environment (VANE) is a high fidelity, physics-based simulation process that produces realistic simulated sensor output for use in the development and testing of Autonomous Mobility Systems (AMS). The VANE produces simulated sensor output for ranging and camera sensors that are characterized by a few easily determined input parameters. This flexibility allows for the efficient characterization of a sensor interaction with a particular AMS. This paper presents the development of these models and some initial results.