DARPA's RACER-Sim project seeking simulation tech for off-road unmanned vehicles
NewsJanuary 19, 2021
WASHINGTON. DARPA’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency - Simulation (RACER-Sim) project is seeking innovations in technologies that bridge the gap from simulation to the real world andreduce the cost of off-road autonomy development. According to the company, DARPA is inviting proposals for solutions that support these goals.
DARPA claims that the military off-road environment is especially challenging and complex. Computers are needed to re-create three-dimensional surfaces, compliant soils and vegetation, and numerous obstacle classes.
Software also needs to take into account lower fidelity or limited mapping data, unique platform-surface interactions, continuous motion planning, and no defined road networks or driving rules.
In addition, modeling high speed off-road performance of sensors/modalities, sensor-to-terrain representations, autonomous platforms, and autonomous control remains a software and processing challenge, DARPA officials claim.
Over a four-year timeline, the RACER-Sim program will investigate technologies that are applicable to the off-road environment in the areas of algorithm development, simulation element technologies, and simulator content generation.
