Facilitating Autonomous Vehicle Research and Development Using Robot Simulators on the Example of a KAMAZ NEO Truck

With the widespread of research in the field of autonomous vehicles the value and impact of various simulators increase dramatically as they allow for quick and safe experimentation with the design of a vehicle, environment and driving scenarios. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how autonomous vehicle research and development can be facilitated by open-source robot simulators based on the experience gained from a robotized KAMAZ NEO truck industrial project. In particular, the Webots robot simulator was applied for 3D reconstruction of the experimental test-site for vehicle motion simulation and development of a web-based dashboard for controlling and monitoring the autonomous vehicle both in the simulation and the real-world.