Creating digital environments for multi-agent simulation

Abstract

There are few tools available for military and civilian simulation developers to quickly and efficiently develop high-fidelity digital environments capable of supporting high-resolution, agent-based simulation. In this work, the author has tried to lay a solid foundation for further understanding the digital terrain support available to simulation developers. This thesis explores numerous digital terrain data representations and tools available to create digital environments. The work explores the specific problem of terrain database generation for agent-based ground combat simulation. To accomplish this, the author explores the more general problem of where to find the data, what tools are available, and how to put the pieces together to create a registered digital environment on a state-of-the-art computer. The author envisions this methodology to be the first step in the design of an automated planning tool capable of importing real world digital terrain data and quickly generating agent-based military combat scenarios for any location on earth. This work provides a logical construct and design methodology for an analyst to create high fidelity terrain data sets. It functions as a "how to" manual to help analysts understand which information and tools are available to use for different types of simulation projects.