Simulation of the autonomous combat systems robot optical detection system

Abstract

NPS Combat Systems students learn systems engineering through a series of courses in design, development, implementation, and testing and evaluation. In the last of this series of courses, students design an autonomous robot capable of searching, acquiring, and tracking another autonomous robot having similar capabilities. The project culminates in the Robot Wars Competition, where groups of students have their robots battle each other. This thesis is the second in a series designed to realistically simulate the robot wars battles. The end-to-end functionality of the optical detection system is modeled, and the necessary physics are implemented for effective simulation and depiction. The model uses a transfer function approach and includes all physical processes, from initial optical beacon emission to final digital control signal. Exercising the model over time using realistic robot inputs yields a simulation that closely replicates real behavior. A Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) program uses data files of each Simbot's movement to generate a 3- dimensional animated scene of the detection sequence. This implemented optical model effectively simulates the SE 3015 robot optical detection system and can reproduce an actual detection and tracking sequence between two robots