Environment Generation from Real Map to Investigate Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance Algorithm for Electric Vehicle

The use of autonomous vehicles is expected to become common in various applications. Tremendous research studies are being made on automated movement, which requires path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms to plan trajectories. However, an appropriate algorithm must be carefully selected before the implementation of a real system. Therefore, this paper presents the developed software that generates a virtual environment to investigate path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms. This software consists of the simulation model of a motor-driven electric vehicle, in which vehicle and sensor parameters and algorithms for path generation and obstacle avoidance can be redefined. For practicability and visualization, the software generates a 3D virtual testing environment using real maps from Google map and the Unity 3D engine. The test is performed on a small four-wheeled electric vehicle in the environment with and without an obstacle and A* algorithm is used.