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Talk-08: Rapid Testing of Behaviors in Matlab with mexIvP

Michael J. Hamilton, NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC)

Many organizations utilize Matlab for early stage testing and development. In addition to being relatively simple to use, it is so commonly employed in engineering coursework that it is well known to a large user base. Frequently algorithms developed in Matlab must be recoded into C or C++ in order to be embedded into target systems.

One example of this process is behavior development. NURC has developed algorithms for behaviors and tested them individually in Matlab. These development stages included parametrization and tuning of parameters. In order to translate them into IvP behaviors, they had to be recoded in C++ and integrated into IvP. Differences in the test algorithms and actual behaviors sometimes caused unforeseen tuning requirements and re-parametrization.

This presentation proposes a different approach to behavior development and early testing. A Matlab mex interface to the IvP behavior system is developed. This allows the behavior to be developed directly in C++ within the IvP system, but tested from a simplified Matlab simulation. The simplified Matlab simulation may run in a scan-move-scan approximation, and may neglect complexities such as vehicle dynamics. While these details are not unimportant, they add significant overhead to early, quick development of algorithms and behaviors. Once developed, the behaviors can and should be tested subsequently in a high fidelity, fully dynamic MOOS simulation.

Setting up this infrastructure for IvP will also allow integration into tactical decision aids (TDAs), allowing for leveraging of these high-fidelity sensor models in testing of IvP behaviors.


DOWNLOAD the brief given at MOOS-DAWG'11.

Categories:

  • MOOS-IvP
  • Behavior Development with Matlab
  • IvP Helm Behavior Development