Behavioral Cloning Simulator

A Simulation System for Experimenting and Testing Autonomous Driving using Behavioral Cloning

Lake Track	Mountain Track

SETUP

1. Download and install Unity 5.5.1f1

2. Clone this repository:

   $ git clone https://github.com/Tinker-Twins/Behavioral-Cloning-Simulator.git

3. Launch Unity and click the OPEN project button.

4. Navigate to and select the parent folder of this repository Behavioral-Cloning-Simulator.

USAGE

Recording Dataset:

1. Select the track (Lake Track or Mountain Track).
2. Select Training Mode.
3. Click the Record button first time to select the directory to store the recorded dataset.
4. Click the Record button second time to start recording the dataset.
5. Drive the vehicle manually (click Controls button in Main Menu to get acquainted with the manual controls).
6. Click the Recording button to stop recording the dataset. The button will show recording progress.

Training:

1. Define a training pipeline to clone the human driving behavior based on the recorded dataset.
2. Train a deep neural network model in an end-to-end manner to predict lateral and/or longitudanal control commands based on live camera feed.
3. Save the trained model (e.g. H5 file).

Deployment:

1. Define a script to communicate with the Behavioral Cloning Simulator. Following are the WebSocket parameters:

• IP Address: 127.0.0.1 (i.e. Loopback IP)
• Port Number: 4567

2. Define a deployment pipline to generate control commands for the auronomous vehicle using the trained model and/or appropriate control algorithm.
3. Launch the Behavioral Cloning Simulator and run the deployment script.

Data Logging:

Use the Generate Driving Log button in Training Mode and/or Deployment Mode to log the following data within Unity Editor:

• Vehicle Position X-Coordinate
• Vehicle Position Z-Coordinate
• Throttle Command
• Brake Command
• Steering Command
• Vehicle Speed

DEMO

This simulator was exploited in the benchmarking research on Robust Behavioral Cloning for Autonomous Vehicles.

Video demonstrations of this work are available on YouTube.

CITATION

Please cite the following paper when using the Behavioral Cloning Simulator for your research:

@article{RBCAV-2021,
author = {Samak, Tanmay Vilas and Samak, Chinmay Vilas and Kandhasamy, Sivanathan},
title = {Robust Behavioral Cloning for Autonomous Vehicles Using End-to-End Imitation Learning},
journal = {SAE International Journal of Connected and Automated Vehicles},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {279-295},
month = {aug},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.4271/12-04-03-0023},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4271/12-04-03-0023},
issn = {2574-0741}
}

This work has been published in SAE International Journal of Connected and Automated Vehicles, as a part of their Special Issue on Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques for Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Applications. The publication can be found on SAE Mobilus.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This simulator is a rework of Udacity's Self-Driving Car Simulator.