Perception simulation for improved autonomous vehicle control

A method comprising:

• configuring a sensor noise modeling module to produce simulated sensor errors or noise data with a configured degree, extent, and timing of simulated sensor errors or noise based on a set of modifiable parameters;
• using the simulated sensor errors or noise data to generate simulated perception data by simulating errors related to constraints of one or more of a plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors;
• and
• providing the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for an autonomous vehicle.

A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

• configure a sensor noise modeling module to produce simulated sensor errors or noise data with a configured degree, extent, and timing of simulated sensor errors or noise based on a set of modifiable parameters;
• use the simulated sensor errors or noise data to generate simulated perception data by simulating errors related to constraints of one or more of a plurality of sensors, and by simulating noise in data provided by a sensor processing module corresponding to one or more of the plurality of sensors;
• and
• provide the simulated perception data to a motion planning system for an autonomous vehicle.