Autonomous vehicle simulation system for analyzing motion planners

A method comprising:

• receiving map data corresponding to a real world driving environment;
• obtaining perception data and configuration instructions and data including pre-defined parameters and executables defining a specific driving behavior for each of a plurality of simulated dynamic vehicles;
• generating simulated perception data for each of the plurality of simulated dynamic vehicles based on the map data, the perception data, and the configuration instructions and data;
• receiving vehicle control messages from an autonomous vehicle control system;
• and
• simulating the operation and behavior of a real world autonomous vehicle based on the vehicle control messages received from the autonomous vehicle control system.

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

• receive map data corresponding to a real world driving environment;
• obtain perception data and configuration instructions and data including pre-defined parameters and executables defining a specific driving behavior for each of a plurality of simulated dynamic vehicles;
• generate simulated perception data for each of the plurality of simulated dynamic vehicles based on the map data, the perception data, and the configuration instructions and data;
• receive vehicle control messages from an autonomous vehicle control system;
• and
• simulate the operation and behavior of a real world autonomous vehicle based on the vehicle control messages received from the autonomous vehicle control system.