Autonomous vehicle rapid development testbed systems and methods

A system for operating one or more vehicles, comprising:

• a position reference system including a plurality of cameras operatively disposed with respect to a control volume, the position reference system being configured to repetitively measure one or more stability and control characteristics of the one or more vehicles at least in part using the plurality of cameras as the one or more vehicles operate within the control volume;
• a health monitoring component configured to receive health monitoring information from the one or more vehicles, and to assess a health condition of the one or more vehicles based on the received health monitoring information;
• a communication component configured to receive the repetitively measured one or more stability and control characteristics from the position reference system and the health monitoring information from the health monitoring component;
• and
• a processing component operatively coupled to the communication component and configured to determine corresponding command signals based on the repetitively measured one or more stability and control characteristics and the health monitoring information, the communication component being further configured to transmit the corresponding command signals to the one or more vehicles to control the one or more stability and control characteristics in a closed-loop system.

A method of operating one or more vehicles within a control volume, comprising:

• measuring one or more stability and control characteristics of the one or more vehicles using a position reference system including a plurality of measuring devices operatively disposed with respect to the control volume as the one or more vehicles operate within the control volume;
• receiving the measured one or more stability and control characteristics from the position reference system;
• determining a command signal based on the one or more stability and control characteristics measured using the position reference system;
• transmitting the command signal to the one or more vehicles operating within the control volume to control the one or more stability and control characteristics of the one or more vehicles in a closed-loop system;
• and
• simulating one or more simulated vehicles to enable determination of an interoperability of the one or more simulated vehicles with respect to the one or more vehicles operating within the control volume to enable testing of new prototypes before deployment of a physical vehicle.