AirSim is a high-fidelity simulation platform designed for the development and testing of autonomous vehicles. Built as a plugin for game engines, it provides a physics-based environment that models vehicle dynamics and sensor data, serving as a foundation for robotics research, computer vision training, and reinforcement learning.
The platform distinguishes itself through its support for hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing, allowing developers to validate control logic and firmware against real-world signals or concurrent processes. It offers extensive programmatic control via remote procedure call interfaces, enabling users to command vehicles, retrieve sensor data, and orchestrate multi-agent simulations across various programming languages.
Beyond core navigation, the system includes comprehensive tools for synthetic data generation, such as capturing RGB, depth, and thermal imagery, as well as creating point clouds and segmentation maps. It also provides robust infrastructure for environmental configuration, telemetry logging, and cloud-based deployment, facilitating the creation of diverse datasets and scalable simulation pipelines.
