Chapter 2 Simulation Playground

Simulation environments are the backbone of autonomous vehicle (AV) development, providing a safe, cost-effective platform to test and refine algorithms. This chapter focuses on setting up simulation environments tailored for different operating systems and deployment scenarios. Additionally, it provides detailed explanations of key scripts, such as manual control and traffic generation, to help students and lecturers gain hands-on experience with simulation tools like CARLA and BlueICE.

CARLA (Car Learning to Act) is an open-source simulator specifically designed for autonomous driving research. Developed to provide high-fidelity simulation environments, CARLA supports configurable weather, traffic, and sensor models—making it ideal for testing perception, planning, and control algorithms under varied conditions. As the simulation backbone of the BlueICE framework used in this book, CARLA enables students and researchers to safely explore complex driving scenarios in a repeatable and scalable virtual environment. Its compatibility with Python and ROS enhances accessibility and integration with real-world autonomous driving stacks.