A Robust Simulation Framework for Verification and Validation of Autonomous Maritime Navigation in Adverse Weather and Constrained Environments

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Patil, Mayur S., Sudharsan, Nataraj, Saaiby, Anthony S., Xing, JiaChang, Pan, Keliang, Ammula, Veneela, Tomdio, Jude, Wang, Jin, Kei, Michael, Kang, Heonyong, Rathinam, Sivakumar, Pagilla, Prabhakar R.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Patil, Mayur S.
Sudharsan, Nataraj
Saaiby, Anthony S.
Xing, JiaChang
Pan, Keliang
Ammula, Veneela
Tomdio, Jude
Wang, Jin
Kei, Michael
Kang, Heonyong
Rathinam, Sivakumar
Pagilla, Prabhakar R.
author_facet Patil, Mayur S.
Sudharsan, Nataraj
Saaiby, Anthony S.
Xing, JiaChang
Pan, Keliang
Ammula, Veneela
Tomdio, Jude
Wang, Jin
Kei, Michael
Kang, Heonyong
Rathinam, Sivakumar
Pagilla, Prabhakar R.
contents Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) have emerged as a promising solution to enhance navigational safety, operational efficiency, and long-term cost effectiveness. However, their reliable deployment requires rigorous verification and validation (V\&V) under various environmental conditions, including extreme and safety-critical scenarios. This paper presents an enhanced virtual simulation framework to support the V\&V of MASS in realistic maritime environments, with particular emphasis on the influence of weather and bathymetry on autonomous navigation performance. The framework incorporates a high-fidelity environmental modeling suite capable of simulating adverse weather conditions such as rain, fog, and wave dynamics. The key factors that affect weather, such as rain and visibility, are parameterized to affect sea-state characteristics, perception, and sensing systems, resulting in position and velocity uncertainty, reduced visibility, and degraded situational awareness. Furthermore, high-resolution bathymetric data from major U.S. ports are integrated to enable depth-aware navigation, grounding prevention capabilities, and evaluation of vessel controllability in shallow or confined waterways. The proposed framework offers extensive configurability, enabling systematic testing in a wide spectrum of maritime conditions, including scenarios that are impractical or unsafe to replicate in real-world trials, thus supporting the V\&V of MASS.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_02487
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Robust Simulation Framework for Verification and Validation of Autonomous Maritime Navigation in Adverse Weather and Constrained Environments
Patil, Mayur S.
Sudharsan, Nataraj
Saaiby, Anthony S.
Xing, JiaChang
Pan, Keliang
Ammula, Veneela
Tomdio, Jude
Wang, Jin
Kei, Michael
Kang, Heonyong
Rathinam, Sivakumar
Pagilla, Prabhakar R.
Robotics
Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) have emerged as a promising solution to enhance navigational safety, operational efficiency, and long-term cost effectiveness. However, their reliable deployment requires rigorous verification and validation (V\&V) under various environmental conditions, including extreme and safety-critical scenarios. This paper presents an enhanced virtual simulation framework to support the V\&V of MASS in realistic maritime environments, with particular emphasis on the influence of weather and bathymetry on autonomous navigation performance. The framework incorporates a high-fidelity environmental modeling suite capable of simulating adverse weather conditions such as rain, fog, and wave dynamics. The key factors that affect weather, such as rain and visibility, are parameterized to affect sea-state characteristics, perception, and sensing systems, resulting in position and velocity uncertainty, reduced visibility, and degraded situational awareness. Furthermore, high-resolution bathymetric data from major U.S. ports are integrated to enable depth-aware navigation, grounding prevention capabilities, and evaluation of vessel controllability in shallow or confined waterways. The proposed framework offers extensive configurability, enabling systematic testing in a wide spectrum of maritime conditions, including scenarios that are impractical or unsafe to replicate in real-world trials, thus supporting the V\&V of MASS.
title A Robust Simulation Framework for Verification and Validation of Autonomous Maritime Navigation in Adverse Weather and Constrained Environments
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02487