The process of creating simulations for testing and training robots and artificial intelligence can be expensive and time-consuming. Amazon Web Services Inc. today announced AWS RoboMaker WorldForge, which is designed to automatically create randomized 3D virtual environments for robotics simulations.

Virtual worlds allow robotics application developers and quality assurance (QA) engineers to test robots without investing in hardware or infrastructure management, said AWS. Scaling such simulations can speed up reinforcement learning and ease synthetic data generation, but it requires specialized skills.

“With AWS RoboMaker WorldForge, robotics developers can easily increase the scale and variance of simulation, improving the quality of production code and accelerating time to market,” said AWS.

WorldForge generates multiple indoor scenarios

According to AWS, developers can use the WorldForge feature to create hundreds of user-defined virtual environments including features such as floor plans and furnishings. Robotics designers can set how many randomized worlds the cloud-based software will create.

In its blog, AWS described a demonstration of RoboMaker WorldForge and noted that simulations can be built from scratch or from templates. A green cylinder indicates the virtual robot’s starting point, and users can customize simulated worlds and rooms.

By randomizing elements such as furniture placement, developers can quickly and easily create 3D scenarios for training and testing robots, sad AWS. Users can also adjust room dimensions, select from room types such as living rooms or bathrooms, and specify doorways and connections.

Robotics engineers with an eye for interior design — and more importantly, human-machine interaction — can modify or randomly generate templates with furniture, floor plans, and the number of variations for multiple “worlds,” AWS said. They can then test indoor navigation and reinforcement learning. The company’s example included 10 six-room floor plans and three variations for a total of 30 virtual worlds.

With AWS RoboMaker WorldForge, users can quickly scale up simulations and then compare a robot’s performance across different settngs. RoboMaker is currently available in the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions, said AWS.