What's an appropriate tool for simulating a car driving in a simple closed-loop racetrack? I'm trying to implement the control logic for an autonomous vehicle, and I'd like to be able to first simulate the behaviour before testing on a physical platform. The target environment is mostly 2D, but there are some 3D obstacle like small ramps and arches, so I can't use a strictly 2D simulator.
I've looked at some robotics simulators, as listed here, but they seem like overkill and none of them seemed designed to model outdoor environments. I've done a little work with Gazebo, and I can't find any guide of texturing the ground/sky/background.
All I really need is some way apply a texture map to the ground and sky, create a handful of obstacles, and then to calculate a camera feed as a simple two-wheeled chassis moves along a mostly 2D course. However, I need the video input to be as realistic as possible because I don't have access to the real world racetrack. I need to be able to test and train the control logic in the simulator, and then load that logic onto the real mobile platform and have it navigate the course.
