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Unreal Physics-Based Camera simulations in Simcenter Prescan C++

By Paul van Straten
Unreal Physics-Based Camera simulations in Simcenter Prescan C++
Unreal Physics-Based Camera simulations in Simcente Prescan C++

Siemens announces the release of Simcenter Prescan version 2021.2, the best physics-based simulation platform for testing and development of automated vehicles. This release introduces the Unreal Physics-Based Camera (PBC) simulations in Simcenter Prescan C++, pre-configured 2D dynamics in Simcenter Amesim and support for OpenDRIVE v1.6, as well as many other important improvements that will help users enhance the accuracy and ease-of-use of ADAS / AV simulations.

Unreal Physics-Based Camera updates

With this release, Unreal PBC simulation in Simcenter Prescan C++ is introduced, allowing Simcenter Prescan C++ users to create realistic camera images through the physics-based camera model. Parameters include:

  • Sensor Data and RGB Data
  • Distance, Image Segmentation and Optical Flow
  • Exposure and Gain Control

Furthermore, reflections have been improved for the Unreal PBC with the introduction of ray-traced reflections. These reflections can be enabled through the GUI and DMAPI and can be applied to the fisheye PBC as well.

Finally, flare and convolution bloom effects have been added to the Unreal PBC, resulting in overall more realistic images.

Pre-configured 2D dynamics in Simcenter Amesim

With this new release, the pre-configured 2D dynamics model in Simcenter Amesim is introduced. The vehicle dynamics model is a 15 DOF blackbox model from Simcenter Amesim integrated within Simcenter Prescan. The Simcenter Amesim model is pre-configured against various archetypes; small city car, medium car, SUV & non-articulated actors. This integrated vehicle dynamics model allows users to easily add and use realistic, vehicle dynamics for their digital twin.

The vehicle dynamics model can be configured using the DMAPI, and can be used in both Simulink and Simcenter Prescan C++.

Simcenter Prescan & Simcenter Amesim Integration for Vehicle Dynamics
Simcenter Prescan & Simcenter Amesim Integration for Vehicle Dynamics

New Simcenter Prescan assets

Simcenter Prescan introduces two new assets in this release: The FAW Jiefang J6M and John Deere 8400r have been added.

FAW Jiefang J6M and John Deere 8400r have been added.
FAW Jiefang J6M and John Deere 8400r.

Support for OpenDRIVE v1.6

With this introduction you can now import OpenDRIVE v1.6 files. Furthermore, the support for creating roads through the DMAPI has been extended. For example, road elevation is now accessible through the DMAPI for the creation of 3D roads. Also, sidewalks with variable height can be created through the DMAPI. Finally, OpenDRIVE support is extended with dashed lane markers with rhomboid shape.

Lane markers with rhomboid shape.
Lane markers with rhomboid shape.

Extended OpenSCENARIO support

This release extends the OpenSCENARIO support for the creation of dynamic scenarios.

Simcenter Prescan now supports Relative Speed Condition, with which users are able to define speeds relative to other actors in the scenario. A typical example would be referring to a vehicle with respect to the ego vehicle.

With the Time Headway Condition, users can trigger an event once the headway time between a following vehicle has reached the specified headway time against a leading vehicle. Consider the case of a vehicle overtaking a truck once the headway time is less than or equal to 2 seconds.

Finally, the Travelled Distance Condition enables the user to trigger an event once a vehicle has traveled a given distance. For example, a lane change can be triggered after the vehicle has driven a predefined distance.

Other updates

  • Traffic Simulation with Vissim 2021 – Allowing to simulate smart traffic by co-simulation with Vissim 2021 via the Vissim plugin
  • Support for Matlab 2019b – Enabling simulation of Simcenter Prescan with Matlab 2019b

Interested in the new Simcenter Prescan 2021.2 release?  You can contact us here.

For more general information on Simcenter Prescan, go to the web-page.

This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/simcenter/unreal-physics-based-camera-simulations/