CarSim

By default, the monoDrive Simulator uses PhysX for vehicle dynamics. Alternatively, monoDrive also supports co-simulation with CarSim.

Prerequisites

monoDrive Scenario Editor

• Windows 10
• Visual Studio build tools
  • follow instructions from Unreal Engine here
  • make sure the recommended workloads are selected, including .NET desktop development
• monoDrive Scenario Editor
• monoDrive Client (C++, Python or LabVIEW)

monoDrive CarSim Integration Enabled

• Open VehicleAI.uproject with a text editor
• Enable the two required plugins

    {
        "Name": "CarSim",
        "Enabled": true,
        "MarketplaceURL": "com.epicgames.launcher://ue/marketplace/content/2d712649ca864c80812da7b5252f5608"
    },
    {
        "Name": "monoDriveVehiclesCarSim",
        "Enabled": true
    }

• Launch the editor and the integration will be built

CarSim Prerequisites

• VehicleSim Dynamics plugin for Unreal Engine 4.25
• CarSim 2020.0
  • Minimum licenses:
    • CarSim Browser and Graphical User Interface
    • CarSim Solver for Windows

Create CarSim model

1. Open CarsSim

   • accept default licensing and database location

2. Create new dataset

   • File → New Dataset (empty)
   • Category: monoDrive, Title: some title

3. Give simulation control to UE4

   • Unselect 'Set driver controls here'
   • Unselect 'Set time step here'
   • Unselect 'Advanced settings'

4. Select vehicle

   • Click drop down under 'Simulated Test Specifications'
     • Click 'Vehicles' → 'Vehicle: Assembly'
   • Select a model (e.g. 'D-Class, Sedan')

5. (optional) Update params

   • Under the selected vehicle, any parameters can be updated as desired

6. Visualization

   • Under 'Run Control'
     • select ERD 32-bit
       • check 'Write all outputs'
   • Under the 'Video' button, open the drop down
     • Click 'Vehicle References'
       • select '13 Azm, 9 El, 18 m, No Yaw'
   • Click the dropdown for 'More plots' and select a number
   • Populate these empty datasets with predefined plots

7. Generate simfile

   • Under 'Run Control', open the drop down next to 'Models'
     • select 'Models: Transfer to Local Windows Directory'
     • the title of this section should change to 'Run from Alternate Directory'
   • Under the dataset drop down, select 'UE4 simfile generator'
     • Open this dataset and click 'Duplicate' to make a copy
       • Update the working directory and other fields as desired
       • For example, set the directory to 'C:\Users\devin\dump\carsim'
   • Go back to the main dataset and select the copy for the simfile generator
   • Click 'Generate Files for this Run'
   • 'ue4simfile.sim' should appear in the working directory

Configure the monoDrive Scenario

1. Open up the closed loop scenario file with a text editor

2. Find the vehicle with the ego tag

3. Update the class_path to point at the CarSim vehicle and add a field to specify the sim_file. It should read:

    "class_path": "/Game/CarSim/VS_Core/CarSimDemoVehicle.CarSimDemoVehicle_C",
    "sim_file" : "C:\\Users\\you\\path\\to\\ue4simfile.sim",

Running

1. Start the monoDrive Simulator

2. Click 'Generate Files for this Run' from CarSim

3. Run the configured closed loop example from LabVIEW

4. When done, stop both the LabVIEW client and the simulator

5. Go back to CarSim and click 'Video + Plot' to see results