Ultrasonic

Overview

BeamNG.tech ships with a simulated Ultrasonic sensor which measures distances to nearby surfaces, commonly as an aid to vehicle parking. The range and detection sensitivity are physically-based and customisable by the user. Single or multiple ultrasonic sensors can be attached to vehicles or places at fixed locations.

The sensor is available to use from Python API , via the sensors configuration tools and with the Lua console , for which the commands are noted hereafter.

Usage

Ultrasonic sensors are exposed to Lua through the sensors extension in the tech folder. Using this API, an ultrasonic sensor can be created with various range and detection properties, and either attached to a vehicle or to a fixed point on the map.

sensorId = extensions.tech_sensors.createUltrasonic(vehicleId, args)

Args:

vehicleID(int): The vehicle ID. This can be nil (i.e., 0) if the ultrasonic is not to be attached to any vehicle; this also needs isStatic=true.

The args parameter is a Lua table containing as many of the following properties as required. If any property is not set manually then a default value is used, so it is entirely possible to create the ultrasonic sensor with args being an empty table. What follows is a complete list of these arguments:

updateTime(float): How often the ultrasonic sensor should update its readings in the simulator (in seconds). Default value is 0.05.
updatePriority(float): A scheduling priority value for this ultrasonic sensor, in range 0 to 1. 0 is highest priority, 1 is least. Default value is 0.0.
pos(Point3F): The position of the ultrasonic sensor either in vehicle space (if attached to vehicle) or in world space (if fixed to the map).
dir(Point3F): The forward direction in which the ultrasonic sensor points.
up(Point3F): The up direction of the ultrasonic sensor.
size(table): The horizontal and vertical resolution of the ultrasonic sensor. Default value is {200, 200}.
fovY(float): The vertical field of view of the ultrasonic sensor, in degrees. Default value is 70.0.
nearFarPlanes(table): The near and far plane distances of the ultrasonic sensor, in metres. Default values are 0.05, 5.1.
rangeRoundness(float): The general roundness of the ultrasonic sensors range shape. Can be negative. Default value is -1.15.
rangeCutoffSensitivity(float): A cutoff sensitivity parameter for the ultrasonic sensor range-shape. Default value is 0.0.
rangeShape(float): The shape of the ultrasonic sensor range-shape in the range [0, 1], going from conical to spherical. Default value is 0.3.
rangeFocus(float): The focus parameter for the ultrasonic sensor range-shape. Default value is 0.376.
rangeMinCutoff(float): The minimum cut-off distance for the ultrasonic sensor range-shape. Nothing closer than this will be detected. Default value is 0.1.
rangeDirectMaxCutoff(float): The maximum cut-off distance for the ultrasonic sensor range-shape. This parameter is a hard cutoff - nothing further than this will be detected, although other parameters can also control the maximum distance. Default value is 5.0.
sensitivity(float): The sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor detection. Default value is 3.0.
fixedWindowSize(float): Used with sensitivity to set how sharply the ultrasonic sensor detects surfaces. Default value is 10.0.
isVisualised(bool): A flag which indicates if the ultrasonic sensor should be visualised. Default value is true.
isStatic(bool): True if the ultrasonic sensor is fixed to a point on the map, false if it is attached to a vehicle.
isSnappingDesired(bool): True if the ultrasonic sensor position should be forced onto the surface of the vehicle, at its closest vehicle point. This is useful if finding it hard to have the ultrasonic sensor on the vehicle itself. False, otherwise, eg if the ultrasonic sensor should be suspended at a fixed point relative to the vehicle. Default value is true.
isForceInsideTriangle(bool): Used with isSnappingDesired. True, if the ultrasonic sensor should be forced to be inside its nearest vehicle triangle. Otherwise false. Default value is true.
isDirWorldSpace(bool): Flag which indicates if the direction is provided in world-space coordinates (True), or the default vehicle space (False).

Returns: sensorId(int): The unique Id number of this sensor, in order to refer to it later eg when closing it.

distance = extensions.tech_sensors.getUltrasonicDistanceMeasurement(sensorId)

Args: