Simulink terrain query for driving?

Does Matlab or Simulink have a way to represent a race track or driving surface or road with left- and right-side edges?

Answer 1

[Marc Compere]

Hello Veer,

Thank you for your suggestions. I didn't really find a suitable terrain database generation or terrain query tool for plain vanilla Matlab and Simulink.

So, I put a simple approach together and posted it here:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/67028-simple-terrain-database-creation-and-simulink-terrain-query-for-vehicle-simulation

Your first idea for image analysis is good and included in the terrain processing script, process_track.m.

This is one part of achieving a lap time simulation.

Answer 2

[Veer Alakshendra]

Here are few approaches which can help you represent a race track in MATLAB/ Simulink:

• Using image analysis- If you have an image of the track, you can extract the coordinates and plot y versus x in MATLAB. Please follow the link below to know more: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/157029-getting-coordinates-from-a-picture
• Using equations- As the race track is a nonlinear path, it consists of multiple functions for different intervals of x. In that case, you can plot y versus x for different intervals of x: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/164257-plot-in-different-ranges-for-x
• Using solid body- If you are planning to model a track a in Simulink, you can use a solid body block from Simscape Multibody and create a desired track. Furthermore, if you want to simulate a vehicle on the track, make contact between the tires and the surface of the track. Please follow this link to learn more about vehicle modeling using Simscape Multibody: https://www.mathworks.com/videos/matlab-and-simulink-racing-lounge-vehicle-modeling-part-4-simscape-multibody-1508365817599.html. Alternatively, if you have a complex track then either you can import a CAD file in Simscape Multibody ( https://www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/sm/cad-import.html )or use general extrusion option in the solid block ( https://www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/sm/ug/modeling-extrusions-and-revolutions.html )

[Sebastian Castro]

There is also the new Driving Scenario Designer in Autonomous Driving System Toolbox. (In R2017a/R2017b, you can still do this with code).

https://www.mathworks.com/help/driving/ug/generate-synthetic-detections-from-an-interactive-driving-scenario.html

While this is designed to put objects on a scene and simulate vision detections, it might still be helpful as a built-in visualization of a road profile.

- Sebastian

[Sheng]

Do you know how to use Driving Scenario Designer in simulink? I know It's an APP in matlab and successfully follow the tutorial demo, but I want to use it in Simulink and don't find a module named it in Simulink. My goal is to pass its generated data to ROS and My version is R2018b. Could you give me some suggestions? Thanks in advance.