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VPP Integration with the Ego Vehicle#

VPP is a package that provides realistic vehicle simulation. Here you can find a guide on how to integrate VPP with the Ego Vehicle.

Example Vehicle

It is recommended to take a look at the default Lexus vehicle prefab as example to see how the components are set up.

Initial setup#

To be able to use VPP with the ego vehicle, please attach these components to the vehicle prefab: From the VPP package:

Added to prefab root:

  • Vehicle Controller
  • Standard Input
  • Camera Target (Optional, you can use your own implementation)
  • Telemetry Window (Optional, used to display telemetry data)
  • Visual Effects (Optional, used to visualize the steering wheel)

Wheel Colliders

VPP uses its own implementation of the Wheel Colliders! For the wheel colliders, please add the Wheel Colliders provided by the VPP package. They share the same name with the default Unity components.

After adding those scripts continue with adding the following components to the vehicle prefab:

Added to prefab root:

  • AutowareVPPAdapter.cs: Used for applying the control inputs to the vehicle.
  • Ros2ToVPPInput.cs: Used for receiving the control inputs from the Autoware.
  • VPPVehicleSignalHandler.cs: Used for handling the signals from the vehicle.
  • BirdEyeView.cs: Used for providing top-down ortho view.

To be able to report the vehicle state to the Autoware, you'll need this script in the URDF. This script is added in the VehicleStatusSensor prefab by default.

Added to URDF:

  • VPPToRos2Publisher.cs: Used for publishing the vehicle state to the Autoware.

Setting up the components#

After doing the initial setup, we will need to configure the components for your vehicle.

Set up the Vehicle Controller and the Wheel Colliders with the correct values for your vehicle. Using values from the real vehicles will result in a more realistic simulation.

You can refer to VPP documentation for more detailed information about the VPP components.

As for the other components we've added to the vehicle, we have to give their necessary references.

Camera Controller

If you've added the Camera Target component, you'll need a separate gameObject with a Camera Controller. Don't forget to assign vehicle Transform reference in this component. This is used by default in the AutowareSimulation scene.

AutowareVPPAdapter.cs#

Variable Description
Front Wheels Used for handling the steering input. Assign the front wheel colliders of the vehicle.
Simulate Steering Simulate the steering instead of assigning wheel angles directly.
Steer Wheel Input Change applied to steering wheel when simulating steering. Applied every in fixed update as an input to the VPP steering. (0-100)
Emergency Brake Percent The amount of brake pedal percent applied when the emergency is triggered. (0-100)
Update Position Offset Y The height offset value for the vehicle position when initializing position of the vehicle from the Rviz. (In meters)
Update Position Ray Origin Y The height of the raycast origin for the vehicle position when initializing position of the vehicle from the Rviz. (In meters)
Do Pedal Calibration Mode for vehicle pedal calibration. If enabled the vehicle pedals can be set to certain percentages with Numpad(-,+,0) keys. Uses %10 increments by default.

Ros2ToVPPInput.cs#

Variable Description
Adapter Reference to the AutowareVPPAdapter script. (Drag the object that has the corresponding component.)
Topics Topics used in the Ros2 communication. You can change the topics according to your case.
  • QoS Settings: Quality of Service settings for the Ros2 communication. Currently, it is as follows:
Variable Value
Reliability Policy Reliable
Durability Policy Transient Local
History Policy Keep Last
Depth 1
  • Position QoS Setttings: QoS settings for the position topic:
Variable Value
Reliability Policy Reliable
Durability Policy Volatile
History Policy Keep Last
Depth 1
  • Actuation QoS Setttings: QoS settings for the actuation topic:
Variable Value
Reliability Policy Reliable
Durability Policy Volatile
History Policy Keep Last
Depth 1

VehicleSignalHandler.cs#

Variable Description
Adapter Reference to the AutowareVPPAdapter script. (Drag the object that has the corresponding component.)
Vp Vehicle Reference to the Vehicle Controller script. (Drag the object that has the corresponding component.)

Rest of the signal related settings are same as VehicleVisualEffect.cs. These two scripts are basically same.

VPPToRos2Publisher.cs#

Same as VehicleStatusSensor.cs but the Adapter reference is the AutowareVPPAdapter script.

Setting up the child objects#

For the VPP to work correctly, you need to set up the child objects of the vehicle prefab.

Setting up the reference for Ackermann Steering:#

  1. Create an empty game object named "Ackermann" and set as the direct child of the prefab. Then assign reference in the Vehicle Controller.
  2. Move position of the created game object to the middle of the rear axle and set its height to the bottom of the rear wheels. Make sure the rotations are (0,0,0)

Assign the reference in the Vehicle Controller. For details, you can refer to the VPP.

VPP Reference: Ackermann

Setting up the reference for Dynamics:#

  1. Create an empty game object named "Dynamics" and set as the direct child of the prefab. Add the following components to this object:

    • Rolling Friction
    • Anti-roll Bar (x2)

  2. Create an empty game object named "Aero" and set as the child of the "Dynamics". Add the following components to this object:

    • Aerodynamic Surface

Assign the references in the Vehicle Controller. For configuring these components, you can refer to the VPP documentation.

VPP Reference: Dynamics