dynamicCapsuleList

Dynamic capsule-based obstacle list

Since R2020b

Description

The dynamicCapsuleList object manages two lists of capsule-based collision objects in 2-D space. Collision objects are separated into two lists, ego bodies and obstacles. For ego bodies and obstacles in 3-D, see the dynamicCapsuleList3D object.

Each collision object in the two lists has three key elements:

• ID –– Integer that identifies each object, stored in the EgoIDs property for ego bodies and the ObstacleIDs property for obstacles.

• States –– Location and orientation of the object as an M-by-3 matrix, where each row is of form [x y theta] and M is the number of states along the path of the object in the world frame. The list of states assumes each state is separated by a fixed time interval. xy-positions are in meters, and theta is in radians. The default local origin is located at the center of the left semicircle of the capsule.

• Geometry –– Size of the capsule-based object based on a specified length and radius. The radius applies to the semicircle end caps, and the length applies to the central rectangle length. To shift the capsule geometry and local origin relative to the default origin point, specify a fixed transform relative to the local frame of the capsule.

Use the object functions to dynamically add, remove, and update the geometries and states of the various objects in your environment. To add an ego body, see the addEgo object function. To add an obstacle, see the addObstacle object function.

After specifying all of the object states, validate the ego-body paths and check for collisions with obstacles at every step using the checkCollision object function. The function only checks if an ego body collides with an obstacle, ignoring collisions between only obstacles or only ego bodies.

Creation

Syntax

obstacleList = dynamicCapsuleList

Description

obstacleList = dynamicCapsuleList creates a dynamic capsule-based obstacle list with no ego bodies or obstacles. To begin building an obstacle list, use the addEgo or addObstacle object functions.

Properties

MaxNumSteps — Maximum number of time steps in obstacle list

31 (default) | positive integer

Maximum number of time steps in the obstacle list, specified as a positive integer. The number of steps determines to the maximum length of the States field for a specific ego body or obstacle.

Data Types: double

EgoIDs — List of IDs for ego bodies

vector of positive integers

This property is read-only.

List of identifiers for ego bodies, returned as a vector of positive integers.

Data Types: double

ObstacleIDs — IDs for obstacles

vector of positive integers

This property is read-only.

List of identifiers for obstacles, returned as a vector of positive integers.

Data Types: double

NumObstacles — Number of obstacles in list

integer

This property is read-only.

Number of obstacles in list, returned as an integer.

Data Types: double

NumEgos — Number of ego bodies in list

integer

This property is read-only.

Number of ego bodies in list, returned as an integer.

Data Types: double

Object Functions

addEgo	Add ego bodies to capsule list
addObstacle	Add obstacles to 2-D capsule list
checkCollision	Check for collisions between ego bodies and obstacles
egoGeometry	Geometric properties of ego bodies
egoPose	Poses of ego bodies
obstacleGeometry	Geometric properties of obstacles
obstaclePose	Poses of obstacles
removeEgo	Remove ego bodies from capsule list
removeObstacle	Remove obstacles from capsule list
show	Display ego bodies and obstacles in environment
updateEgoGeometry	Update geometric properties of ego bodies
updateEgoPose	Update states of ego bodies
updateObstacleGeometry	Update geometric properties of obstacles
updateObstaclePose	Update states of obstacles

Examples

Build Ego Body Paths and Check for Collisions with Obstacles

Build an ego body path and maintain obstacle states using the dynamicCapsuleList object. Visualize the states of all objects in the environment at different timestamps. Validate the path of the ego body by checking for collisions with obstacles in the environment.

Create the dynamicCapsuleList object. Extract the maximum number of steps to use as the number of time stamps for your object paths.

obsList = dynamicCapsuleList;
numSteps = obsList.MaxNumSteps;

Add Ego Body

Define an ego body by specifying the ID, geometry, and state together in a structure. The capsule geometry has a length of 3 m and radius of 1 m. Specify the state as a linear path from x = 0m to x = 100m.

egoID1 = 1;
geom = struct("Length",3,"Radius",1,"FixedTransform",eye(3));
states = linspace(0,1,obsList.MaxNumSteps)'.*[100 0 0];

egoCapsule1 = struct('ID',egoID1,'States',states,'Geometry',geom);
addEgo(obsList,egoCapsule1);

show(obsList,"TimeStep",[1:numSteps]);
ylim([-20 20])

Add Obstacles

Specify states for two obstacles that are separated from the ego body by 5 m in opposite directions on the y-axis.. Assume the obstacles have the same geometry geom as the ego body.

obsState1 = states + [0 5 0];
obsState2 = states + [0 -5 0];

obsCapsule1 = struct('ID',1,'States',obsState1,'Geometry',geom);
obsCapsule2 = struct('ID',2,'States',obsState2,'Geometry',geom);

addObstacle(obsList,obsCapsule1);
addObstacle(obsList,obsCapsule2);

show(obsList,"TimeStep",[1:numSteps]);
ylim([-20 20])

Update Obstacles

Alter your obstacle locations and geometry dimensions over time. Use the previously generated structure, modify the fields, and update the obstacles using the updateObstacleGeometry and updateObstaclePose object functions. Reduces the radius of the first obstacle to 0.5 m, and change the path to move it towards the ego body.

obsCapsule1.Geometry.Radius = 0.5;

obsCapsule1.States = ...
    [linspace(0,100,numSteps)' ... % x
     linspace(5,-4,numSteps)' ... % y 
     zeros(numSteps,1)]; % theta

updateObstacleGeometry(obsList,1,obsCapsule1);
updateObstaclePose(obsList,1,obsCapsule1);

Check for Collisions

Visualize the new paths. Show where collisions between the ego body and an obstacle, which the display highlights in red. Notice that collisions between the obstacles are not checked.

show(obsList,"TimeStep",[1:numSteps],"ShowCollisions",1);
ylim([-20 20])
xlabel("X (m)")
ylabel("Y (m)")

Programmatically check for collisions by using the checkCollision object function. The function returns a vector of logical values that indicates the status of each time step. The vector is transposed for display purposes.

collisions = checkCollision(obsList)'

collisions = 1x31 logical array

   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

To validate paths with a large number of steps, use the any function on the vector of collision values.

if any(collisions)
    disp("Collision detected.")
end

Collision detected.

Update Ego Path

Specify a new path for the ego body. Visualize the paths again, displaying collisions.

egoCapsule1.States = ...
    [linspace(0,100,numSteps)' ... % x
    3*sin(linspace(0,2*pi,numSteps))' ... % y
    zeros(numSteps,1)]; % theta

updateEgoPose(obsList,1,egoCapsule1);

show(obsList,"TimeStep",[1:numSteps],"ShowCollisions",1);
ylim([-20 20])

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2020b