Simulation 3D Ultrasonic Sensor
Libraries:
Automated Driving Toolbox /
Simulation 3D
Aerospace Blockset /
Animation /
Simulation 3D
UAV Toolbox /
Simulation 3D
Simulink 3D Animation /
Simulation 3D /
Sensors
Description
The Simulation 3D Ultrasonic Sensor block generates detections from range measurements taken by an ultrasonic sensor mounted on an ego vehicle in a 3D simulation environment rendered using the Unreal Engine® from Epic Games®. The block calculates range measurements based on the distance between the sensor and the closest point on the detected object.
If you set Sample time to -1, the block uses the
sample time specified in the Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block. To use
this sensor, you must include a Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block in your
model.
Tip
The Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block must execute before the Simulation 3D Ultrasonic Sensor block. That way, the Unreal Engine 3D visualization environment prepares the data before the Simulation 3D Ultrasonic Sensor block receives it. To check the block execution order, right-click the blocks and select Properties. On the General tab, confirm these Priority settings:
Simulation 3D Scene Configuration —
0Simulation 3D Ultrasonic Sensor —
1
For more information about execution order, see Control and Display Execution Order (Simulink).
The Coordinate system parameter of the block specifies how the actor transformations are applied in the 3D environment. The output of the block also follows the specified coordinate system.
Ports
Output
Parameters
Mounting
Specify the unique identifier of the sensor. In a multisensor system, the sensor identifier enables you to distinguish between sensors. When you add a new sensor block to your model, the Sensor identifier of that block is N + 1, where N is the highest Sensor identifier value among the existing sensor blocks in the model.
Example: 2
Name of the parent to which the sensor is mounted, specified as Scene
Origin or as the name of a vehicle in your model. The vehicle names
that you can select correspond to the Name parameters of the
simulation 3D vehicle blocks in your model. If you select Scene
Origin, the block places a sensor at the scene origin.
Example: SimulinkVehicle1
Since R2025a
Specify the coordinate system that the actor uses for translation and rotation in the 3D environment.
Default– World coordinate systemMATLAB– MATLAB® coordinate systemISO8855– ISO 8855 standard coordinate systemAERO– SAE coordinate systemVRML– X3D ISO standard coordinate systemSAE– SAE coordinate system
For more details on the different coordinate systems, see Coordinate Systems in Simulink 3D Animation.
Example: MATLAB
Sensor mounting location. By default, the block places the sensor relative to the scene or vehicle origin, depending on the Parent name parameter.
When Parent name is
Scene Origin, the block mounts the sensor to the origin of the scene. You can set the Mounting location toOriginonly. During simulation, the sensor remains stationary.When Parent name is the name of a vehicle, the block mounts the sensor to one of the predefined mounting locations described in the table. During simulation, the sensor travels with the vehicle. For example, the table provides the mounting locations in the ISO 8855 standard coordinate system.
| Mounting Location | Description | Orientation Relative to Vehicle Origin [Roll, Pitch, Yaw] (deg) |
|---|---|---|
Origin | Forward-facing sensor mounted to the vehicle origin, which is on the ground and at the geometric center of the vehicle (see Coordinate Systems in Simulink 3D Animation)
| [0, 0, 0] |
| Forward-facing sensor mounted to the front bumper
| [0, 0, 0] |
| Backward-facing sensor mounted to the rear bumper
| [0, 0, 180] |
Right mirror | Downward-facing sensor mounted to the right side-view mirror
| [0, –90, 0] |
Left mirror | Downward-facing sensor mounted to the left side-view mirror
| [0, –90, 0] |
Rearview mirror | Forward-facing sensor mounted to the rearview mirror, inside the vehicle
| [0, 0, 0] |
Hood center | Forward-facing sensor mounted to the center of the hood
| [0, 0, 0] |
Roof center | Forward-facing sensor mounted to the center of the roof
| [0, 0, 0] |
The X-Y-Z mounting location of the sensor relative to the vehicle depends on the vehicle type. To specify the vehicle type, use the Type parameter of the Simulation 3D Vehicle with Ground Following to which you mount the sensor. To obtain the X-Y-Z mounting locations for a vehicle type, see the reference page for that vehicle.
To determine the location of the sensor, open the sensor block. Then, on the Ground Truth tab, select the Output location and orientation parameter and inspect the data from the Translation output port.
Select this parameter to specify an offset from the mounting location by using the Relative translation [X, Y, Z] and Relative rotation [Roll, Pitch, Yaw] parameters.
Translation offset relative to the mounting location of the sensor, specified as a real-valued 1-by-3 vector of the form [X, Y, Z].
You can mount the sensor to a vehicle by setting Parent
name to the name of that vehicle. The origin is the mounting location
specified in the Mounting location parameter. This origin is
different from the vehicle origin, which is the geometric center of the vehicle. You can
also mount the sensor to the scene origin by setting Parent name to
Scene Origin.
For more details about the coordinate systems, see Coordinate Systems in Simulink 3D Animation.
Example: [0,0,0.01]
Dependencies
To enable this parameter, select Specify offset.
Rotational offset relative to the mounting location of the sensor, specified as a real-valued 1-by-3 vector of the form [Roll, Pitch, Yaw]. Roll, pitch, and yaw are the angles of rotation about the X-, Y-, and Z-axes, respectively. Units are in degrees.
You can mount the sensor to a vehicle by setting
Parent name to the name of that vehicle. The origin is the
mounting location specified in the Mounting location parameter.
This origin is different from the vehicle origin, which is the geometric center of the
vehicle. You can also mount the sensor to the scene origin by setting Parent
name to Scene Origin.
For more details about the coordinate systems, see Coordinate Systems in Simulink 3D Animation.
Example: [0,0,10]
Dependencies
To enable this parameter, select Specify offset.
Sample time of the block, in seconds, specified as a positive scalar. The 3D simulation environment frame rate is the inverse of the sample time.
If you set the sample time to -1, the block inherits its sample time from
the Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block.
Sensor Parameters
Detection range vector of the ultrasonic sensor, specified as a 1-by-3 nonnegative
real-valued vector of the form [minDetOnlyRange minDistRange
maxDistRange], where minDetOnlyRange < minDistRange <
maxDistRange. Units are in meters. These values determine the detections
and distance values returned by the ultrasonic sensor.
When the detected object is at a distance between
minDistRangeandmaxDistRange, the sensor returns a positive distance value.When the detected object is at a distance between
minDetOnlyRangeandminDistRange, the sensor detects the object, but cannot determine the distance and returns a value of0.When the object is at a distance below
minDetOnlyRangeor abovemaxDistRange, the sensor returns an empty cell array.
Horizontal field of view of ultrasonic sensor, specified as a positive real
scalar. This field of view defines the total angular extent spanned by the sensor in
the horizontal direction. You must specify the horizontal field of view
horizontalFOV in the range (0, 180). Units are in degrees.
Vertical field of view of ultrasonic sensor, specified as a positive real scalar. This field of view defines the total angular extent spanned by the sensor in the vertical direction. You must specify the vertical field of view in the range (0, 180). Units are in degrees.
Ground Truth
Select this parameter to output the translation and rotation of the sensor at the Translation and Rotation ports, respectively.
