[Bf-committers] layser, radar, ultra sound sensor in Blender

[Benoit Bolsee]

> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:50:13 -0400
> From: Changhua Wu <cwu at kettering.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Bf-committers] layser, radar, ultra sound sensor in
> 	Blender
> To: bf-blender developers <bf-committers at blender.org>
> Message-ID: <4A7099E5.3080100 at kettering.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
> 
> Hi,
> 
> But I guess the data we can from the ray sensor will be quite 
> different 
> than the real radar or ultra sonic sensors. Right?
> 
> I am wondering whether it is do-able to have these sensors 
> simulated in 
> Blender.
> 

Sensors in the GameEngine produce simple yes/on response with small
number of information: list of objects detected, coordinate of point of
contact, etc.
Simulating a real sensor that produces a 2D or 3D image (with simulated
noise, etc.) is possible since the GameEngine has full knowledge of the
3D environment. A good start would be to use the VideoTexture module
(http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Source/GameEngine/2.49/VideoTextu
re) that can produce 2D rendering of the 3D scene from any point. The Z
buffer is not available but it is a simple addition to give access to it
for depth information. The image can be retrieved at python level and
processed by any python tool to produce the final image. You can also
use 2D filters (GLSL or host based) to produce graw scale image, noise,
etc. This is all possible today with python controllers which are
scripts that run at every frame (or less if you want) where you can make
those renderings and processings. 

Notes:
- For better performance, it would be necessary to so the processing in
C. Again this is possible if you write your own python module and link
to it in the controller.
- The robotic industry is showing interest in Blender to use it as a
simulation environment. Several robotic Labs have hired a software
engineer to work exactly on Blender.
- There is a BlenderForRobotic mailing list where you can get in touch
with robotic users. Check details here:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Robotics:Index#Blender_For_Robotics

/benoit