Hi all,
I’m using the CMRosIF-1.0.0 package to use CarMaker/‘Office’ 11.0 with ROS 2. Thanks for providing such a useful package. Is it possible to use this package with CarMaker/‘HIL + VIL add-on’ 11.0, as well?
Hello,
The interface works with CarMaker for Office at the moment. Officially, it has not been tested for HiL, unofficially, it may work.
The ViL addon on its own should not interfere with the CMRosIF package, and they can work together. The only issue is that the ViL addon for Office is not widely distributed for Linux to my knowledge.
When it comes to HiL, usually the peak interest is from IPG customers, e.g. suppliers and OEMs. If you have a specific project in mind and are interested in official IPG support, it might be a good idea to reach out through your company.
Regards,
Bogomil
Dear Bogomil,
Thank you for expressing interest in my work. As a university professor, I recently purchased CarMaker/Office, HIL + VIL add-on to perform VIL, as demonstrated in https://youtu.be/CukilQRmyuA. Currently, everything is in place, except for an interface between sensor models, such as LiDAR RSI, and AD systems.
Martin Herrmann from IPG Automotive GmbH has mentioned three possible options for exporting sensor data generated in CarMaker. You may refer to https://ipg-automotive.com/fileadmin/data/knowhow/success_stories/interviews/article/Interview_Testing_and_Validation_EN.pdf, if you are interested. At the moment, I am trying the third option that uses ROS 2. I have found that the CMRosIF-1.0.0 package works well with CarMaker/Office, but I am unsure if it is also suitable for CarMaker/HIL + VIL add-on.
Regarding your statement, “If you have a specific project in mind and are interested in official IPG support, it might be a good idea to reach out.” Could you please provide more details on this? Additionally, would it be possible for you to connect me with a VIL expert in your company who can provide further guidance on my current project?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Dear Woosuk,
This project sounds very interesting. I can give you some of my experience on the subject, but as you are a paying customer, you will probably get much better support through the official support channels of IPG. I assume you are based in Korea, have you previously been in touch with IPG Korea for support? I do not know the direct support email, but if you raise your question using this form, it will go to the correct office relatively quickly: Support request | IPG Automotive
Traditionally, ViL is not really done over ROS, but either with direct object injection into the vehicle AD system (likely over CAN), or with a camera-HiL system in a camera-based application. I have been involved in an experimental project with a company called Streetdrone in the UK where we connected CarMaker to their AV stack and drove one of their cars in a ViL setting over ROS1. The limitations were obvious, the vehicle was not driven with a real-time hardware, but as a proof of concept, it was a fantastic project. You can find some promotional materials on that experiment here: https://www.streetdrone.com/accelerating-cav-deployment-with-vehicle-in-the-loop-simulation-streetdrone-and-ipg-automotive/
If the ROS2 path becomes difficult (this really depends on the answers that IPG Korea will provide regarding ROS2 and HiL), then my best suggestion for you is to use the native capability of our RSI sensors (RADAR RSI, LiDAR RSI, Ultrasonic RSI, Camera RSI) to stream data over a TCP/IP socket on the network. This is know as RSDS, Raw Signal Data Stream. You can connect CarMaker for HiL to your vehicle’s AD system and stream the sensor data directly to it. Then you have to create a listener inside the AD system for this data stream that unpacks it and transform it back into raw data, e.g. pixels, RADAR signal returns, etc.
Your last question is once again best handled through support: Support request | IPG Automotive
As this goes officially through IPG support, they can provide you with more information, connect you to some experts if needed, and you can also share information with them privately as this is a public forum and you may not want to share information of upcoming projects that are not out yet.
Hopefully that helps.
Regards,
Bogomil
Thanks for sharing your valuable experience, Bogomil.
Yes, I’ve been working with IPG Korea and they helped set up and demonstrate basic VIL functionalities. They also suggested the Raw Signal Data Stream (RSDS), however, interfacing to my own AD system requires extra contract because it should be customized to some extent.
I knew the Aslan project but didn’t know its limitations in terms of VIL setting over ROS 1. For real-time operation, ROS 2 is highly required but, as you worried, the path via ROS 2 is rough and narrow (as IPG Korea would not readily provide the solution). So, I’m working down the path only with the CMRosIF-1.0.0 package, hoping it is suitable for CarMaker/HIL + VIL add-on.
I’m a bit reluctant to request a support via Support request | IPG Automotive
because the webpage distributing the package said,
Disclaimer:
Using CarMaker ROS Interface needs good programming knowledge of C/C++ and ROS. This demo example aims at showing the functionality of CarMakerROS co-simulation. The CarMaker ROS Interface may change in the future. Therefore, no official support will be provided. Any reports related to the usage of CarMaker ROS Interfacemay not be processed.
As an alternative to ROS 2, I agree with your and IPG Korea’s best suggestion, RSDS. By any chance, can I expect an (un)official support on this?
Including ADMA G-ECO+ (INS that can meet the minimum requirement for VIL), I spent most of my research grant (over 100,000 EURO) to conduct VIL, however, nothing is possible without proper interfacing. I’m desperate, please help, Bogomil.
Thanks for your consideration.
Bogomil, note that I’ve just requested a support on RSDS. Thank you very much.
Dear Woosuk,
I think you have taken the right approach as IPG Korea can provide much more assistance in this than me on the forum.
The good news is that you don’t have to start from zero hopefully. RSDS is the officially supported sensor data streaming method by IPG. The most information about RSDS is in the Reference Manual in CarMaker. For CM11, this is section 20.20.7: RSDS-Client
In addition, IPG have already written some example clients that can listen to the RSDS data stream and transform it back into useful sensor data. For me, depending on the installation path and version of CarMaker, the examples are found here:
C:\IPG\carmaker\win64-11.1.1\Examples\RSDS
It will be a similar location for you.
I hope that this helps you.
Regards,
Bogomil
Thanks, Bogomil.
In response to my support request, a local personnel contacted and directed me the pages you pointed out right above.
Hope to keep in touch with you on this forum or anywhere else.