How 3D Simulation for Aerospace Blockset Works

The aerospace models run programmable maneuvers in a photorealistic 3D visualization environment. Aerospace Blockset™ integrates the 3D simulation environment with Simulink^® so that you can query the world around aerospace vehicles for virtually testing perception, control, and planning algorithms. The Aerospace Blockset visualization environment uses the Unreal Engine^® by Epic Games^®.

Understanding how this simulation environment works can help you troubleshoot issues and customize your models.

Communication with 3D Simulation Environment

When you use Aerospace Blockset to run your algorithms, Simulink co-simulates the algorithms in the visualization engine.

Simulating models in the 3D visualization environment requires Simulink 3D Animation™.

In the Simulink environment, Aerospace Blockset:

Determines the next position of objects by using 3D visualization environment feedback and aerospace vehicle dynamics models.
Configures the 3D visualization environment, specifically:
- Ray tracing
- Scene capture cameras
- Initial object positions
In the visualization engine environment, Aerospace Blockset positions the objects and uses ray tracing to query the environment.

Block Execution Order

During simulation, the 3D simulation blocks follow a specific execution order:

The aerospace blocks initialize the vehicles and send their X, Y, and Yaw signal data to the Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block.
The Simulation 3D Scene Configuration block receives the vehicle data and sends it to the sensor blocks.
The sensor blocks receive the vehicle data and use it to accurately locate and visualize the vehicles.

The Priority property of the blocks controls this execution order. To access this property for any block, right-click the block, select Properties, and click the General tab. By default, Simulation 3D Aircraft blocks have a priority of -1, Simulation 3D Scene Configuration blocks have a priority of 0, and sensor blocks have a priority of 1.

If your sensors are not detecting vehicles in the scene, it is possible that the 3D simulation blocks are executing out of order. Try updating the execution order and simulating again. For more details on execution order, see Control and Display Execution Order.

Also be sure that all 3D simulation blocks are located in the same subsystem. Even if the blocks have the correct Priority settings, if they are located in different subsystems, they still might execute out of order.

External Websites

Unreal Engine