Adding a New Vehicle to AUV Workbench

This is an advanced task for AUV Workbench developers, usually in cooperation supporting someone with a new vehicle. Discussion of details is welcome (and pretty much recommended) on the mailing list. The NPS team will help ensure that this integration proceeds correctly.

Building and integrating an X3D vehicle in the model archive

• Create or convert an X3D model for the vessel, scaled in meters. Style guidelines are maintained in the X3D Scene Authoring Hints.
• Put the new .x3d model in the appropriate Savage subdirectory, e.g. https://savage.nps.edu/Savage/Robots/UnmannedUnderwaterVehicles
• Follow the same integration steps for the Savage/SavageDefense archive as found in the Adding a New Location page. Once again, the NPS team can help ensure that this integration proceeds correctly.

Integrating vehicle parameters into the AUV Workbench

• Ensure that values for vehicle displayName, modelName, vehicleType, controlFile, and dynamicsFile are listed under <SupportedVehicles> in file
  AuvWorkbench/configuration/templates/AUVWorkbenchConfiguration.xml.
  This ensures that your vehicle is selectable from the Vehicle Type drop-down menu in the lower left corner as illustrated:
  
• Add vehicle type to the scene conversion/generation stylesheet Scripts/AvclToX3d.xslt, by copying and modifying the various entries for a similar vehicle
  • Select the correct X3D model from the corresponding Savage/SavageDefense archive, and replace each url entry as appropriate
• Add an appropriate telemetry importer or command translator, if appropriate...
• Add a new Javahelp page, if appropriate...

Physically based modeling

Copy and rename (or else reuse) a pair of files for both control and dynamics coefficients to match the name of the new vehicle.

• Copy control coefficients for an appropriate .xml file in directory configuration/controlCoefficients
• Copy and modify dynamics coefficients for an appropriate .xml file in directory configuration/dynamicsCoefficients
• TODO: what code loads the coefficients files upon selection of a vehicle?
• Modify the coefficients to reflect expected response (call a mechanical engineer for this task!)
• Run and repeat test missions to tune coefficient response. (TODO: further documentation on how to accomplish this challenging task.)

Testing the results

• Write or import a mission for the new vehicle
• Run the mission
• Generate a mission report
• Check the X3D scene visualization

TODO:

• Document how to identify and add a new class of controller that is not already supported (perhaps a hill-climb algorithm or somesuch)
• How to edit a vehicle mission, assigning the new vehicle name and X3D model

Back to the Help page index, the AUV Workbench: Introduction page, or online to AUV Workbench home page.