Monthly Archives: December 2022

VaMEx-AE has received new optical sensors

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The newest member among our the optical sensors weighs in at a total of 100 grams, and it didn’t come alone! Together with the somewhat larger lens, the camera system from Basler weighs a total of 330 grams. As one or the other experienced reader might have guessed, this system will be used for mapping the exploration area.

Furthermore, AE reports that a first mobile test setup for mapping has been set up for field tests. It currently consists of an Nvidia Jetson TX2 mounted on an AUVIDEA carrier board, the Ueye UI-5140CP-M-GL Rev.2 as camera for tracking and the compact “Ellipse-N” from SBG Systems.  The system set up in this way can easily be strapped under a small quadrocopter with a maximum take-off weight of 3 kilograms for initial tests and to collect initial data.

Step by step, our LiDAR, a Hokuyo-UTM 30 LX and the new camera system will be integrated into the test setup.

First UE5 prototype VR testbed with multi-user support and level streaming completed

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During November, the first prototype of the new Unreal Engine 5-based Virtual Testbed was completed. This now uses the advanced lighting and rendering methods from the current Unreal Engine version (especially Nanite and Lumen) and thus offers a significantly higher graphics quality.

To allow multiple users to explore the testbed together, the first elements of a session-based multi-user system have been integrated: Users can choose a name at program start and then either start their own session or join an existing one by entering IP and port.

Furthermore, first landscapes from the existing virtual testbed were ported to the new one and adapted for the use of Unreal’s level streaming system. This allows to dynamically load (only) the areas of the level that are currently visible. Ultimately, larger worlds can be rendered in a performant way.