Sensor JSON Options

This page details the different available sensors and the configuration options possible.

Table of Contents

Examples top#

Example JSON configurations are available here:

• Apollo 3.0 JSON
• Apollo 5.0 JSON
• Autoware JSON
• Data Collection JSON
• Some Lidar sensor JSONs:
  • Velodyne VLP-16
  • Velodyne VLP-32C
  • Velodyne VLS-128

How to Specify a Sensor top#

A vehicle configuration is in the following format:

[
    SENSOR,
    SENSOR,
    SENSOR
]

A SENSOR is defined in the JSON configuration in the following format:

{
    "type": STRING,
    "name": STRING,
    "params": {PARAMS},
    "parent": STRING,
    "transform": {
      "x": FLOAT,
      "y": FLOAT,
      "z": FLOAT,
      "pitch": FLOAT,
      "yaw": FLOAT,
      "roll": FLOAT,
    }
}

• type is the type of sensor.
• name is the name of the sensor. This is how the sensor will be identified.
• params are the explicitly specified parameters. If a parameter is not set, the Default Value in the sensor definition will be used.
• ex. {"Width": 1920, "Height": 1080}

• There are 2 parameters that all sensors have

  Parameter	Description	Default Value
  Topic	defines the topic that the sensor will subscribe/publish to	null
  Frame	defines the frame_id if the sensor publishes a ROS message. See ROS Header Message for more information	null

• parent (OPTIONAL) a sensor's transform can be relative to another sensor. STRING is the name of the base sensor transform to which this sensor is relative.

• If omitted, the transform is relative to the origin of the vehicle.
• transform is the location and rotation of the sensor relative to the local position of the vehicle. The Unity left-hand coordinate system is used (+x right, +y up, +z forward, +pitch tilts the front down, +yaw rotates clockwise when viewed from above, +roll tilts the left side down).
• x is the position of the sensor along the x-axis
• y is the position of the sensor along the y-axis
• z is the position of the sensor along the z-axis
• pitch is the rotation around the x-axis
• yaw is the rotation around the y-axis
• roll is the rotation around the z-axis

Color Camera top#

This is the type of sensor that would be used for the Main Camera in Apollo.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Width	defines the width of the image output	pixels	Int	1920	1	1920
Height	defines the height of the image output	pixels	Int	1080	1	1080
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Int	15	1	100
JpegQuality	defines the quality if the image output	%	Int	75	0	100
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle that the camera sees	degrees	Float	60	1	90
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	0.1	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	1000	0.01	2000
Distorted	defines if the image is distorted		Bool	false
DistortionParameters	parameters used by distortion *		List of Float	empty list
Fisheye	defines if the camera has fisheye lens		Bool	false
Xi	parameter used by fisheye distortion **		Float	0.0
Cubemap Size	size of the cubemap used by fisheye distortion ***	pixels	Int	1024	512	2048

* If Distorted is true, DistortionParameters must be an empty list or a list of FOUR floats. The values in this list should come from calibration result of real camera. Setting arbitrary values may cause undefined result. If Distorted is false, DistortionParameters is ignored.

** If Fisheye is true, Xi should be a value from calibration result of real camera. Setting arbitrary value may cause undefined result. If Fisheye is false, Xi is ignored.

*** Cubemap Size should only be 512, 1024, or 2048.

{
    "type": "Color Camera",
    "name": "Main Camera",
    "params": {
      "Width": 1920,
      "Height": 1080,
      "Frequency": 15,
      "JpegQuality": 75,
      "FieldOfView": 50,
      "MinDistance": 0.1,
      "MaxDistance": 1000,
      "Topic": "/simulator/main_camera",
      "Frame": "camera",
      "Distorted": true,
      "DistortionParameters": [
        -0.25349, 0.11868, 0, 0
      ]
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": -0.2,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Depth Camera top#

This sensor returns an image where the shades on the grey-scale correspond to the depth of objects.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Width	defines the width of the image output	pixels		Int	1920	1
Height	defines the height of the image output	pixels	Int	1080	1	1080
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Int	5	1	100
JpegQuality	defines the quality if the image output	%	Int	100	0	100
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle that the camera sees	degrees	Float	60	1	90
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	0.1	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	1000	0.01	2000
Distorted	defines if the image is distorted		Bool	false
DistortionParameters	parameters used by distortion*		List of Float	empty list
Fisheye	defines if the camera has fisheye lens		Bool	false
Xi	parameter used by fisheye distortion **		Float	0.0
Cubemap Size	size of the cubemap used by fisheye distortion ***	pixels	Int	1024	512	2048

* See notes on DistortionParameters for Color Camera.

** See notes on Xi for Color Camera.

*** See notes on Cubemap Size for Color Camera.

{
    "type": "Depth Camera",
    "name": "Depth Camera",
    "params": {
      "Width": 1920,
      "Height": 1080,
      "Frequency": 15,
      "JpegQuality": 75,
      "FieldOfView": 50,
      "MinDistance": 0.1,
      "MaxDistance": 1000,
      "Topic": "/simulator/depth_camera"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": -0.2,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Segmentation Camera top#

This sensor returns an image where objects are colored corresponding to their tag:

Tag	Color	Hex Value
Car	Blue	#120E97
Road	Purple	#7A3F83
Sidewalk	Orange	#BA8350
Vegetation	Green	#71C02F
Obstacle	White	#FFFFFF
TrafficLight	Yellow	#FFFF00
Building	Turquoise	#238688
Sign	Dark Yellow	#C0C000
Shoulder	Pink	#FF00FF
Pedestrian	Red	#FF0000
Curb	Dark Purple	#4A254F

If a tag is included in "InstanceSegmentationTags", each instance of objects with that tag is colored differently, but all will have same hue (e.g. all cars will be bluish and all pedestrians will be reddish).

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Width	defines the width of the image output	pixels	Int	1920	1	1920
Height	defines the height of the image output	pixels	Int	1080	1	1080
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Int	15	1	100
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle that the camera sees	degrees	Float	60	1	90
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	0.1	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	1000	0.01	2000
Distorted	defines if the image is distorted		Bool	false
DistortionParameters	parameters used by distortion*		List of Float	empty list
Fisheye	defines if the camera has fisheye lens		Bool	false
Xi	parameter used by fisheye distortion **		Float	0.0
Cubemap Size	size of the cubemap used by fisheye distortion ***	pixels	Int	1024	512	2048
InstanceSegmentationTags	define tags with instance segmentation		List of String	empty list

* See notes on DistortionParameters for Color Camera.

** See notes on Xi for Color Camera.

*** See notes on Cubemap Size for Color Camera.

{
    "type": "Segmentation Camera",
    "name": "Segmentation Camera",
    "params": {
      "Width": 1920,
      "Height": 1080,
      "Frequency": 15,
      "FieldOfView": 50,
      "MinDistance": 0.1,
      "MaxDistance": 1000,
      "InstanceSegmentationTags": [
        "Car",
        "Pedestrian"
      ]
      "Topic": "/simulator/segmentation_camera"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": -0.2,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Lidar top#

This sensor returns a point cloud after 1 revolution.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
VerticalRayAngles	defines vertical angle for each laser beam*		List of Float	empty list
LaserCount	defines how many vertically stacked laser beams there are		Int	32	1	128
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle between bottom and top ray	degrees	Float	41.33	1	45
CenterAngle	defines the center of the FieldOfView cone to the horizon (+ means below horizon)	degrees	Float	10	-45	45
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	0.5	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor for it to be detected	meters	Float	100	0.01	2000
RotationFrequency	defines how fast the sensor rotates	Hertz	Float	10	1	30
MeasurementsPerRotation	defines how many measurements each beam takes per rotation		Int	1500	18	6000
Compensated	defines whether or not the point cloud is compensated for the movement of the vehicle		Bool	true
PointSize	defines how large of points are visualized	pixels	Float	2	1	10
PointColor	defines the color of visualized points	rgba in hex	Color	#FF0000FF

* If VerticalRayAngles is not empty, LaserCount will be automatically set to the length of VerticalRayAngles, and FieldOfView and CenterAngle will be ignored.

A sample of uniformly distributed angles:

{
    "type": "Lidar",
    "name": "Lidar-Uniform",
    "params": {
      "LaserCount": 32,
      "FieldOfView": 41.33,
      "CenterAngle": 10,
      "MinDistance": 0.5,
      "MaxDistance": 100,
      "RotationFrequency": 10,
      "MeasurementsPerRotation": 360,
      "Compensated": true,
      "PointColor": "#ff000000",
      "Topic": "/point_cloud",
      "Frame": "velodyne"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 2.312,
      "z": -0.3679201,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

A sample of non-uniformly distributed angles:

{
    "type": "Lidar",
    "name": "Lidar-NonUniform",
    "params": {
      "VerticalRayAngles": [
        -25.0,   -1.0,    -1.667,  -15.639,
        -11.31,   0.0,    -0.667,   -8.843,
        -7.254,  0.333,  -0.333,   -6.148,
        -5.333,  1.333,   0.667,   -4.0,
        -4.667,  1.667,   1.0,     -3.667,
        -3.333,  3.333,   2.333,   -2.667,
        -3.0,    7.0,     4.667,   -2.333,
        -2.0,   15.0,    10.333,   -1.333
      ],
      "MinDistance": 0.5,
      "MaxDistance": 100,
      "RotationFrequency": 10,
      "MeasurementsPerRotation": 360,
      "Compensated": true,
      "PointColor": "#ff000000",
      "Topic": "/point_cloud",
      "Frame": "velodyne"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 2.312,
      "z": -0.3679201,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

3D Ground Truth top#

This sensor returns 3D ground truth data for training and creates bounding boxes around the detected objects. The color of the object corresponds to the object's type:

Object	Color
Car	Green
Pedestrian	Yellow
Bicycle	Cyan
Unknown	Magenta

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	10	1	100
MaxDistance	defines the how close an object must be to the sensor to be detected	meters	Float	100	1	1000

{
    "type": "3D Ground Truth",
    "name": "3D Ground Truth",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 10,
      "Topic": "/simulator/ground_truth/3d_detections"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.975314,
      "z": -0.3679201,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

3D Ground Truth Visualizer top#

This sensor will visualize bounding boxes on objects as detected by the AD Stack. It does not publish any data and instead subscribes to a topic from the AD Stack. The color of the boxes are:

Object	Color
Car	Green
Pedestrian	Yellow
Bicycle	Cyan
Unknown	Magenta

{
    "type": "3D Ground Truth Visualizer",
    "name": "3D Ground Truth Visualizer",
    "params": {
      "Topic": "/simulator/ground_truth/3d_visualize"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.975314,
      "z": -0.3679201,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

CAN-Bus top#

This sensor sends data about the vehicle chassis. The data includes: - Speed [m/s] - Throttle [%] - Braking [%] - Steering [+/- %] - Parking Brake Status [bool] - High Beam Status [bool] - Low Beam Status [bool] - Hazard Light Status [bool] - Fog Light Status [bool] - Left Turn Signal Status [bool] - Right Turn Signal Status [bool] - Wiper Status [bool] - Reverse Gear Status [bool] - Selected Gear [Int] - Engine Status [bool] - Engine RPM [RPM] - GPS Latitude [Latitude] - GPS Longitude [Longitude] - Altitude [m] - Orientation [3D Vector of Euler angles] - Velocity [3D Vector of m/s]

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	10	1	100

{
    "type": "CAN-Bus",
    "name": "CAN Bus",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 10,
      "Topic": "/canbus"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "z": 0,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

GPS Device top#

This sensor outputs the GPS location of the vehicle in Longitude/Latitude and Northing/Easting coordintates.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	12.5	1	100
IgnoreMapOrigin	defines whether or not the actual GPS position is returned. If true, then the Unity world position is returned (as if the MapOrigin were (0,0))		Bool	false

{
    "type": "GPS Device",
    "name": "GPS",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 12.5,
      "Topic": "/gps",
      "Frame": "gps",
      "IgnoreMapOrigin": true
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "z": 0,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

GPS Odometry top#

This sensor outputs the GPS location of the vehicle in Longitude/Latitude and Northing/Easting coordintates and the vehicle velocity.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	12.5	1	100
ChildFrame	used by Autoware
IgnoreMapOrigin	defines whether or not the actual GPS position is returned. If true, then the Unity world position is returned (as if the MapOrigin were (0,0))		Bool	false

{
    "type": "GPS Odometry",
    "name": "GPS Odometry",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 12.5,
      "Topic": "/gps_odometry",
      "Frame": "gps",
      "IgnoreMapOrigin": true
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "z": 0,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
  }

GPS-INS Status top#

This sensor outputs the status of the GPS correction due to INS. The Simulator is an ideal environment in which GPS is always corrected.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published [Hertz]	Float	12.5	1	100

{
    "type": "GPS-INS Status",
    "name": "GPS INS Status",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 12.5,
      "Topic": "/gps_ins_stat",
      "Frame": "gps"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "z": -1.348649,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
  }

Vehicle Control top#

This sensor is required for a vehicle to subscribe to the control topic of an AD Stack.

{
    "type": "Vehicle Control",
    "name": "AD Car Control",
    "params": {
      "Topic": "/vehicle_cmd"
    }
}

Keyboard Control top#

This sensor is required for a vehicle to accept keyboard control commands. Parameters are not required.

{
    "type": "Keyboard Control",
    "name": "Keyboard Car Control"
}

Wheel Control top#

This sensor is required for a vehicle to accept Logitech G920 wheel control commands. Parameters are not required.

{
    "type": "Wheel Control",
    "name": "Wheel Car Control"
}

Manual Control top#

This sensor is required for a vehicle to accept keyboard control commands. Parameters are not required. {Deprecated} Will be removed next release. Use Keyboard Control

{
    "type": "Manual Control",
    "name": "Manual Car Control"
}

Cruise Control top#

This sensor causes the vehicle to accelerate to the desired speed and then maintain the desired speed.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
CruiseSpeed	defines the desired speed	meters/second	Float	0	0	200

{
    "type": "Cruise Control",
    "name": "AD Car Control",
    "params": {
      "CruiseSpeed": 10
    }
}

IMU top#

This sensor output at a fixed rate of 100 Hz. IMU publishes data on topics where the 2nd topic has corrected IMU data.

Parameter	Description
CorectedTopic	defines the 2nd topic that the data is published to
CorrectedFrame	defines the 2nd frame for the ROS header

{
    "type": "IMU",
    "name": "IMU",
    "params": {
      "Topic": "/imu",
      "Frame": "imu"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "z": 0,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

2D Ground Truth top#

This sensor outputs an image where objects are encased in a box. The color of the box depends on the type of object.

Object	Color
Car	Green
Pedestrian	Yellow
Bicycle	Cyan
Unknown	Magenta

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	10	1	100
Width	defines the width of the image	pixels	Int	1920	1	1920
Height	defines the height of the iamge	pixels	Int	1080	1	1080
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle that the camera sees	degrees	Float	60	1	90
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor to be in the image	meters	Float	0.1	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor to be in the image	meters	Float	1000	0.01	2000
DetectionRange	defines how close an object must be to be given a bounding box	meters	Float	100	0.01	2000

{
    "type": "2D Ground Truth",
    "name": "2D Ground Truth",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 10,
      "Topic": "/simulator/ground_truth/2d_detections"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": -0.2,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

2D Ground Truth Visualizer top#

This sensor will visualize bounding boxes on objects as detected by the AD Stack, it does not publish any data. The color of the boxes are:

Object	Color
Car	Green
Pedestrian	Yellow
Bicycle	Cyan
Unknown	Magenta

In order for bounding boxes to align properly, parameters should match the same camera that the AD Stack is using for detection (i.e. if running Apollo, the parameters should match the sensor named "Main Camera").

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Width	defines the width of the image	pixels	Int	1920	1	1920
Height	defines the height of the iamge	pixels	Int	1080	1	1080
FieldOfView	defines the vertical angle that the camera sees	degrees	Float	60	1	90
MinDistance	defines how far an object must be from the sensor to be in the image	meters	Float	0.1	0.01	1000
MaxDistance	defines how close an object must be to the sensor to be in the image	meters	Float	1000	0.01	2000

{
    "type": "2D Ground Truth Visualizer",
    "name": "2D Ground Truth Visualizer",
    "params": {
      "Width": 1920,
      "Height": 1080,
      "FieldOfView": 50,
      "MinDistance": 0.1,
      "MaxDistance": 1000,
      "Topic": "/simulator/ground_truth/2d_visualize"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": -0.2,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Radar top#

This sensor outputs the objects detected by the radar. Detected objects are visualized with a box colored by their type:

Type	Color
Car	Green
Agent	Magenta
Bicycle	Cyan

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Default Value	Minimum	Maximum
Frequency	defines the maximum rate that messages will be published	Hertz	Float	13.4	1	100

{
    "type": "Radar",
    "name": "Radar",
    "params": {
      "Frequency": 13.4,
      "Topic": "/radar"
    },
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0.689,
      "z": 2.272,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Clock top#

This sensor outputs simulated time to ROS as rosgraph_msgs/Clock message. Only parameter to use is topic name.

{
    "type": "Clock",
    "name": "ROS Clock",
    "params": {
      "Topic": "/clock"
    }
}

Control Calibration top#

This sensor outputs control calibration criteria collected by AD Stacks (Apollo, Autoware). It generates steering, throttle or brakes with gear commands between minimum and maximum of velocity during duration.

Parameter	Description	Unit	Type	Minimum	Maximum
min_velocity	defines the minimum velocity when criterion is executed	meters/second	Float	0	50.0
max_velocity	defines the maximum velocity when criterion is executed	meters/second	Float	0	50.0
throttle	defines the throttle which makes acceleration	Percent	Float	0	100.0
brakes	defines the brakes which make deceleration	Percent	Float	0	100.0
steering	defines ego vehicle's steering	Percent	Float	-100.0	100.0
gear	defines ego vehicle's direction (forward or reverse)		String
duration	defines criterion's execution time	second	Float	0

{
    "type": "Control Calibration",
    "name": "Control Calibration",
    "params": {
        "states": [{
                "min_velocity": 0.2,
                "max_velocity": 10.0,
                "throttle": 23,
                "brakes": 0,
                "steering": 0,
                "gear": "forward",
                "duration": 4
            },
            {
                "min_velocity": 0.2,
                "max_velocity": 2.0,
                "throttle": 22,
                "brakes": 0,
                "steering": 0,
                "gear": "reverse",
                "duration": 4
            }
        ]
    }
}

Transform Sensor top#

This sensor is specifically used to parent other sensors. For example, if there is a cluster of sensors a Transform sensor can be added at the location of the cluster and then the individual sensors can have a transform that is relative to the location of the Transform sensor`.

Example usage

{
    "type": "Transform",
    "name": "Cluster Reference",
    "transform": {
      "x": 0.75,
      "y": 1.7,
      "z": 1,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
},
{
    "type": "Color Camera",
    "name": "Main Camera",
    "params": {
      "Width": 1920,
      "Height": 1080,
      "Frequency": 15,
      "JpegQuality": 75,
      "FieldOfView": 50,
      "MinDistance": 0.1,
      "MaxDistance": 1000,
      "Topic": "/simulator/main_camera",
      "Frame": "camera",
      "Distorted": true,
      "DistortionParameters": [
        -0.25349, 0.11868, 0, 0
      ]
    },
    "parent": "Cluster Reference",
    "transform": {
      "x": 0.1,
      "y": 0,
      "z": -0.1,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
},
{
    "type": "Lidar",
    "name": "Lidar-Uniform",
    "params": {
      "LaserCount": 32,
      "FieldOfView": 41.33,
      "CenterAngle": 10,
      "MinDistance": 0.5,
      "MaxDistance": 100,
      "RotationFrequency": 10,
      "MeasurementsPerRotation": 360,
      "Compensated": true,
      "PointColor": "#ff000000",
      "Topic": "/point_cloud",
      "Frame": "velodyne"
    },
    "parent": "Cluster Reference",
    "transform": {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0.2,
      "z": 0,
      "pitch": 0,
      "yaw": 0,
      "roll": 0
    }
}

Total Control Calibration Criteria: