Obstacles

In order to properly position the obstacle, the X and Y coordinate of the obstacle’s center as well as the THETA angle, which defines its orientation, must be provided, as shown in Fig. 1.

By default, each obstacle is created as deformable, making use of the global soft-soil parameters (see Fig. 2). In order to change its default state, the optional parameter MAT can be set to ‘RIGID’ or a user-defined ‘MAT_LABEL’. More specifically, in the first case, the obstacle is rigid (non-deformable) and the tire-rigid road interaction is implemented using the Fiala tire model (see Fig. 3). On the other hand, in the second case the obstacle is still deformable. However, instead of the global soft-soil parameters, a new set of parameters is used for the obstacle’s region which is defined in the new block ‘MAT_LABEL’, as depicted in Fig. 4. Finally, if the block ‘MAT_LABEL’ cannot be found in the road data (.rdf) file, the simulation proceeds using the global soft-soil parameters.

Obstacle types

To create a rectangular obstacle, a new block (RECT_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

To create a circular obstacle, a new block (CIRC_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

To create a bump obstacle, a new block (BUMP_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

To create a ramp obstacle, a new block (RAMP_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

To create a roof obstacle, a new block (ROOF_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

To create a sine obstacle, a new block (SINE_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

In this obstacle type, the amplitude and the frequency of the sine wave vary as a function of the longitudinal distance s. More specifically, two cases can be distinguished for the calculation of the obstacle’s height .

Linear Sweep

Logarithmic Sweep

To create a sine-sweep obstacle, a new block (SINE_SWEEP_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

Using a plank obstacle, two different cases can be distinguished regarding the shape of its edges. In detail, beveled edges are used when the BEVEL_EDGE_LENGTH parameter is positive. On the other hand, round edges are created with a negative value of this parameter, where the radius of the corner is equal to |BEVEL_EDGE_LENGTH|.

To create a plank obstacle, a new block (PLANK_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

The height of this obstacle is calculated as a function of obstacle width , crown height , crown coefficient and width-coordinate , using the equation:

Where the parameters and are defined in a new block as functions of the longitudinal distance .

To create a crown obstacle, a new block (CROWN_OBSTACLE block) is necessary in the road data (.rdf) file that contains the following parameters:

Parameter	Description	Units
X	X coordinate of obstacle’s center	Length
Y	Y coordinate of obstacle’s center	Length
LENGTH	Length of obstacle	Length
WIDTH	Width of obstacle	Length
THETA	Theta (orientation) angle of obstacle	Angle
DATA_BLOCK	Name of block that contains the table with , and data
DATA_NUMBER	Number of rows in the table of , and data
UMIN	Parameter for tire-rigid road interaction (Fiala tire model)	-
UMAX	Parameter for tire-rigid road interaction (Fiala tire model)	-
CSLIP	Parameter for tire-rigid road interaction (Fiala tire model)	Force
CALPHA	Parameter for tire-rigid road interaction (Fiala tire model)	Force
MAT	Obstacle’s material. Optional parameter, default value is ‘SOFT_SOIL’	-

Finally, in order to support more than one obstacle of each type (for example rectangular, circular, and so on), an extra block (OBSTACLES block) can be defined that contains a list of the obstacle names for each type, as shown in Fig. 14. It should be emphasized that this block is necessary only in cases where more than one obstacle of a specific type (for example rectangular, circular, and so on) exists in the model and only for the specific obstacle type. In all other cases, the obstacles are created using the blocks presented previously (RECT_OBSTACLE block for a rectangular obstacle, CIRC_OBSTACLE block for a circular obstacle, etc.). In addition, it should be noted that the obstacle names in each list need to be provided as comma-separated values, as depicted in the following figure.

Rectangular Obstacle

Circular Obstacle

Bump Obstacle

Ramp Obstacle

Roof Obstacle

Sine Obstacle

Sine-sweep Obstacle

Plank Obstacle

Crown Obstacle