Education and demonstration – Vehicle operator instruction or testing – Automobile or truck
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-09
2001-08-14
Cheng, Joe H. (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Vehicle operator instruction or testing
Automobile or truck
C434S029000, C434S065000, C463S006000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273724
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to simulation systems and more particularly to a modular system architecture for controlling and monitoring a plurality of simulated vehicles.
2. Discussion
Many industries, particularly the automotive industry, rely on data obtained from simulation systems to reduce cycle times for designing products as well as design and development costs. In the context of automotive design, simulation systems are frequently employed to provide a vehicle manufacturer with data on numerous vehicle configurations, permitting the vehicle manufacturer to select a given design without expending the cost and time associated with the development of prototype components.
Despite the advantages of the prior art systems, several drawbacks have been noted. In particular, the architecture of many of these systems is rather rigid, rendering it extremely difficult to adapt the system to a requisite degree of complexity. For example, several simulation systems are based on relatively simple criteria which typically permit the behavior of a simulated body, particularly those that are not directly controlled by a human, to be developed with minimal programming effort. While such systems are particularly useful when narrowing a large field of options, their utility substantially diminishes when more detailed information is required. In many of these systems, more detailed information is simply not available unless significant programming and hardware changes are implemented to simulate more complex behavior.
On the other hand, several simulation systems are based on relatively complex sets of parameters, including behavior, which require a great deal of effort to accurately develop. While such systems are particularly useful to develop detailed information on a desired option, the utility of these systems substantially diminishes when less complex information is needed on a larger number of options.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one aspect of the present invention to provide a simulator system having a flexible architecture which can be easily modified in a modular manner to permit simulations of varying complexity to be performed.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a simulator system which utilizes at least one modular agent for controlling the position and orientation of a simulated body.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a simulator system which includes one or more autonomous agents for exhibiting one or more desired behaviors.
A simulator system having a flexible architecture which can be easily modified in a modular manner to permit simulations of varying complexity to be performed is herein provided. The simulator system includes a first agent, at least one second agent and a position server. The first agent represents a first simulated body and each of the second agents represent second simulated bodies. The first agent includes position and orientation information of the first simulated body and is adapted to update the position and orientation information of the first simulated body based on a first set of predetermined control routines and produce a first output signal indicative thereof. Each of the second agents includes position and orientation information of a respective second simulated body. Each second agent is adapted to update the position and orientation information of the respective second simulated body based on a predetermined set of control routines and produce a second output signal indicative thereof. The position server is operable for accepting the first output signal and each of the second output signals and in response thereto updating the position and orientation information of the first agent and the at least one second agent and producing a position signal indicative of the position and orientation of the first agent and the at least one second agent wherein at least a first portion of the position signal is communicated to the first agent to provide the first agent with the updated position and orientation information of the second simulated body and at least a second portion of the position signal is communicated to the at least one second agent to provide the at least one agent with updated position and orientation information of the first simulated body.
Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Calcaterra Mark P.
Cheng Joe H.
DaimlerChrysler Corporation
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