MARS Scenes

Overview

MARS scenes are MARS's original scene format encoded in XML. They have been replaced with the introduction of the [SMURF and SMURF scene](SMURF Scenes) formats, but we have maintained backwards compatibility and it is still possible to load MARS scenes.

If for some reasons it is not possible for you to use a SMURF/URDF representation of a robot with MARS, you can still create MARS scenes with Blender using the export scripts and following the [tutorials](@ref tutorials). You can even combine existing MARS scenes with the SMURF scenes format.

In general, we do not recommend the use of MARS scenes, as we will not be working on MARS scenes any more in future development and we may even have to break with backwards compatibility at some point (though we will tag a MARS release before that happens, if it ever does happen).

NOTE: Phobos has an option to import MARS scenes as of version 0.6.5., so that it should be very little work to transform old robot representations. As of version 0.7, this also includes MARS scenes with multiple "entities", such as a heightmap and a robot.

XML Definition

MARS scene files possess the extension .scene and are XML files with following principal structure:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE dfkiMarsSceneFile PUBLIC '-//DFKI/RIC/MARS SceneFile 1.0//EN' ''>
<SceneFile>
  <version>0.2</version>
  <nodelist>
  <jointlist>
  <motorlist>
  <sensorlist>
  <controllerlist>
  <materiallist>
  <graphicOptions>
</SceneFile>

You may have noted that the lists of items correspond to the types of objects needed to represent a robot graphically as well as physically. However, MARS scenes can not merely be used for robots, but also to define an environment a robot can operate in. As it is possible to load multiple MARS scenes in the same MARS simulation, it thus makes sense to save robots and environment in different scene files. This makes it a lot easier to edit the files and to prevent errors in one element of a simulation interfering with another part. It also enables the user to test the same robot in various environments without having to re-edit any of the underlying scenes.

When you load multiple scenes into MARS, make sure that they are all in the same scale.

We will have a closer look at the items in these lists in the following.

Nodes

Nodes are all visible objects in MARS, whether they are physical objects or not. Now

--> show notedata.h

<node name="node_name">
  <origname>
  <filename>
  <index>
  <groupid>
  <physicmode>
  <relativeid>
  <position>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <rotation>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
    <w>
  <extend>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <pivot>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <visualsize>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <movable>
  <mass>
  <density>
  <material_id>
  <coll_bitmask>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
origname	name used in Blender to represent the object	any String
filename	name of the *.obj or *.bobj file associated with this note	any valid file path
index	running index of the nodes	int ≥ 1
groupid	id of the group to which a node belongs	int ≥ 1
physicmode	primitive object by which the node is represented in physics	box, sphere, capsule, cylinder, plane, terrain, mesh
relativeid	?	?
position	position of the node in x, y and z coordinates	double
rotation	rotation of the node in quaternion format	double
extend	extend of the representing primitive (see physicmode)	double
pivot	?	?
visualsize	?	?
movable	whether or not the object is fixed in the world	true / false
mass	mass of the object in kg (note: the mass is only applied if the density is set to 0)	double
density	density of the object in kg/m³	double
material_id	index of the associated material	int ≥ 1
coll_bitmask	bitmask to define groups of collision objects	int < 65536
t_srcname	source name for terrain	string
t_width	width of terrain	double
t_height	height of terrain	double
t_scale	scale of terrain	double
t_tex_scale	texture scale for terrain
t_tex_scale_x	texture scale for terrain
t_tex_scale_y	texture scale for terrain
visualposition	offset of position of visual representation	vector
visualrotation	rotational offset of visual representation	quaternion
visualsize	size of visual representation	double
cmax_num_contacts	maximum number of contacts in ODE of this node	int
cerp		double
ccfm		double
cfriction1		double
cfriction2		double
cmotion1		double
cmotion2		double
cfds1		double
cfds2		double
cbounce		double
cbounce_vel		double
capprox	use of simplified friction pyramid	bool
rolling_friction	friction value for rolling, if this property is set rolling friction is enabled	double
rolling_friction2	friction value for rolling in friction direction2, if not set the value of rolling_friction is used	double
inertia	whether or not the defined inertias are used	bool
i00		double
i01		double
i02		double
i10		double
i11		double
i12		double
i20		double
i21		double
i22		double
linear_damping	damping of linear motion	double
angular_damping	damping of angular motion	double
angular_low		double
shadow_id	shadow id object is associated with	int
shadowcaster	objects casts shadows	bool
shadowreceiver	objects subject to shadows	bool

Joints

Joints are helper objects defining how nodes or groups of nodes are connected with each other.

<joint name="joint_name">
  <index>
  <type>
  <nodeindex1>
  <nodeindex2>
  <anchorpos>
  <anchor>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <spring_constant>
  <damping_constant>
  <axis1>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <angle1_offset>
  <lowStopAxis1>
  <highStopAxis1>
  <damping_const_constraint_axis1>
  <spring_const_constraint_axis1>
  <axis2>
    <x>
    <y>
    <z>
  <angle1_offset>
  <lowStopAxis2>
  <highStopAxis2>
  <damping_const_constraint_axis2>
  <spring_const_constraint_axis2>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
index	running index of the joints	int ≥ 1
type	type of the joint (note: a ball joint needs spring and damping properties set)	hinge, hinge2, slider, ball, universal, fixed
nodeindex1	index of first attached node	valid node id
nodeindex2	index of second attached node	valid node id
anchorpos	node to which the joint is anchored	node1, node2, center, custom
anchor	use this vector if anchorpos is set to custom	x, y, z: double
axis1	axis around / along which joint moves (note: also the ball joint currently needs this property set)	x, y, z: double
angle1_offset	initial offset of the joint	double
lowStopAxis1
highStopAxis1
damping_const_constraint_axis1
spring_const_constraint_axis1
axis2
angle1_offset
lowStopAxis2
highStopAxis2
damping_const_constraint_axis2
spring_const_constraint_axis2

Motors

Motors are associated with joints and can apply forces and torques respectively; for a slider joint, a force is applied while for a hinge joint, motors create a torque. As MARS uses the Open Dynamics Engine for its physics simulation, you can have a look at ODE's documentation to read further on different joint and motor types.

As for the decoding in MARS scenes, motors are described as follows:

<motor name="H.Hip.000">
  <index>
  <jointIndex>
  <jointIndex2>
  <axis>
  <maximumVelocity>
  <motorMaxForce>
  <type>
  <p>
  <i>
  <d>
  <Km>
  <Kn>
  <Ra>
  <Lm>
  <Jm>
  <Rm>
  <U>
  <gear>
  <max_current>
  <r_current>
  <min_val>
  <max_val>
  <value>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
index	index of the motor	int ≥ 1
jointIndex	index of the joint with which the motor is associated	int≥ 1
jointIndex2	?	int
axis	around/along which axis of its associated joint the motor turns/slides	1 ≤ int ≤ 3
maximumVelocity	maximum velocity with which the motor can move the joint	double
motorMaxForce	maximum force the motor can apply	double
type	motor type	1: servo, 2: electric motor
p	P value of a PID controller	double
i	I value of a PID controller	double
d	D value of a PID controller	double
Km
Kn
Ra
Lm
Jm
Rm
U
gear
max_current
r_current
min_val	minimum value (see below)	?
max_val	maximum value (see below)	?
value	?	?

Sensors

There are a number of different sensors in MARS which can be attached to nodes, joints or motors in order to get readings of certain variables. The valid types are:

Type	Data yielded
Camera	?
Joint6DOF	?
JointArray	?
JointAVGTorque	?
JointLoad	load of associated joint
JointPosition	position of associated joint
JointTorque	torque of associated joint
JointVelocity	velocity of associated joint
MotorCurrent	current of associated motor
NodeAngularVelocity	angular velocity of associated node
NodeArray	?
NodeCOM	center of mass (COM) of associated node
NodeContactForce	contact force of associated node
NodePosition	position of associated node
NodeRotation	rotation of associated node
NodeVelocity	velocity of associated node
RayGrid	collision point cloud of ray grid traced in defined direction
Ray	collision point of ray traced in defined direction
ScanningSonar	?

Sensors are defined in a scene file as follows:

<sensor name="sensorName" type="sensorType">
  <index>
  <rate>
  <dylib_path>
  <id>
  ...
  <id>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
sensor.name	name of the sensor	any valid string
sensor.type	type of the sensor	any valid sensor type with respect to id
index	running index of the sensor	int ≥ 1
rate	reading rate of sensor	double
id	id of node, joint or motor	any valid id; can be list of multiple ids

Controllers

Controllers ...

<controller>
  <rate>
  <sensorid>
  <sensorid>
  ...
  <motorid>
  <motorid>
  ...

Variable	Description	Possible values
rate	operation rate of the controller	?
sensorid	running index of an attached sensor	int ≥ 1
motorid	running index of an attached motor	int ≥ 1

Materials

<material>
  <id>
  <ambientFront>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <diffuseFront>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <specularFront>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <emissionFront>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <ambientBack>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <diffuseBack>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <specularBack>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <emissionBack>
    <a>
    <r>
    <g>
    <b>
  <transparency>
  <shininess>
  <texturename>
  <reflect>
  <bumpmap>
  <tex_scale>
  <brightness>
  <getLight>
  <cullMask>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
id	running index of the materials	int ≥ 1
ambientFront	?	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
diffuseFront	basic color of an object	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
emissionFront	color of light relfected off of object front faces	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
specularFront	color of light reflection on object's front faces	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
ambientBack	?	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
diffuseBack	basic color of object back faces	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
specularBack	color of light reflection on an object's back faces	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
emissionBack	color of light reflection on object's front faces	a, r, g, b: 0 ≤ double ≤ 1
shininess	strength of light reflexion	0 ≤ double ≤ 1

Graphic Options

    <clearColor>
      <r>
      <g>
      <b>
      <a>
    <fogEnabled>
    <fogDensity>
    <fogStart>
    <fogEnd>
    <fogColor>
      <r>
      <g>
      <b>
      <a>

Variable	Description	Possible Values
clearColor	?	?
fogEnabled	whether or not there is fog in the simulation	true / false
fogDensity	density of fog
fogStart	distance where the fog starts
fogEnd	distance where the fog ends
fogColor	rgba values to define fog color