GUI and visualization options

Available parameters under the global <gui> ... </gui> tag (all are optional).

  • <win_w>800</win_w> and <win_h>600</win_h>. Size of the main GUI window, in pixels.

  • <start_maximized>true</start_maximized>. Whether to start maximized.

  • <refresh_fps>20</refresh_fps>. GUI refresh rate (in FPS or Hz). Faster will lead to smoother graphics and animations of the vehicle motion, at a higher CPU/GPU cost. Publication of sensor readings, odometry, etc. is not affected at all by this parameter.

  • <show_sensor_points>true</show_sensor_points>. If enabled (default), obstacle readings (RGBD cameras, 2D or 3D Lidars, etc.) will be visible as point clouds. This option can be also dynamically switched from the UI:

  • <headless>false</headless>. If enabled, MVSim will run without any interactive GUI. Useful to save some CPU/GPU usage or to run MVSim inside docker containers.

  • <cam_point_to>0  0  0</cam_point_to>. Defines the (x,y,z) coordinates of the point the camera should look at upon start.

  • <show_forces>false</show_forces> and <force_scale>0.01</force_scale>. If show_forces is set to true, reaction forces will be visible as thin lines, using the given scale in meters/Newton. This option can be also dynamically switched from the UI:

  • <ortho>false</ortho>. If set to true, the GUI will show an orthographic view of the world. Otherwise, it will use a standard perspective camera.

  • <fov_deg>60.0</fov_deg>. If ortho is false, this defines the GUI camera vertical field of view, in degrees.

  • <cam_distance>80.0</cam_distance>. The initial distance from the camera point-to location and the camera focal point.

  • <cam_point_to>0 0 0</cam_point_to>: The initial camera will be pointing to this XYZ location.

  • <cam_azimuth>45.0</cam_azimuth> and <cam_elevation>40.0</cam_elevation>. The initial elevation and azimuth of the orbit model to define the camera placement and pose.

  • <follow_vehicle>r1</follow_vehicle>. If not empty, the GUI camera will accept rotations made by the user, but it will always exactly follow the robot given by its name.

  • <clip_plane_min>0.05</clip_plane_min> and <clip_plane_max>10e3</clip_plane_max>. The shortest and farthest distances that are visible in the GUI camera view frustrum.

GUI and visualization options
     <mvsim_world version="1.0">
     ...
             <!-- GUI options -->
             <gui>
                     <!-- Is camera orthographic or projective? -->
                     <ortho>false</ortho>

                     <!-- Show reaction forces on wheels with lines -->
                     <show_forces>false</show_forces>

                     <!-- default camera distance in world units -->
                     <cam_distance>35</cam_distance>

                     <!-- camera vertical field of view in degrees -->
                     <fov_deg>60</fov_deg>

                     <!-- <follow_vehicle>r1</follow_vehicle> -->
             </gui>
     ...
     </mvsim_world>