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Shital Shah edited this page Oct 9, 2018 · 2 revisions

Build AirSim with FST Driverless Environment on Windows

Install Unreal Engine

  1. Download the Epic Games Launcher. While the Unreal Engine is open source and free to download, registration is still required.

  2. Run the Epic Games Launcher, open the Library tab from left, click on the "Add Versions" which should show the option to download Unreal 4.18 as shown below. If you have multiple versions of Unreal installed then make sure 4.18 is "Current" by clicking down arrow next to the Launch button for the version.

    Note: This project works only with UE 4.18. If you have UE 4.16 or older projects, please see the upgrade guide to upgrade your projects.

Build AirSim

  1. You will need Visual Studio 2017 (make sure to install VC++ and Windows SDK 8.x).
  2. Start x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2017. Create a folder for the repo and run git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/AirSim.git.
  3. Run build.cmd from the command line. This will create ready to use plugin bits in the Unreal\Plugins folder that can be dropped into any Unreal project.

Creating and Setting Up Unreal Environment

Finally, you will need an Unreal project that hosts the environment for your vehicles. Follow the list below to create an environment that simulates the FSD competitions.

  1. Make sure AirSim is built and Unreal 4.18 is installed as described above.
  2. Open UE editor and choose "New Project". Choose "Blank" with no starter content. Select your project's location, define it's name (ProjectName for example) and press "create project".

unreal_new_project

  1. After the project is loaded to the editor, from the File menu select New C++ class, leave default None on the type of class, click Next, leave default name MyClass, and click Create Class. We need to do this because Unreal requires at least one source file in project. It should trigger compile and open up Visual Studio solution ProjectName.sln.

  2. Close and save ProjectName.sln. Also, close the UE editor.

  3. Go to your folder for AirSim repo and copy Unreal\Plugins folder into your ProjectName folder. This way now your own Unreal project has AirSim plugin.

  4. Download the environment assets of FSD racecourse from here. Extract the zip into ProjectName\Content (see folders tree in the end of this doc).

  5. Download the formula Technion car assets from here. Extract the zip into ProjectName\Plugins\AirSim\Content\VehicleAdv\SUV and select replace when asked for SuvCarPawn.uasset (the original file will be saved into a backup folder).

  6. Edit the ProjectName.uproject so that it looks like this: Notice that we called the project ProjectName in case you need to change it.

{
	"FileVersion": 3,
	"EngineAssociation": "4.18",
	"Category": "Samples",
	"Description": "",
	"Modules": [
		{
			"Name": "ProjectName",
			"Type": "Runtime",
			"LoadingPhase": "Default",
			"AdditionalDependencies": [
				"AirSim"
			]
		}
	],
	"TargetPlatforms": [
		"MacNoEditor",
		"WindowsNoEditor"
	],
	"Plugins": [
		{
			"Name": "AirSim",
			"Enabled": true
		}
	]
}
  1. Right click the ProjectName.uproject in Windows Explorer and select Generate Visual Studio Project Files. This step detects all plugins and source files in your Unreal project and generates .sln file for Visual Studio.

regen

Tip: If the Generate Visual Studio Project Files option is missing you may need to reboot your machine for the Unreal Shell extensions to take effect. If it is still missing then open the ProjectName.uproject in the Unreal Editor and select Refresh Visual Studio Project from the File menu.

  1. Reopen ProjectName.sln in Visual Studio, and make sure "DebugGame Editor" and "Win64" build configuration is the active build configuration.

build config

  1. Press F5 to debug. This will start the Unreal Editor. The Unreal Editor allows you to edit the environment, assets and other game related settings.

  2. First thing, load a map to set your environment. The maps are under Content\RaceCourse\Maps. To choose one of the maps double-click on it.

  3. In Window/World Settings as shown below, set the GameMode Override to AirSimGameMode:

sim_game_mode.png

  1. Next, if you want to change the location of PlayerStart object in your environment(PlayerStart object already exist) you can find and fix it in the World Outliner. This is where AirSim plugin will create and place the vehicle. If its too high up then vehicle will fall down as soon as you press play giving potentially random behavior.

lm_player_start_pos.png

  1. Go to 'Edit->Editor Preferences' in Unreal Editor, in the 'Search' box type 'CPU' and ensure that the 'Use Less CPU when in Background' is unchecked. If you don't do this then UE will be slowed down dramatically when UE window loses focus.

  2. Be sure to Save these edits. Hit the Play button in the Unreal Editor. See how to use AirSim.

Ready... Set... GO!!! You are now running AirSim in your FSD Unreal environment.

Setup Steering Wheel (Logitech G920)

A steering wheel is required if you want to drive manually. See the steering wheel instructions for more details.

Alternatively, you can use APIs for programmatic control or use the so-called Computer Vision mode to move around using the keyboard.

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