NADS MiniSim Configuration Files

Location

There are six configuration files in text format for the NADS MiniSim. They are located under the folder %MININADSROOT%\data\config. The six files are:

1. BrakePedalForceCurve.txt. It provides mapping from joystick brake pedal position to brake pedal force to be fed to the vehicle dynamics.
2. Calibration.ecci_original.txt. It contains control input calibration values for the original ECCI steering wheel and pedal set.
3. CustomIconConfig.txt. It contains information of custom overlay icons such as the vigilance icons.
4. customScaling.txt. It provides the scaling factor for correcting the aspect ratios of visual images rendered on displays set to resolutions that do not match their physical aspect ratios.
5. JoystickButtonConfig.txt. It contains assignment of joystick buttons to various functionalities for multiple joystick types.
6. AnalogButtonConfig.txt This file contains state configurations of multi-state buttons using analog input channels from daq boards. These buttons are found on OEM steering wheel button clusters. Measurement Computing USB, and US Digital USB4 boards are supported.
7. SteeringInputCurve.ecci_original.txt. It provides mapping from physical steering angles of the original ECCI steering wheel to steering angles to be fed to the vehicle dynamics. This map is used to overcome the limited steering range of the ECCI wheel while not making it overly sensitive near the center position.
8. titlerConfig.txt. It contains configuration information for the text overlay on the MiniSim video recording files when a video capture subsystem is running.
9. EyeTrackerScreenConfig.txt. It contains layout information of the MiniSim display screens that is required for rendering driver gaze location when the eye tracker subsystem is running.
10. DRT Settings.txt This file contains settings for communicating with the DRT (PDT) device

Syntax for the Configuration Files

All six configuration files are in text format and can be edited manually. However, it is recommended that the calibration file (Calibration.ecci_original.txt) be generated automatically using the calibration scenario. The other files have to be created manually.

All configuration files accept comment line that starts with a ‘#’. Empty lines are also allowed.

1. BrakePedalforceCurve.txt

This file provides mapping from joystick brake pedal position to brake pedal force to be fed to the vehicle dynamics.

The first line contains a single value, the maximum pedal force in pounds. The ensuing lines provide mapping from relative pedal position to relative pedal force, both ranging from 0 to 1. Linear interpolation is used for interim values. The position value for a fully released pedal is 0, while that for a fully pressed pedal is 1. The relative pedal force, when multiplied with the maximum pedal force, provided the pedal force at a given pedal position

2. Calibration.ecci_original.txt

This file contains seven integers. They correspond to the digital readings from the joystick controls for the following conditions: center steering wheel position; extreme left steering wheel position; extreme right steering wheel position; fully released accelerator pedal position; fully pressed accelerator pedal position; fully released brake pedal position; fully pressed accelerator pedal position. This file should be generated automatically by running the calibration scenario.

For other types of joysticks, calibration files with appropriate names are used. The following strings can be used in place of “ecci_original” for appropriate joystick types:

1. “ecci_original”, for the stock ECCI Trackstar 6000 wheel.
2. “ecci”, for the hybrid ECCI wheel with shifter stalk. An eighth field is added at the end for shifter park position. The number of fields may be further expanded to thirteen or fifteen, depending on cab configuration. See comments in actual file for field designations.
3. “happ”, for the hybrid HAPP board wheel with shifter stalk. An eighth field is added at the end for shifter park position. The number of fields may be further expanded to thirteen or fifteen, depending on cab configuration. See comments in actual file for field designations.
4. “ecci_original”, for the original ECCI wheel.
5. “daq”, for using combined MCCDAQ and US Digital USB4 daq boards for all inputs. This file is designed for truck MiniSim with thirteen fields. See comments in actual file for field designations.
6. For the rest of the joystick types, they all use the generic “Calibration.txt” file with seven fields, the same as “Calibration.ecci_original.txt”.