Automotive XYZ Coordinates

Whether you are building a vehicle from scratch or adding a new subsystem to an existing one, you need to understand automotive xyz coordinates. The origins and coordinate systems of a vehicle determine how the vehicle is oriented to its environment, how it interacts with other vehicles on the road and how it will perform in a simulator. If you don’t use the right coordinate system, your model may have engines that are upside down and transmissions that are back to front.

Using a common coordinate system helps ensure that all sensors are communicating with each other and to the simulation. It also helps to simplify modeling, debugging and understanding the results of a model. If your model is orientated incorrectly, then you’ll find that the force and torques calculated by the simulator are not what you expect or require.

The default sensor coordinate system in Automated Driving Toolbox is the camera coordinate system with its origin located at the optical center of the lens. You can specify a different origin for the camera by setting the SensorLocation property. The axes of this sensor coordinate system are parallel to the camera plane of symmetry and are perpendicular to the ground plan. The positive ZE axis points upward.

The axes of the vehicle coordinate system used in a simulator are fixed to the ego vehicle (that’s you) and anchored to the ground. The XV axis points forward and the YV axis is perpendicular to the XV axis. The ZE axis points up from the ground to maintain the right-handed coordinate system. The yaw, pitch, and roll angles of the sensors follow an ISO convention with the positive directions of the axes pointing clockwise.