raycast

Compute cell indices along a ray

Syntax

[endpoints,midpoints] = raycast(map,pose,range,angle)

[endpoints,midpoints] = raycast(map,p1,p2)

Description

[endpoints,midpoints] = raycast(map,pose,range,angle) returns cell indices of the specified map for all cells traversed by a ray originating from the specified pose at the specified angle and range values. endpoints contains all indices touched by the end of the ray, with all other points included in midpoints.

[endpoints,midpoints] = raycast(map,p1,p2) returns the cell indices of the line segment between the two specified points.

Examples

Get Grid Cells Along a Ray

Use the raycast method to generate cell indices for all cells traversed by a ray.

Create an empty map. A low-resolution map is used to illustrate the affected grid locations.

map = occupancyMap(10,10,1);
show(map)

Get the grid indices of the midpoints and end points of a ray from [2 3] to [8.5 8]. Set occupancy values for these grid indices. Midpoints are treated as open space. Update endpoints with an occupied observation.

p1 = [2 3];
p2 = [8.5 8];
[endPts,midPts] = raycast(map,p1,p2);
setOccupancy(map,midPts,zeros(length(midPts),1),'grid');
setOccupancy(map,endPts,ones(length(endPts),1),'grid');

Plot the original ray over the map. Each grid cell touched by the line is updated. The starting point overlaps multiple cells, and the line touches the edge of certain cells, but all the cells are still updated.

show(map)
hold on
plot([p1(1) p2(1)],[p1(2) p2(2)],'-b','LineWidth',2)
plot(p2(1),p2(2),'or')
grid on

Input Arguments

map — Map representation

occupancyMap object

Map representation, specified as a occupancyMap object. This object represents the environment of the sensor. The object contains a matrix grid with values representing the probability of the occupancy of that cell. Values close to 1 represent a high probability that the cell contains an obstacle. Values close to 0 represent a high probability that the cell is not occupied and obstacle free.

pose — Position and orientation of sensor

three-element vector

Position and orientation of sensor, specified as an [x y theta] vector. The sensor pose is an x and y position with angular orientation theta (in radians) measured from the x-axis.

range — Range of ray

scalar

Range of ray, specified as a scalar in meters.

angle — Angle of ray

scalar

Angle of ray, specified as a scalar in radians. The angle value is for the corresponding range.

p1 — Starting point of ray

two-element vector

Starting point of ray, specified as an [x y] two-element vector. The point is defined in the world frame.

p2 — Endpoint of ray

two-element vector

Endpoint of ray, specified as an [x y] two-element vector. The point is defined in the world frame.

Output Arguments

endpoints — Endpoint grid indices

n-by-2 matrix

Endpoint indices, returned as an n-by-2 matrix of [i j] pairs, where n is the number of grid indices. The endpoints are where the range value hits at the specified angle. Multiple indices are returned when the endpoint lies on the boundary of multiple cells.

midpoints — Midpoint grid indices

n-by-2 matrix

Midpoint indices, returned as an n-by-2 matrix of [i j] pairs, where n is the number of grid indices. This argument includes all grid indices the ray intersects, excluding the endpoint.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2019b