Release notes#

Version 2.14.1#

  • [debug] some more fixes on handling of collisions

  • [ExprTk] new functions added inside_area() and outside_area(). They make all ExprTk expressions sensitive to where the drone is located in the scene.

  • [wind] the wind settings are shared in between world settings (for the mean component) and drone settings (for the dynamic component)

Version 2.13#

  • [AMS] vehicles have collisions that encompass the whole shape

  • [camera] shot noise: use ExprTk expression to define the intensity

  • [camera] added fully customizable lens shader effect

  • [camera] can generate frames encoded in NV12

  • [HMI] ability to see the “areas” in the user cameras by the means of the JSON-RPC command show_area.

  • [lights] indoor preset added

  • [doc] all possible values that a JSON-RPC parameter can take are listed in the present documentation.

  • [system] compatibility with kernel 6.x

  • [pysphinx] new API get_encountered_objects to check for obstacles between two points of the space.

  • [world] factory: improved realism thanks to some changes on the lights (and the use of the “indoor” preset).

  • [aerodynamics] expose motor speeds in ExprTk expressions

  • [propulsion] better handling of the errors that can be triggered by the user

  • [collisions] handling of collisions has been improved.

Version 2.12.2#

  • [light] full refactoring of the way light and sky are managed.

    • mode “intense_light” has been removed.

    • JSON-RPC interface now comes with presets, allowing the user to instantly change the atmosphere in an easy manner.

    • several parameters added so the user can fine-tune around each preset.

    • it is possible to adjust the presence of fog

    • the world levels come either with statically built light or dynamic light. An indicator located in the upper-right corner tells the kind of light.

  • [HMI] use colored gradient to display depths, disparities and distances

  • [HMI] floating pane’s transparency is adjustable

  • [HMI] new keyboard shortcut “M” to maximize/minimize current view

  • [HMI] “Camera Connections” window is no more floating

  • [HMI] ability to display a gizmo widget in “user” or “follow” camera window

  • [HMI] more settings saved and retrieved at each start and set at the bottom of the main window

  • [scene] ability to hide actors using JSON-RPC interface

  • [camera] for depth/disparity/distance cameras, ability to enable/disable masking of the drone body

  • [camera] depth maps are optionally rendered with the “native” resolution provided in configuration

  • [camera] support of lens flare has been (temporarily) removed.

  • [gps] RTK fix status parameter added

  • [actors] collision box of the moving hand has been fine tuned.

  • [wind] support of gusts added. Gust can be either parametric or predefined

  • [wind] low pass filters applied on both the static and dynamic parts

  • [tools] several changes in the arguments of sphinx-get-logs

  • [tools] simple reset command added to sphinx-cli

  • [exprtk] new kind of noise: “markov_noise”

  • [system] Debian Buster is no more supported

  • [system] support of Wayland

Version 2.11#

  • [textures] textures of vehicle tags and imported FBX object are better rendered, especially when seen from a far viewpoint.

  • [AMS] the spawn points on vehicle are located at the sample place as the tags.

  • [AMS] ability to specify the precise location of the spawn point on a vehicle, it can be one of the possible tag locations.

  • [AMS] the drone is now able to land on a vehicle moving fast

  • [imported 3D objects] support embedded textures in FBX files

  • [cmd line] options @-list-actor-spawn-points@ and @-list-spawn-points@ merged into @-list-spawn-points@.

  • [physics] ability to get and to modify via JSON-RPC several parameters that are global to the scene. Example: GPS coordinates, temperature, atmospheric pressure, …

  • [sphinx-cli] new color gradient to visualize depths and distances

  • [handling] new option available in every step: @start_condition@. If set, the step starts after the provided condition is met.

  • [gps] delay is now expected to be expressed in milliseconds rather than in number of samples

  • [cameras] removed noises of type “disturbances”

  • [HMI] display a large “Drag’n’drop a camera here” message when needed.

  • [system] activate CPU’s “performance” mode during the time of the simulation. The aim is to improve the real-time factor.

  • [system] after installation, firmwared systemd service is automatically enabled and started.

  • [world] SphxTests/main: Parrot landing pad added

  • [world] SphxTests/autotests: curvy road added

  • [others] many other minor improvements and fixes!

Version 2.10.3#

  • [system] support of Ubuntu 22.04 added. Support of Ubuntu 18.04 removed.

  • [SDK] Parrot UE SDK added. It allows any user to build his/her Unreal Engine project for Parrot Sphinx.

  • [HMI] 4 different camera window layouts are now available.

  • [HMI] option to activate auto-exposure histogram on HUD cameras

  • [HMI] Colors slightly modified

  • [HMI] enable copy & paste

  • [camera] show objects located at a distance below 10 cm

  • [camera] new projection model for fisheye cameras: Kumler-Bauer

  • [AMS] realism of vehicle movement got improved

  • [cmdline] sphinx-get-logs command improved to add the bootID in the filename.

  • [cmdline] quit application after writing 3D grid colors file

  • [pysphinx] add methods to get and set poses, and conversion methods between coordinate frames

  • [sensors] consider the actual scene altitude for all sensors

  • [barometer] add pressure scale factor

  • [system] Gazebo upgraded to version 11.11

  • [system] improve simulated clock consistency (works only with latest firmwares)

  • [system] drop any background/stray firmwares before starting the simulation

Version 2.9.1#

  • [wind] new option to make wind speed depend on distance to ground.

  • [camera] shot noise: fix lens shading effect (it had no effect)

  • [camera] wide angle cameras: fix unwanted “seam” artifacts in some situations

  • [camera] wide angle cameras: new projection type supported.

  • [camera] distortion effect closer to reality. Also “equidistant” method has been changed.

  • [world] user can now add external 3D objects to the scene.

  • [AMS] in HMI, a marker is shown on top of the actor tracked by the drone.

  • [cmd line] the option --time=rtc is taken by default.

  • [cmd line] option --datalog-quiet to reduce the amount of data logged into telemetry files.

  • [HMI] better visualization of depths

  • [stability] various fixes to improve stability. Also better handling of unrecoverable errors.

  • [doc] installation section and quick start have been updated with new server URLs.

Version 2.8.2#

  • [camera] new type of camera: “distance”.

  • [camera] add option to turn regular “RGB” and “distance” cameras into wide angle mode.

  • [camera] negative auto-exposure speed makes AE convergence instantaneous

  • [camera] dirt effect is now working (if manually activated). One texture is available so far.

  • [camera] offsets over camera position and orientation can be provided as mathematical expression (exprtk syntax).

  • [sky] ability to load external HDRI skies.

  • [cmd-line] -ams-config-file is replaced by -config-file, this file becoming more generic.

  • [AMS] ability to adjust tag position on a vehicle, either at run time by using the web dashboard, or through the configuration file passed in command line.

  • [dbg-dist] the special camera dbgdist can be configured to provide depths instead of distances.

  • [motors] ability of adjust motor position and orientation using mathematical expression (exprtk syntax).

  • [world] “storage_house” is replaced by “factory”, an indoor scene with larger dimensions.

  • [world] landscape_ecosystem: new map with Parrot Sky and fog removed.

  • [HMI] location of any actors in the scene is now accessible in the left panel

  • [physics] ability to set the global altitude of the scene using the web dashboard.

  • [misc] various improvements/fixes to get better stability.

Version 2.7#

  • [animations] new parameter wpo_factor to freeze or amplify foliage animations

  • [sky] new parameter to set the size and the brightness of the sun: sun_brightness and sun_size

  • [IMU] new option to simulate rubber effect

  • [IMU] fix fsync data

  • [remote_ctrl] Port forwarding mode has been fixed and has a new API. Command line option port-forwarding is deprecated. The machine parameter remote_ctrl_ip needs to be used instead.

  • [camera] accept frame rate set to zero

  • [gps] new empirical error mode “bad quality”

  • [world] fix blurry textures in sphx_tests/obstacle_avoidance level

Version 2.6#

  • [camera] new type of camera: optical flow

  • [camera] fix record of large images + some other fixes to improve stability

  • [camera] distortion effect: the expected resolution is now properly computed

  • [telemetry] by default, size and number of tlmb files are limited. New parameters added to sphinx command to change these limits.

  • [ulog] clear ulog buffer as soon as a new firmware instance starts

  • [IMU] optionally IMU can generated “fsync” signal to synchronize over a given camera

  • [drone-wifi] some fixes, in particular in sphinx-drone-as-wifidongle

Version 2.5.1#

  • [world] static lights are back in all worlds that can build with this kind of lights. This is the default setting to provide better real-time performance.

  • [sky] three modes are now available: static, dynamic and hdri

  • [cameras] added “burnt sky” effect - not activated by default. That simulates photodiode saturation in camera sensor when exposures and/or lights are high.

  • [cameras] shot noise can be configured to dynamically vary according to the sensor exposure - not activated by default.

  • [cameras] new distortion method taken from UE4 plugin examples.

  • [cameras] new static camera parameter to simulate non-square pixels

  • [misc] desktop icon added

  • [storages] internal and external drone storages are now always simulated, and therefore have a limited and configurable size.

  • [precise_motion] new field “relative_position” added.

  • [precise_motion] fix “pause” action.

  • [wind] activates wind after the full startup

  • [firmwared] permissions added for “/update”, needed by missions

  • [system] support of Linux kernel 5.13

  • [system] Debian 11 supported (experimental)

Version 2.4.1#

  • [HMI] adjusted gamma to to fix washed-out colors

  • [HMI] ability to choose system coordinate

  • [HMI] adapt resolution scale to screen resolution. (less GPU consumption with 4K screens)

  • [HMI] ability to select any object from the scene and get information about it

  • [HMI] new panel to browse all objects from the scene

  • [HMI] ability to set user and follow cameras speed

  • [3D-grid] several fixes and improvements in 3D-grid segmentation mode

  • [system] fake storages are now formatted at startup by default.

  • [wifi-dongle] command sphinx-drone-as-wifidongle now always requires the drone model to be simulated.

  • [wifi-dongle] fix Wi-Fi interface availability after reset or firmware reboot.

  • [worlds] landscape_ecosystem: progressive forest map got flattened.

  • [worlds] industrial_city: several fixes for 3D-grid segmentation mode

  • [worlds] carla: rearrange some buildings for 3D-grid segmentation mode

  • [gimbal] ability to shift joint pose at run-time

  • [sensor] new sensor type dbg_dist for test purpose only

Version 2.3#

  • [HMI] UE4 applications have a brand-new HMI: Real-time performance improved. Panels, menus and new features added. More info in UE4 Application HMI.

  • [segmentation] Added new working mode for the segmentation cameras. The “3D-grid” mode and its application are described in Recipe: 3D-grid segmentation to evaluate 3D scanning

  • [worlds] All worlds now have the dynamic sky.

  • [worlds] “dark_forest” improved with better LOD

  • [worlds] Several maps have been renamed to respect the naming convention.

  • [AMS] Speed of vehicles can be adjusted precisely by specify a value in km/h at each way point.

  • [GPS] Generalize the use of prerecorded GPS data to all GPS sensors.

  • [GPS] Added error model dedicated to smartphone

  • [handling] in JSON script, keyword ‘pose’ is replaced by ‘step_pose’, which expects only absolute coordinates.

  • [debug] fake storages are properly handled after world reset.

Version 2.2#

  • [UE4] moved to UE4 version 4.26.2

  • [sky] several worlds feature a highly configurable sky. Clouds, light, sun can have their parameters changed at run time.

  • [rendering] Drastically reduced ghosting effect due to temporal anti-aliasing.

  • [HMI] changed the way the camera field of view is represented in the HMI.

  • [Wi-Fi] Anafi Ai can be used as a Wi-Fi USB dongle like it was already possible with Anafi.

  • [GPS] support full usage of UBX packets

  • [reset] fix several issues within the reset process

Version 2.1#

  • [cmdline] new option -quality in parrot-ue4-xxxx command line. If set to low, Unreal Engine consumes less GPU/CPU resources.

  • [storages] simulates eMMC and SD-card without any physical storage device like USB key. The parameter “sdcard_serial” has been replaced by ext_storage_size and int_storage_size.

  • [sphinx-cli] some fixes related to command “camera”.

  • [wan_access] fix the usage of the option wan_access when a firewall blocks requests to public DNS servers.

  • [pitot] offset and scale configurable for the pitot probe model.

  • [IMU] new alteration parameter rot_mat_gyro

  • [gimbal] added Spin-Hall Magneto-resistance effect.

  • [debug] robustness improved during world reset.

  • [flaps] quadratic model and delay

  • [world] in level “obstacle_avoidance”, fix collisions for some objects

Version 2.0#

  • [doc] the overhaul of the user guide is finished. Let’s take a big jump and move to version 2.0!

  • [LED] Ready to simulate embedded LEDs of the drone. Can be used to make the drone visible in dark environment, but also to illuminate dark surroundings.

  • [cmdline] add smart auto-completion for all UE4 apps and for sphinx-cli

  • [world] several changes in sphx_tests. New panels added in “video” level. Some adjustments in “obstacle_avoidance” level.

  • [world] two new levels in landscape_ecosystem. pylons and transmission_towers. Corresponding intense light versions are also added.

  • [world] new level towers in industrial_city (intense light version also available).

  • [world] in ‘industrial_city’, ‘forest’ and ‘earth’, HDRI backgrounds replaced by vast 3D meshes of hills and mountains.

  • [world] in ‘earth’, fix Fremont’s GPS position.

  • [camera] fix use of “depth of field” effect.

  • [camera] fix auto-exposure when taking photo from a camera that is not currently active.

  • [gps] ability to set GPS coordinates via parrot-ue4-xxxxx’s command line.

  • [cmdline] it is no more possible to pass a .world file in sphinx command line.

  • [tool] sphinx-cam-cli is merged into sphinx-cli. Please use sphinx-cli camera ... instead.

  • [HIL] script sphinx-hil-bandwidth added to measure bandwidth over USB link

Version 1.23#

  • [HMI] editor mode (key F2) added in the UE4 apps. This mode allows you to easily create flight plans and actor paths.

  • [AMS] option tags_material to change the kind of material used for the vehicle tags.

  • [clocks] option --time=rtc in the sphinx command line makes the simulated RTC clock be the same as the host’s. This way, there is no more drift perceived by a remote device such as a web server.

  • [gps] parsing of messages CFG-MSG to set NMEA message rate

  • [magnetometer] added the disturbance effect due to battery current.

  • [world] sphx-tests/autotests: add a road with new spawn point

  • [world] landscape-mountains: clean up the road so the vehicle does not get stuck.

  • [world] forest: new levels added ‘sparse’ and ‘sparse_intense_lights’

  • [world] earth: added background HDRI image in all existing levels

  • [world] earth: added new level ‘hippodrome_map’

  • [handling] simplified syntax for the JSON scripts. start_pose is replaced by first_pose, which is expressed in absolute frame and is optional.

  • [doc] more pages added and updated.

  • [drones] .drone files included in the installation package contain new names for the drone. ‘anafi4k’ becomes ‘anafi’. ‘anafi2’ becomes ‘anafi_ai’.

  • [sphinx-cam-cli] some cosmetic improvements.

Version 1.22#

  • [pysphinx] added pysphinx to communicate with Parrot Sphinx in Python3

  • [world] vehicle_game replaced by dark_forest and industrial_city

  • [world] forest: added a new skybox to cover the horizon

  • [world] added a background to the level “Angoulême” from Earth.

  • [HMI] rework of the help page (displayed with F1 key)

  • [AMS] ability to change the tracked actor while a simulation is running.

  • [drone_files] .drone files installed with Parrot Sphinx have been renamed into anafi.drone and anafi_ai.drone

  • [drone_files] the XML structure has changed. All parameters are now on the same hierarchical level. machine_param’s attributes become XML elements.

  • [tools] sphinx-vipc is replaced by sphinx-cam-cli, which has the same API with some more features, uses pysphinx module, and works with both ANAFI and ANAFI Ai.

  • [tools] helper scripts sphinx-get-logs. It is used to easily download log files from the simulated drone or from Parrot Sphinx.

  • [doc] the present user guide is getting refactored. The current version is still in construction.

  • [cmd-line] in sphinx command line, added –json-rpc-port option to change JSON-RPC HTTP port

  • [system] ability to use an FTP URL as the path to a firmware.

  • [omniscient] the computed speed and acceleration for the tracked actor are now correct

  • [flaps] ability to be controlled with PWM width

  • [IMU/debug] in rare cases, fix world reset procedure.

Version 1.21#

  • [stereo_cam] more realistic depth maps thank to the tuning of the tonemapping effect. On saturated areas, the depth maps contain more N/A pixels and less infinite pixels.

  • [cameras] vignetting and motion blur effects are disabled by default.

  • [depthmap/debug] in perfect depthmap generated by Parrot Sphinx, fix the value of ‘infinite’ pixels.

  • [AMS] ability to load custom vehicle tags from parrot-ue4-xxxx command line.

  • [AMS] the option ‘-paths-file’ introduced in sphinx-1.20 has been replaced by -ams-config-file

  • [world] in sphxtests world, new map tof_tests added. Plus, more objects added in map obstacle_avoidance.

  • [intense_light/debug] in levels ‘intense_light’, fix the low part of the sky that was fully black.

  • [wan_access] make sure the drone setting wan_access is working whatever the current ip_forwarding configuration of the host.

  • [logs] make Parrot Sphinx logs more readable: less verbosity, undesired warning and error logs removed.

  • [telemetry/debug] avoid rare stall periods of several seconds

Version 1.20#

  • [AMS] current pedestrians were replaced by more realistic ones. Their names remain unchanged.

  • [AMS] debug: fix visibility of vehicle tags when light is intense

  • [AMS] pedestrian’s animation speed and translation speed are synchronized.

  • [AMS] new JSON-RPC param to have the pedestrian stretch out his arm so the drone can land onto his hand.

  • [AMS] reduce oscillations when drone is at standstill over a vehicle. this fix allows for taking off in mission “vehicle-tracking”.

  • [AMS] ability to load a custom actor path from a YAML file. More info here

  • [photo] improve the time precision of the shot

  • [system] fix apparmor configuration when running on Debian Buster

  • [system] contents of firmware dirs “/data/user-internal/missions” and “/mnt/user-internal/missions” are executable.

  • [system] support firmware reboot triggered by the simulated firmware itself.

  • [DOC] user guide has a new theme “Furo”, replacing “RTD”.

Version 1.19#

  • [world] new world “Landscape_ecosystem” replaces “quai_de_jemmapes”. It is a vast scene populated with forest and a road.

  • [segmentation cam] fixes color application which was failing randomly.

  • [Anafi_Ai] the gimbal bracket is now tied to the drone body, like the real drone.

  • [cmdline] UE4 mode is now the only possible working mode. Therefore the option “–unreal” is now implicit and deprecated.

  • [cmdline] sphinx command is now identical to sphinx-server, which becomes deprecated.

  • [cmdline] sphinx-client is renamed into sphinx-gzclient

  • [cmdline] some unused arguments have been removed: –interface, –hmi-port, –server-uri, –world-plugin

  • [real-time] ability to set the real time factor via JSON-RPC (and web-dashboard)

  • [firmwared] providing to Parrot Sphinx a path to a “final” folder is no more possible. Only the ext2.zip format is supported.

  • [firmwared] fix random denied’s from apparmor.

  • [cleanup] legacy drones are no more included.

Version 1.18#

  • [world] all “carla” levels have been upgraded, plus, a new HD level has been added

  • [world] no more ToF flickering in sphx_tests world

  • [cmdline] new argument in parrot-ue4 app command line: -list-objects. it lists up all positions and object types of a given level

  • [segmentation] ability to customize any object color using stencil file. more info here

  • [segmentation] sky is automatically set to a reserved color

  • [wifi-dongle] command sphinx-drone-as-wifidongle has an optional parameter to choose the drone model to be simulated. more info here

  • [handling] new json field to check the validity of the start position. more info here

  • [gps] reply to commands sent by process “gpsd”.

  • [reset] when resetting the firmware using the JSON-RPC command reset_firmware, the simulated filesystem is kept as it is.

  • [cameras] ability to record any frame format from the web dashboard. more info here

Version 1.17#

  • [wifi] parameter stolen_interface was too technical and is now deprecated, being replaced by wifi_iface.

  • [wifi] parameter wifi_iface is set by default to auto, meaning that Parrot Sphinx is going to look for a Wi-Fi interface whenever a simulation gets started.

  • [barometer] support of the dynamic compensation based on neural networks

  • [reset] after world reset, the simulated filesystem is cleared from any previous changes.

  • [world] the world “vehicle_game” now includes a level “intense_lights”

  • [obstacle] improved detection of the thin obstacles

  • [HIL] support of Depth from Motion

  • [depth maps] disparities are generated by sphinx directly in the format expected by Anafi_Ai’s stream-server in multi-stream mode.

  • [HMI] new panel in UE4 app to list the clients requesting rendering. Use the R key to display it.

Version 1.16#

  • [depth maps] depths generated by sphinx (not HIL) now simulate the quantification coming from the stereo-matching.

  • [lighting] three new levels are available to test stereo matching in HIL in lighting environments prone to high/low saturation.

  • [lighting] fix the stereo camera settings which were responsible for generating too dark images (in next Anafi_Ai releases)

  • [cameras] optimizations avoiding to render frames for nothing

  • [cameras] some fixes on the segmentation cameras

  • [system] Vulkan GPU mode works on PC with several GPUs

  • [clock] separate simulated monotonic clock and simulated Real Time Clock.

  • [scene areas] some fixes to use them with UE4

Version 1.15#

  • [system] support of Ubuntu 20.04 (a.k.a. Focal Fossa)

  • [system] migration from Gazebo 7 to Gazebo 11

  • [camera] support of segmentation camera. More info here

  • [camera] when a faulty firmware process freezes or stop releasing video frames, sphinx resets the related camera, and keeps running.

  • [AMS] GPS coordinates of vehicles correspond to the logo position

  • [tool] sphinx-vipc handles remote HIL depth camera

  • [tool] new side tool called sphinx-cli. The examples of the present user guide now use this command.

  • [magnetometer] automatically compute the right magnetic field according to the GPS coordinates of the scene.

  • [barometer] accept dynamic pressure compensation settings as they are in Colibry.

  • [firmwared] start up more robust to errors.

Version 1.14#

  • [Anafi_Ai] model 3D for DV5 prototype replacing the previous one. A recent firmware version is required to use properly the new model.

  • [network] new parameter in “.drone” file wan_access. When set to true, it provides Internet access to the simulated drone.

  • [cameras] more postprocessing effects available. In particular, “color grading” enables more realistic light saturations for ANA2 stereo cam.

  • [UE4] better handling when resizing the HMI window

  • [AMS] SUV vehicle got dirty/ugly on purpose.

  • [AMS] debug: actor names have no more random number at the end of the string.

  • [AMS] spawn locations are adjusted to have the drone directly on the car’s logo.

  • [gimbal] some fixes in the way hall measures are computed.

  • [doc] added section showing how to get scene object’s coordinates. See here

  • [world] new beautiful world added: “meadow”

  • [world] worlds ‘forest’ and ‘meadow’ have a special level where lights are set to a high intensity. More info here.

Version 1.13.2#

  • [GPS] fix bug in the implementation of “timemark” data message

  • [IMU] support frequencies higher than 1kHz

  • [distribs] support of Ubuntu Xenial and Debian Stretch is removed.

Version 1.13#

  • [GPS] support “timemark” data message

  • [ToF] better model implemented

  • [HMI] ability to display lighting histogram over camera video frames. Use visualize_hdr parameter in web interface.

  • [debug] improve stability on world reset

  • [wifi] new name for the script turning your Anafi into a wifi dongle: sphinx-drone-as-wifidongle

  • [Anafi_Ai] generate a fake serial number so that colibry takes the configuration according to the hardware revision.

Version 1.12#

  • [real-time] improve real-time performance

  • [tracking] camera rendering times are now perfectly synced with gazebo. Therefore, cameras used for vehicle tracking now run smoothly, no more oscillations.

  • [HMI] dynamic shadows are removed from main HMI to improve performance

  • [unreal] migration from UE4.22 to UE4.25. This is done mainly to have better renderings, better light expositions for the drone cameras.

  • [depth_cam] masked pixel are simulated in the depth/disp maps generated by UE4. It follows the code given in libstereo-light.

  • [AMS] ability to place visual tags on the roof of the vehicles.

  • [sphinx-vipc] new cmd line arguments: –count, –list

  • [magic_carpet] the how-to in this user guide has been updated for both anafi1 and Anafi_Ai

  • [firmwared] provide full access to the directory “/missions”

  • [handling] ability to teleport the drone when it is at standstill, providing absolute position.

  • [handling] Stability has been improved after teleporting.

  • [bugfix] fix bug where the drone gets spawned and goes through the floor.

Version 1.11#

  • [unreal] new command line -version to show the associated sphinx version.

  • [unreal] ability to spawn drones on vehicles and next to pedestrians. It is now possible to take off a drone from a moving vehicle. More info here:

  • [unreal] animations (like folliage), vehicles, pedestrians all run at the pace of the simulation. They follow the current real time factor.

  • [unreal] flightplan trajectory are now displayed when running both Dronelab and “anafi2-pc”

  • [HMI] moving user camera while the drone is moving is now possible

  • [HMI] To exit Unreal apps, now use Alt+F4 instead of “Ctrl+Q”

  • [camera] Ability to create at runtime camera’s misalignments, in angles but also in positions.

  • [camera] lens flares are now available. They are only activated on Anafi_Ai’s stereo camera. See this section

  • [camera] add world orientation information in Parrot Sphinx’ telemetry.

  • [vehicles/pedestrians] they now stop once they finish the path (if this is not a loop)

  • [vehicles/pedestrians] all actors are now paused at start by default.

  • [vehicles/pedestrians] abiliby to adjust the speed of all actors using a factor available in the web dashboard (and via JSON-RPC)

  • [HIL] it is possible to run sphinx in HIL mode with anafi2-pc (in addition to Dronelab environmement). To do that, you need to set the new param with_depth_hil to 1.

  • [modeling] add new type of noise randwalk() if exprtk expressions.

  • [barometer] Anafi_Ai’s barometer has by default errors of modeled by random walk noise.

  • [GPS] ability to move at runtime the position of the sensor within the drone frame, using delta_position parameter.

  • [mountbind] throw an explicit error when trying to use an unexisting directory as source.

  • [system] Parrot Sphinx’s real time factor is now available in telemetry. section time, variable real_time_factor.

  • [system] wrapping service is back from the dead. More info here:

Version 1.10.2#

  • [cameras] last fix for perfect rendering time

  • [doc] add section of about UE4 camera tuning.

Version 1.10.1#

  • [cameras] add “shot noise”, i.e. a realistic modeling of the noise produced by Anafi_Ai’s stereo camera.

  • [cameras] reorganize all parameters in a hierarchical way. See the result in the web dashboard!

  • [cameras] most of UE4’s “post-processing” parameters are accessible via the web dashboard (and JSON-RPC)

  • [cameras] fix camera rendering time in UE4

  • [cameras] make cameras more synchronous with others. The improvement makes left and right cameras perfectly synchronous.

  • [depth_cam] handle two separate depth and disparity cameras

  • [GPS] GPS position contained Unreal worlds (like in parrot-ue4-earth) are automatically used by the simulation as the center of the scene.

  • [handling] a progress indicator added in web dashboard (and JSON-RPC)

  • [Anafi_Ai] ability to take photos and recordings with latest firmware. Thumbnails are also supported.

  • [motors] for anafi1 and Anafi_Ai, as soon as the motor enters ramping state, speed is set at 3000 rpm, which becomes the minimum value as long as the motor is ON.

  • [unreal] ultrasound: take account of min range

  • [disco] meshes of the Parrot legacy drone fixed in UE4 apps

  • [system] sphinx refuses to be run as root.

  • [clock] publish in sphinx’ telemetry the estimated real-time factor. See section time/real_time_factor.

  • [mountbind] mountbind option fixed after world reset

  • [cmd-line] --rt-percent can be expressed as a float number, instead of integer.

  • [cmd-line] new options -list-spawn-points, -list-areas for Unreal apps to list all spawnpoint and area names

  • [doc] add a specific section about how to record video frames. See Record and visualize cameras

Version 1.9#

  • [unreal] key ESC inhibited. You will no more exit Parrot Sphinx unexpectedly! Replaced by Ctrl+Q.

  • [unreal] to replace the user camera at its initial position, reselect the manual mode (key M). The use of key K has been removed.

  • [unreal] velocity view mode is smoother

  • [unreal] fix sporadic crashes while starting up

  • [unreal] -help option added to command line

  • [unreal] expose camera’s distorsion parameters in web dashboard

  • [actors] 4 vehicles added

  • [actors] reset and pause have been fixed

  • [doc] documentation about all available UE4 worlds updated. See 3D scenes available

  • [Anafi_Ai] recorded GPS errors are not applied by default. User can choose not to use any recording, or he can select one among four available.

  • [system] program can be run within mountbind directory. Permissions have been granted.

  • [system] new indicators through JSON-RPC: world_reset_running and fw_reset_running.

  • [misc] fix various minor issues.

Version 1.8#

  • [AMS] an actor can send its GPS/baro’s current values to the simulated drone.

  • [AMS] in addition to the existing characters, a pickup car can be spawned.

  • [unreal] user camera is set by default to “manual mode”. One can move the HMI camera using keyboard and mouse. The position can be reset with the key “K”.

  • [unreal] new view mode “N”. The camera is located along the velocity vector of the drone.

  • [system] new command line option “mountbind”. This creates the ability to share a given directory between the host and the simulated drone. See this section.

  • [Anafi_Ai] depth camera and stereo camera can be activated simultaneously.

  • [Anafi_Ai] fix TimeOfFlight

  • [unreal] worlds “pylon_construction” and “grass_land” removed from sphinxapt.parrot.biz APT source. The worlds “sphx_tests” and “carla” replacing them.

  • [misc] fix various minor issues.

Version 1.7.2#

  • [bug] Fix compatibility with Anafi and Anafi_Ai

  • [misc] fix various minor issues.

Version 1.7.1#

  • [unreal] Gaussian noise is now properly applied on renderings

  • [unreal] Settings (PIP selection, etc) are automatically saved and restored

  • [unreal] real time gets improved

  • [Anafi_Ai] ability to set simultaneously depth camera and stereo camera

  • [Anafi_Ai] real gimbal is now functional

  • [Anafi_Ai] smartbattery handles “full_charge_capacity”

  • [unreal] new plugin “Actor Movement System” is available in draft version.

  • [video-ipc] use new backend “shm”

Version 1.6.1#

  • [Anafi_Ai] fix streaming of depth and stereo cams when using Unreal.

  • [Anafi_Ai] support of front cam and vertical cam.

  • [unreal] add combo box in PIP windows to choose the video source

  • [wifi] Support Anafi Thermal as Wifi dongle. This requires a firmware version 1.6.4 or higher.

Version 1.6#

  • [unreal] support of Time of Flight and Ultrasound sensors

  • [unreal] display of speed and acceleration vectors in user’s rendering

  • [unreal] collisions are now properly handled whatever the type of objects.

  • [unreal] visualization of flightplan trajectories (nominal and corrected)

  • [Anafi_Ai] ready to support multiple gimbals

  • [actors] fix vehicle actor in gazebo

  • [dronelab] telemetry from sphinx and drone can now be visualized on sphinx dashboard

  • [unreal] in debug report (key ‘P’), show user camera coordinates.

  • [elastic_search] send info about UE4 usage

  • [cmdline] new option to start sphinx with an arbitrary simulated time (instead of zero)

  • [misc] various minor bug fixes and optimizations

Version 1.5#

  • [unreal] depthmaps generated directly by unreal can be disparities with configurable alterations.

  • [unreal] fix to be able to load a non-default level.

  • [unreal] with the application, press “;” key to access console.

  • [unreal] video zoom from controller is supported

  • [system] some fixes to fully work with firmwares built on debian buster

  • [cmdline] –datalog is activated by default. Replaced by –nodatalog.

Version 1.4#

  • [new major feature] Unreal Engine 4 to render video frames.

  • [system] compatible with recent kernel versions (5.0.x)

  • [cameras] ability to save raw video frames from Sphinx dashboard, with and without Unreal mode.

  • [smartbattery] add anomaly file

  • [system] support of Debian Buster (Debian 10)

  • [cmdline] –datalog is activated by default. Replaced by –nodatalog.

  • [new major feature] HIL mode to generate depthmaps remotely on physical Anafi_Ai. See /internal_HIL

  • [new feature] new plugin wireless_link to simulate wireless signal quality according to distance and obstacles separating receiver and transmitter. See Wireless link

Version 1.3#

  • [omniscient] control position and visibility of static objects through JSON-RPC interface.

  • [battery] new fields added: “cell_voltage” and “usb_peer”

  • [doc] Current guidebook updated with new pictures. Mentions to Freeflight Pro replaced by Freeflight 6.

Version 1.2.1#

  • [world] new world vicon1

  • [cam_director] new option “delta_rotation”

  • [wifi] You can now use anafi as a wifi dongle (see system requirements).

  • [anafi] Anafi is now supported.

  • [world] 3 new worlds added.

  • [cmdline] New option to start a simulation with physics engine disabled. (-- disable-physics)

Version 1.1#

  • [Anafi_Ai] several changes in sensor plugins to support Anafi_Ai

  • [Anafi_Ai] anafi_ai.drone added in /opt/parrot-sphinx/usr/share/sphinx/drones/

  • [world] fix magic carpet size

  • [depthmap] It is now possible to add invalid pixels in the depthmaps. New options have been added in the JSON-RPC depth-camera section.

  • [barometer] add new exprtk variable “mean_motor_rpm”

  • [license] display license agreement upon installation, in command line help, and in user guide.

  • [system] Debian Jessie is no longer supported. As of Parrot Sphinx 1.1, Ubuntu Xenial, Ubuntu Bionic and Debian Stretch are supported.

  • [system] world reset can be performed via the web dashboard. See world/fwman/fwman/action/world_reset_all.

  • [doc] new user guide section about how to use Parrot Sphinx with VirtualBox

Version 1.0#

  • [Anafi_Ai] add 3D model of Anafi_Ai

  • [trajectory] for Anafi and Anafi_Ai, optionally draw in the 3D scene the path taken by the drone. (see fwman option in inspector widget)

  • [depthmap] disparity is now configurable (baseline, native_width, …)

  • [steradar] new plugin for Anafi_Ai. Used to get all depth from every directions.

  • [puremodel] “Pure Model” mode. In this mode, no need for drone firmware running in firmwared. All plugins are instantiated waited to be used from a program running directly on the host.

  • [obstacle_watcher] new plugin to provide at any time the distance separating the drone from any obstacle.

  • [world] new world “cliff_terrain”

  • [cameras] fully support change of resolution at runtime

  • [smartbattery] simulate new fields (is_authenticated, cycle_count)

  • [camera] several improvements on stability

  • [omniscient] in telemetry section omniscient, add last collision time

  • [world] several new 3D models

  • [web dashboard] more robust to world reset, better stability