Using Steering Controls (Keyboard or Controller) with MassZone
You can use a supported steering device to control the vehicle. Use the device to control steering, braking, and acceleration.
Refer to the following for setting up and using a steering device:
Setting up the steering device
To set up the steering device for the MassZone vehicle:
-
Select the MassZone model. From the MassZone tool panel select the following:
A. Enable MZU Driver View.
B. Enable Use Steering Device.
C. Expand the Steering Device dropdown. If a device isn’t detected, None is appended to the device label.
D. Select a controller:
Keyboard – Up/Down arrows control acceleration and braking. The Left/Right arrows control steering.
3D Mouse
Gamepad – Windows 10-compatible gamepads should work. The XBox controller was tested.
Steering Wheel (X-Box) – currently only this steering wheel has been tested with MZU.
Setting the camera position
If you use a steering controller, you must establish a camera view. The view can be inside the vehicle, above it, behind it, etc.
To set the camera position:
A. Enable Preview Driver View.
B. Use the X,Y,Z values to set the position of the camera.
Start the prediction from the MZU Control Panel.
The view switches to the camera view that you set, and a heads-up display appears.
A. Acceleration/Deceleration gauge.
B. Steering Sensitivity - With the X-Box steering wheel or Gamepad controllers, set the steering sensitivity with the D-Pad. With the Keyboard use the + and – keys.
C. Drive or Reverse - With the X-Box steering wheel or Gamepad controllers, A toggles Forward/Reverse drive, Y reverses the camera direction (not the driving direction) so you can look back when in reverse. With the Keyboard, PgDn toggles Forward/Reverse drive, PgUp for Reverse Camera.
D. Speedometer - While the prediction runs, the steering, braking, and acceleration can be controlled with the selected controller. The input from the device is stored for playback.
When a collision occurs, the MassZone system takes control of the model and manual steering input is ignored.
After the prediction completes, you can view the steering input. The data is saved in millisecond increments.
Viewing the resulting steering input data
To view the steering input data saved during the prediction run:
-
Select the MassZone model with steering input data.
-
Open the MassZone Options from MZU Control Panel (A) or the right-click context menu (B).
-
From Options, select Tire/Steering Pre-Collision. You can adjust the prediction travel path.
-
During prediction animation playback, if the vehicle still has the “MZU Driver View” active, it displays from the preset camera view and shows the steering inputs.
