AScience/GIS

AScience/GIS is an Unreal engine plugin for converting GIS data into a high visual and geometric fidelity Unreal terrain model. The terrain model can be used in simulations of ground or aerial vehicles using IVRESS or other physics engines. The GIS data can be generated using a GIS software such as ESRI's ArcGIS or QGIS using terrain LiDAR scans and aerial images. The GIS data includes:

• Filtered bare-ground LiDAR point cloud or DEM (Digital Elevation Model).

• Closed polygons for texturing the terrain and laying procedural objects on the terrain such as vegetation (trees, bushes, and grass).

• Splines for trails and roads.

• 2D GIS coordinates and rotation for objects on the terrain such as trees, poles, signs, buildings, structures, etc. The geometric/CAD models for those objects must be in the Unreal project assets.

The input GIS data can be in JSON or CSV text formats.

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The main advantages of the AScience/GIS Unreal plugin are:

• High-fidelity Unreal models of real-world terrains are generated without the need for an Unreal artist to manually edit (paint, place objects, etc.) the Unreal model. This saves the time and cost for creating and updating the model. More importantly it ensures that the model geometric and visual representation of the the real-world terrain is accurate.  

• Physics engines (such as IVRESS) which are used to model vehicles on the terrains can use the same GIS data. This ensures that the simulations have an accurate representation of the real-world. For example the Unreal visual model can texture a terrain area/polygon using a mud texture while the physics engine model can represent this area using a terramechanics model for mud.