Coordinate Systems in Simulink 3D Animation

R2026b

Simulink^® 3D Animation™ provides different coordinate systems to define actor transformation in the 3D environment. The product allows you to set the coordinate system for each actor in the 3D environment.

• To set the coordinate system of the actor, use the CoordinateSystem argument or property in the sim3d actor objects or the Coordinate system parameter in the Simulation 3D blocks.

• To specify the position of the actor in the 3D environment relative to the parent actor, use the Translation argument or property in the sim3d actor objects or the Translation parameter in the Simulation 3D blocks.

• To specify the orientation of the actor in the 3D environment relative to the parent actor, use the Rotation argument or property in the sim3d actor objects or the Rotation parameter in the Simulation 3D blocks. The rotation order is roll, then pitch, then yaw. When you update any of the three rotation values and leave others unchanged, the software reapplies all three rotations in the same order.

The table describes the different coordinate systems.

Coordinate System	Object or Block Setting	Description
Simulink 3D Animation coordinate system	Default	The Simulink 3D Animation coordinate system uses the Unreal Engine® coordinate system. The Unreal Engine coordinate system is a left-handed Cartesian coordinate system, in m and rad. Axes: Positive X-axis points away from the viewer. Positive Y-axis points to the right. Positive Z-axis points upward. Rotation: Roll — Clockwise rotation about positive X-axis Pitch — Clockwise rotation about positive Y-axis Yaw — Counterclockwise rotation about positive Z-axis
MATLAB® coordinate system	MATLAB	The MATLAB coordinate system is a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system with Z-up orientation, in m and rad. Axes: Positive X-axis points away from the viewer. Positive Y-axis points to the left. Positive Z-axis points upward. Rotation: Roll — Clockwise rotation about positive X-axis Pitch — Clockwise rotation about positive Y-axis Yaw — Clockwise rotation about positive Z-axis
ISO 8855 standard coordinate system	ISO8855	The ISO 8855 [2] standard coordinate system is a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system with Z-up orientation, in m and deg. Axes: Positive X-axis points away from the viewer. Positive Y-axis points to the left. Positive Z-axis points upward. Rotation: Roll — Clockwise rotation about positive X-axis Pitch — Clockwise rotation about positive Y-axis Yaw — Clockwise rotation about positive Z-axis
X3D ISO standard coordinate system	VRML	The X3D ISO standard coordinate system is a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system with Y-up orientation, in m and rad. Axes: Positive X-axis points away from the viewer. Positive Y-axis points upward. Positive Z-axis points to the right. Rotation: Roll — Clockwise rotation about positive X-axis Pitch — Clockwise rotation about positive Y-axis Yaw — Clockwise rotation about positive Z-axis
SAE coordinate system	SAE or AERO	The SAE J670 standard coordinate system is a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system with Z-down orientation, in m and rad. The Vehicle Dynamics Blockset™ 3D simulation environment uses this coordinate system defined in the SAE J670[1] standard. For more information, see Vehicle Coordinate System (Vehicle Dynamics Blockset). This coordinate system is also used for aerospace applications. For more information, see Body Coordinates (Aerospace Blockset). Axes: Positive X-axis points away from the viewer. Positive Y-axis points to the right. Positive Z-axis points downward. Rotation: Roll — Clockwise rotation about positive X-axis Pitch — Clockwise rotation about positive Y-axis Yaw — Clockwise rotation about positive Z-axis

For an example on how the coordinate system specifies the actor transformations in the 3D environment, see View Actor Orientation in MATLAB Coordinate System.

References

[1] Vehicle Dynamics Standards Committee. Vehicle Dynamics Terminology. SAE J670. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers, 2008.

[2] Technical Committee. Road vehicles — Vehicle Dynamics and Road-Holding Ability — Vocabulary. ISO 8855:2011. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization, 2011.