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Virtual MATLAB Software Setup 🪧

Please go through the following steps to set up a computer to use the QCar with MATLAB in Quanser Interactive Labs.

Description

This document will cover the following:

System Requirements

Installation Time: It will take around 2 hours to install everything

Storage:: Installing everything will consume around 35GB of storage

OS: Windows 10 or 11

MATLAB Version: 2024a or higher

MATLAB Toolboxes: Simulink Coder, MATLAB Coder, and Control System Toolbox

C++ Compiler: Visual Studio 2019 Community (Desktop development with C++)

Minimum Hardware:

  • Graphics Card: Intel UHD or Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU, or equivalent
  • Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5, Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 5, or equivalent
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM

Recommended Hardware:

  • Graphics Card: 4050m or equivalent
  • Processor: i5-13500HX or equivalent
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM

Note: Recommended hardware is based on the hardware used to develop and run self-driving stack in Simulink.

Setting up Quanser Interactive Labs (QLabs) with MATLAB

Follow the below steps to set up QLabs with MATLAB:

WARNING: Ensure you do not already have QUARC or Quanser Interactive Labs installed on this PC (uninstall them if you do).

  1. Ensure you have registered for your competition (Necessary for gaining access to QLabs). This could take a few days.

  2. Download the Competition License file

  3. Download the QUARC 2025 SP1 Installer

  4. Follow this guide to install QUARC 2025 SP1 (this will install QLabs): QUARC 2025 SP1 Installation Guide

    • Use the license file (.qlic) you downloaded in Step 1 along with the guide

  5. Register for QLabs on the Quanser Academic Portal

Setting Up the MATLAB Competition Resources

First, the Quanser Academic Resources will be installed:

  1. Follow the instructions here to download the Quanser Academic Resources: Quanser Academic Resources Download

  2. Run the following batch file with the following guidelines:

    • You are using MATLAB only
    • You are using both virtual and hardware

    C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Quanser\1_setup\step_1_check_requirements.bat

  3. Run the following batch file:

    C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Quanser\1_setup\configure_matlab.bat

These resources will contain all the Quanser Resources for all of Quanser's products, but the SDCS lab content will be the most relevant.

Second, the Github repo containing the student competition resources for MATLAB will be downloaded:

  1. Navigate to your Documents folder within a File Explorer window

  2. Open a CMD Window in this directory by right-clicking in the blank space and selecting Open in Terminal

    open_in_terminal

  3. Clone the following Github Repo into the Documents folder using the following command:

    git clone https://github.com/quanser/student-competition-resources-matlab.git

Running the Self-Driving Stack Resources

Follow the below instructions to make sure everything is set up correctly and learn how to use the provided resources:

  1. Using MATLAB navigate to the /student-competition-resources-matlab/Virtual_MATLAB_Resources/self_driving_stack_resources (make sure you double -click on folders and don't expand them)

  2. Open QLabs and navigate to Self-Driving Car Studio => Plane

    qlabs plane

  3. Run the Setup_Competition_Map.m script

    • Make sure the spawn_location variable is 1 (top of the script)

    It should look like this after running the script:

    competition map

  4. Open QCar2_Virtual_calibrate.slx

  5. Use 'Monitor & Tune' to run the model

    competition map

  6. Change spawn_location to 2 in the Setup_Competition_Map.m script

  7. Run Setup_Competition_Map.m to spawn the QCar in the taxi hub area

  8. Run Setup_QCar2_Params.m

  9. Open VIRTUAL_self_driving_stack_v2.slx

  10. Use 'Monitor & Tune' to run the model

    competition map

You should see the QCar begin to complete a lap of the outside-most lane as shown below (sped up):

1 lap self drivning stack

If something is not working correctly, please double-check that you have gone through the steps correctly. If the issue persists, you may raise an issue in the Issues tab

MATLAB Setup Real Scenario

A more realistic traffic scenario is provided through the Setup_Real_Scenario.m file. This script spawns signage and traffic lights. This script runs CONTINUOUSLY in a loop to control the traffic lights, so it will need to be run in a separate MATLAB session from the VIRTUAL_self_driving_stack_v2.slx. To open another session of matlab, you will need to right-click on the MATLAB icon and select your version of MATLAB again.

Learning the Self-Driving Stack

Once everything is confirmed and working, you can take a look at the development guide.