config.md

Configuration JSONC Settings

Project AirSim configuration files use the JSONC (JSON with Comments) file format. The configuration JSONC settings that client scripts load are stored in a sim_config/ subfolder relative to the client script:

<client scripts>
└─ sim_config
      scene_basic_drone.jsonc
      scene_...
      robot_quadrotor_fastphysics.jsonc
      robot_...

The configuration settings are split into two levels:

1. Scene config - Settings for a specific scene, such as a list of actors and clock settings for that scene. This can be any JSONC file in the sim_config/ folder, but generally starts with scene_ as a filename prefix.

2. Robot config - Settings for a specific robot, such as its link/joint structure, controller, sensors, etc. This can be any JSONC file in the sim_config/ folder, but generally starts with robot_ as a filename prefix. Multiple actors in a scene can reference the same config file.

Modular Configuration: Robot configurations support mixing multiple JSON files into a single combined configuration. Instead of specifying a single config file path, you can provide an array of file paths that will be merged together. This allows you to compose configurations from reusable modular components (e.g., base vehicle + specific sensors + custom controller) rather than duplicating entire configurations. See Robot config below for syntax and examples.

Note: Unlike Python, the JSON standard requires double-quotes (") so be sure not to use single-quotes (') in the JSONC configuration files.

Scene config

An example scene config look like:

scene_basic_drone.jsonc

{
  "id": "SceneBasicDrone",
  "actors": [
    {
      "type": "robot",
      "name": "Drone1",
      "origin": {...},
      "robot-config": "robot_quadrotor_fastphysics.jsonc"
    }
  ],
  "clock": {...},
  "home-geo-point": {...},
  "segmentation": {...},
  "scene-type": "UnrealNative"
}

The actors array contains a block for each robot to spawn in the simulation at its specified origin coordinates, and each robot's robot-config string points to the robot config JSON file to load for it.

For more detailed info, see Scene Configuration Settings.

Robot config

An example robot config looks like:

robot_quadrotor_fastphysics.jsonc

{
  "physics-type": "fast-physics",
  "links": [...],
  "joints": [...],
  "controller": {...},
  "actuators": [...],
  "sensors": [...]
}

Modular Robot Configurations: Robot configs can be constructed by combining multiple JSON files. This enables a modular approach where you can mix and match base configurations with different sensor packages, controllers, or physical properties:

Note: The modular filenames below are illustrative examples and are not included in this repository. Create the corresponding JSONC files in your client script's sim_config/ folder, or replace the names with paths to configuration files that exist in that folder.

// Single config file (traditional approach)
"robot-config": "robot_quadrotor_fastphysics.jsonc"

// Multiple config files combined (modular approach)
"robot-config": [
  "robot_base_quadrotor.jsonc",
  "sensors_camera_package.jsonc",
  "controller_px4.jsonc"
]

When multiple files are specified, they are loaded in order and merged together, with later files overriding properties from earlier files. This allows you to build configurations from reusable components without duplicating entire configuration files.

For more detailed info, see Robot Configuration Settings.

---

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
Copyright (C) 2025 IAMAI CONSULTING CORP

MIT License. All rights reserved.