Class URayCastSensor

Defined in File RayCastSensor.h

Inheritance Relationships

Base Types

public USceneComponent
public IScholaSensor (Class IScholaSensor)

class URayCastSensor : public USceneComponent, public IScholaSensor

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Dependencies: FBoxPoint

Raycast sensor that collects observations by casting rays into the environment.

This sensor fires multiple rays in a cone or full circle pattern, detecting objects and measuring distances. For each ray, it reports whether an object was hit, the hit distance, and which tracked tags (if any) the hit object has. Useful for navigation and obstacle detection.

Public Functions

Symbol	Details
`GetObservationSpace_Implementation`	Get the observation space for this sensor.
`GenerateRayEndpoints`	Generate the endpoints of the rays to be cast.
`AppendEmptyTags`	Add empty tags to the observation for rays that miss.
`HandleRayMiss`	Helper function for appending observation data when a ray hits nothing.
`HandleRayHit`	Handle a successful ray trace and append observation data.
`CollectObservations_Implementation`	Collect observations about the environment state by casting rays.
`GenerateId`	Generate a unique ID string for this sensor.

GetObservationSpace_Implementation

virtual void GetObservationSpace_Implementation(
    FInstancedStruct &OutObservationSpace) const override

Get the observation space for this sensor.

Returns a BoxSpace with dimensions for each ray’s observation data:

One dimension per tracked tag (1-hot encoded)
One dimension for hit/miss (1.0 if hit, 0.0 if miss)
One dimension for normalized hit distance (0.0 to 1.0) All dimensions are bounded [0.0, 1.0].

Parameters

OutObservationSpace – [out] The observation space definition to be populated

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`OutObservationSpace`	`FInstancedStruct &`	The observation space definition to be populated

Attributes: const, virtual

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

GenerateRayEndpoints

void GenerateRayEndpoints(int32 InNumRays, float InRayDegrees,
                          FVector InBaseEnd, FVector InStart,
                          FTransform InBaseTransform, FVector InEndOffset,
                          TArray&lt;FVector&gt; &OutRayEndpoints)

Generate the endpoints of the rays to be cast.

Distributes ray endpoints evenly across the specified angle range. Handles special case of 360 degrees to avoid overlapping rays. Applies transform and offset to position rays in world space.

Parameters

InNumRays – [in] The number of rays to generate
InRayDegrees – [in] The angle between the first and last ray
InBaseEnd – [in] The base endpoint of the rays before rotation
InStart – [in] The start point for all rays
InBaseTransform – [in] A transform to apply to the generated endpoints
InEndOffset – [in] An offset to apply to the end points of the rays
OutRayEndpoints – [out] Array to be populated with ray endpoint positions

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`InNumRays`	`int32`	The number of rays to generate
2	—	`InRayDegrees`	`float`	The angle between the first and last ray
3	—	`InBaseEnd`	`FVector`	The base endpoint of the rays before rotation
4	—	`InStart`	`FVector`	The start point for all rays
5	—	`InBaseTransform`	`FTransform`	A transform to apply to the generated endpoints
6	—	`InEndOffset`	`FVector`	An offset to apply to the end points of the rays
7	—	`OutRayEndpoints`	`TArray< FVector > &`	Array to be populated with ray endpoint positions

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

AppendEmptyTags

void AppendEmptyTags(FBoxPoint &OutObservations)

Add empty tags to the observation for rays that miss.

Appends zeros for each tracked tag, representing no tag matches.

Parameters

OutObservations – [inout] The observations to append the empty tag values to

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`OutObservations`	`FBoxPoint &`	The observations to append the empty tag values to

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

HandleRayMiss

void HandleRayMiss(FBoxPoint &OutObservations, const FVector &InStart,
                   const FVector &InEnd)

Helper function for appending observation data when a ray hits nothing.

Appends empty tags, hit flag (0.0), and distance (0.0) to observations. Optionally draws debug visualization.

Parameters

OutObservations – [inout] The observations to append the results to
InStart – [in] The start point of the ray
InEnd – [in] The end point of the ray

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`OutObservations`	`FBoxPoint &`	The observations to append the results to
2	—	`InStart`	`const FVector &`	The start point of the ray
3	—	`InEnd`	`const FVector &`	The end point of the ray

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

HandleRayHit

void HandleRayHit(const FHitResult &InHitResult, FBoxPoint &OutObservations,
                  const FVector &InStart)

Handle a successful ray trace and append observation data.

Checks the hit actor’s tags against TrackedTags and appends a 1-hot encoding. Appends hit flag (1.0) and normalized hit distance. Optionally draws debug visualization.

Parameters

InHitResult – [in] The result of the ray trace containing hit information
OutObservations – [inout] The observations to append the results to
InStart – [in] The start point of the ray

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`InHitResult`	`const FHitResult &`	The result of the ray trace containing hit information
2	—	`OutObservations`	`FBoxPoint &`	The observations to append the results to
3	—	`InStart`	`const FVector &`	The start point of the ray

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

CollectObservations_Implementation

virtual void
CollectObservations_Implementation(FInstancedStruct &OutObservations) override

Collect observations about the environment state by casting rays.

Generates ray endpoints, performs line traces, and processes hit/miss results. The resulting BoxPoint contains flattened data for all rays.

Parameters

OutObservations – [out] A BoxPoint that will be populated with ray sensor data

#	Direction	Name	Type	Description
1	—	`OutObservations`	`FInstancedStruct &`	A BoxPoint that will be populated with ray sensor data

Attributes: virtual

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

GenerateId

FString GenerateId() const

Generate a unique ID string for this sensor.

Returns:

FString describing the sensor configuration (e.g., “Ray_Num_8_Deg_90.00_Max_4096.00_ECC_Camera_Tags_Enemy_Wall”)

Attributes: const

Source: Source/Schola/Interactors/Public/Sensors/RayCastSensor.h

Implementation: Source/Schola/Interactors/Private/Sensors/RayCastSensor.cpp

Public Members

Symbol	Details
`RayLength`	Sphere radius for debug visualization at hit points.
`CollisionChannel`	The collision channel to use for the raycast.
`bDrawDebugLines`	Does this sensor draw debug lines/spheres during runtime.
`bTraceComplex`	Should the sensor trace against complex collision.
`NumRays`	The number of rays to fire.
`RayDegrees`	The angle between the first and last ray.
`TrackedTags`	Actor tags that are checked on raycast collision.
`RayEndOffset`	A position adjustment that is applied to end points of the generated ray trajectories.
`DebugHitColor`	Debug color for ray hit (when ray intersects an object).
`DebugMissColor`	Debug color for ray miss (when ray hits nothing).

`RayLength`

float RayLength = 4096.f

Sphere radius for debug visualization at hit points.

The baseline length of each ray. Will be adjusted by the scale component of RayTransform.

`CollisionChannel`

TEnumAsByte&lt;ECollisionChannel&gt; CollisionChannel

The collision channel to use for the raycast.

Determines what types of objects the rays can hit.

`bDrawDebugLines`

bool bDrawDebugLines = false

Does this sensor draw debug lines/spheres during runtime.

Useful for visualizing ray directions and hits.

`bTraceComplex`

bool bTraceComplex = false

Should the sensor trace against complex collision.

If false, uses simple collision shapes.

`NumRays`

int32 NumRays = 2

The number of rays to fire.

Rays are distributed evenly across RayDegrees.

`RayDegrees`

float RayDegrees = 90.0f

The angle between the first and last ray.

Special case of 360 degrees creates a full circle.

`TrackedTags`

TArray&lt;FName&gt; TrackedTags

Actor tags that are checked on raycast collision.

Included in observations as a 1-hot vector per ray.

`RayEndOffset`

FVector RayEndOffset

A position adjustment that is applied to end points of the generated ray trajectories.

Useful for fine-tuning ray placement.

`DebugHitColor`

FColor DebugHitColor = FColor::Green

Debug color for ray hit (when ray intersects an object).

`DebugMissColor`

FColor DebugMissColor = FColor::Red

Debug color for ray miss (when ray hits nothing).