Metadata files describing what needs to be interpreted by PIPER modules (e.g. anatomy, relationships, mesh) are needed to use a Human Body Model (HBM) within PIPER. The benefits of separate metadata files include:
The contents of the metadata files is typically generic (e.g. a node number for a landmark, a part number for a bone). More information can be found in the online manual and a general introduction is available in this youtube video from the PIPER final workshop.
However, whether this information needs to be treated as confidential and whether distributing it would violate the HBM license has to be determined with the HBM owner and the exact licensing terms. If you develop or modify metadata, you are responsible for resolving possible licensing issues prior to distributing them (as with all models and software you use).
Also, basic metadata (e.g. describing the skin and bones) may not be sufficient for some modules. For example, positioning using lightweight physics simulation requires bone descriptions with properly oriented normal, a skeletal structure and specific landmarks for the spine positioning. Positioning using the contour module requires defining contours.
Specific requirements are defined in the manual. It is hoped that the amount of information that has to be defined can be reduced in the future. For now, please note that the software performance can be largely affected by the metadata definition, and that some of the modules may not work properly without specific metadata.
This page aims to provide an brief summary of the metadata availability (with licensing info when relevant) and module support.
The PIPER project is not affiliated with any of the third parties model owners (e.g. GHBMC, THUMS, ViVA). However, some metadata for these models were released under Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) which allows reuse in other models.
While these files can help you developing new metadata, please note that they all have licenses that need to be followed (e.g. you cannot reuse something released under GPL inside something you will release under proprietary license, but you may use something released under CC-BY-4.0 under specific conditions). Please check the specific licenses…
You are encouraged to develop new metadata (you should still be careful with the license) and we know of several ongoing efforts… While the PIPER project is not affiliated with these efforts, we are very happy they are ongoing. We will try to keep track of activities to limit redundancies and help people communicate. You can contact us if you would like us to mention your effort here (in case we did not find it).
Metadata for the PIPER child model includes support for most modules (the contour modules are experimental). They are distributed with the model under the same Open Source license (GPLv3 +liability and Open Science clauses). You just need to download the child model.
There are some issues with normals in the Radioss version. There are no metadata for the Pamcrash version.
More details about the GHBMC models can be found on the GHBMC and Elemance websites. Metadata are only available for the LS Dyna versions to our knowledge.
Metadata were initially developed during the PIPER project for this model. They were later updated. They include support for all modules (except child scaling of course). After discussing explicitly the contents of the specific files with the GHBMC, the original files for the model v4.1 were made available under the Creative Commons CC-BY-4.0 license. Derived versions are under the same license.
Developed during the PIPER EU project, they are available under the Creative Commons CC-BY-4.0 license at the following link: GHBMC_M50-O_v4-1-1_2013-09-01 (metadata_released 2017-11-10 package updated 2018-02-22 to add the contourCL file).
The metadata for the version 4.1 were updated to the version 4.4 for internal use and then to version 4.5 by the CEESAR (Thanks to David Poulard) with funding from FAURECIA. The files are available for download here ghbm_m50_o_v4.5_metadata_update_ceesar_2019-05-10_released.zip
Please check the readme.txt before using (the original model needs to be slightly modified to use a consistent format). (2019-05-25)
The metadata for the version 4.5 were updated to the version 5.0 by Ifsttar (Thanks to Cyrille Grebonval). The files are available for download here GHBM_M50-O_v5.0_metadata_update_2019-10-07_released.zip
Please check the readme.txt before using (the original model needs to be slightly modified to use a consistent format). (2019-10-07)
The metadata for the version 5.0 were updated to version 6.0 by Univ Eiffel (formerly Ifsttar). Thanks to Cyrille Grebonval. The files are available for download here ghbm_m50_o_v6.0_metadata_update_eiffel_2022-04-26_released.zip
(2022-04-26)
The metadata was developed for the repositioning (Pre and Fine) and smoothing modules at the University of Waterloo with funding from HONDA R&D Americas.
The files are available under the Creative Commons CC-BY-4.0 license here: GHBMC_F05_v5-1_Piper_metadata_Waterloo_2020-10-21_released.zip
Please check the readme.txt before using (the original model needs to be slightly modified to use a consistent format)
Elemance used to release metadata for various models. We don't know which models or PIPER modules are supported, or if they still do it.
The PIPER project version of the metadata for the Thums occupant AM50 v4.02 in LS Dyna includes support for all modules except the contour module and the child scaling.
The files will be distributed by JSOL. THUMS users should send an email to cae-info@sci.jsol.co.jp (Contact Person: Takahiko Miyachi). Please note that files cannot be exchanged directly between users. Any modification to the Metadata is welcomed and should be sent to the same email address. Changes should be clearly documented as they will be reviewed before release.
We are aware of several independant efforts to develop metadata for this version (cf. forum). Unfortunately, they cannot be publicly released at this time.
More information about the ViVA model is available here.
ViVA metadata were developed by Christian Kleinbach (Thanks!) based on the early effort within PIPER. They are available on the gitlab here: https://gitlab.inria.fr/piper/viva