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:

• users can create/update metadata without changing the software
• information about models are not hard coded in the software (preventing licensing issues).

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 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 following metadata were developed during the PIPER project. The PIPER project is not affiliated with any of the third parties model owners. 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…

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).

The PIPER project version of the metadata for the GHBMC M50 occupant model v4.1 includes support for all modules (except child scaling of course). After discussing explicitly the contents of the specific files with the GHBMC, the files are available shortly 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).

These are the files that were used during the development of the software. There were also more limited efforts for the version 4.4 and the pedestrian.

More details about the GHBMC models can be found on the GHBMC and Elemance websites.

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.

The PIPER project version of the metadata for the ViVA model includes only very basic support (to import basically). It is available on the gitlab under the same license as ViVA (GPLv3 +additional clauses).

More information about the ViVA model is available here.

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).

Elemance publicly released metadata for :

• the GHBMC M50 occupant v4.5,
• the M50 pedestrian v1.2.

We don't know yet which PIPER modules are supported. Please check their website for more technical and licensing information: https://www.elemance.com/resources/#piper.

• ViVA: efforts are ongoing at the University of Stuttgart to make better metadata than the ones relased by PIPER.
• Landmarks: efforts on the definition are ongoing at the LMU Munich