mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Drag-guided diffusion models for vehicle image generation

arXiv 2306.09935 ↗First posted 16 Jun 2023cs.LG cs.CV cs.GRcited by 13

On the map: Diffusion models → Flow matching, time series and science

Abstract (arXiv)

Denoising diffusion models trained at web-scale have revolutionized image generation. The application of these tools to engineering design is an intriguing possibility, but is currently limited by their inability to parse and enforce concrete engineering constraints. In this paper, we take a step towards this goal by proposing physics-based guidance, which enables optimization of a performance metric (as predicted by a surrogate model) during the generation process. As a proof-of-concept, we add drag guidance to Stable Diffusion, which allows this tool to generate images of novel vehicles while simultaneously minimizing their predicted drag coefficients.

Key facts. Cited by 13 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Flow matching, time series and science, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 26 of its 35 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 16 Jun 2023.

Builds on

26 of 35 references.

References · 26

  1. 2015Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognitioncited by 51,809
  2. 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,456
  3. 2020An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scalecited by 29,915
  4. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,694
  5. 2020Denoising Diffusion Implicit Modelscited by 9,655
  6. 2021Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesiscited by 8,185
  7. 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latentscited by 6,539
  8. 2022Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understandingcited by 6,322
  9. 2022Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidancecited by 5,717
  10. 2021GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Modelscited by 3,595
  11. 2022DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusioncited by 3,006
  12. 2021SDEdit: Guided Image Synthesis and Editing with Stochastic Differential Equationscited by 1,903
14 more
  1. 2023Zero-1-to-3: Zero-shot One Image to 3D Objectcited by 1,483
  2. 2022Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problemscited by 1,375
  3. 2022Fine-Tuning can Distort Pretrained Features and Underperform Out-of-Distributioncited by 722
  4. 2021DiffusionCLIP: Text-Guided Diffusion Models for Robust Image Manipulationcited by 640
  5. 2022Improving Diffusion Models for Inverse Problems using Manifold Constraintscited by 501
  6. 2023Universal Guidance for Diffusion Modelscited by 426
  7. 2018Deep Learning Methods for Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Simulations of Airfoil Flowscited by 147
  8. 2020MeshSDF: Differentiable Iso-Surface Extractioncited by 112
  9. 2018Geodesic Convolutional Shape Optimizationcited by 37
  10. 2022Physical Design using Differentiable Learned Simulatorscited by 37
  11. 2021Deep Learning for Real-Time Aerodynamic Evaluations of Arbitrary Vehicle Shapescited by 18
  12. 2023Surrogate Modeling of Car Drag Coefficient with Depth and Normal Renderingscited by 15
  13. 2021DEBOSH: Deep Bayesian Shape Optimizationcited by 14
  14. 2023Diffusing the Optimal Topology: A Generative Optimization Approachcited by 9

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2023: 2; 2024: 7; 2025: 3; 2026: 1.

13 papers.

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  1. 2024DrivAerNet: A Parametric Car Dataset for Data-Driven Aerodynamic Design and Predictioncited by 33
  2. 2025AI Agents in Engineering Design: A Multi-Agent Framework for Aesthetic and Aerodynamic Car Designcited by 20
  3. 2023ShipGen: A Diffusion Model for Parametric Ship Hull Generation with Multiple Objectives and Constraintscited by 10
  4. 2023Large Language and Text-to-3D Models for Engineering Design Optimizationcited by 7
  5. 2024Generative AI Agents in Autonomous Machines: A Safety Perspectivecited by 7
  6. 2024VehicleSDF: A 3D generative model for constrained engineering design via surrogate modelingcited by 6
  7. 2024Enhancing Sample Generation of Diffusion Models using Noise Level Correctioncited by 4
  8. 2025A Benchmarking Framework for AI models in Automotive Aerodynamicscited by 4
  9. 2024Generative AI-based Prompt Evolution Engineering Design Optimization With Vision-Language Modelcited by 3
  10. 2024C-ShipGen: A Conditional Guided Diffusion Model for Parametric Ship Hull Designcited by 3
  11. 20253DID: Direct 3D Inverse Design for Aerodynamics with Physics-Aware Optimizationcited by 3
  12. 2024Manipulating Vehicle 3D Shapes through Latent Space Editingcited by 2
1 more
  1. 2026Predictive Prototyping: Evaluating Design Concepts with ChatGPTcited by 1

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026Self-Augmented Diffusion Guidance for Physics-Informed Generation
  2. 2024Self-Guidance: Boosting Flow and Diffusion Generation on Their Own
  3. 2026Reproducing DragDiffusion: Interactive Point-Based Editing with Diffusion Models
  4. 2024Diffusion Model for Planning: A Systematic Literature Review
  5. 2026Correcting Guided Diffusion Trajectories with Spectral Alignment
  6. 2024Steering Rectified Flow Models in the Vector Field for Controlled Image Generation
  7. 2024Diffusion-ES: Gradient-free Planning with Diffusion for Autonomous Driving and Zero-Shot Instruction Following
  8. 2025Improved Immiscible Diffusion: Accelerate Diffusion Training by Reducing Its Miscibility