Game/Physics Engine Integration

[markedwards]

Hi,

I work in factory automation designing conveyor systems and want to create simulations of these conveyor systems which got me looking for physics engines. I need help deciding what level to get in at.

I read a dozen books on game development and game engines and started programming a game engine directly in Labview from scratch. So far I have basic Newton motion and collision detection, still have friction and rotatary motions to go. My hardware is all described in Solidworks so I have all the graphics inputs I need.

This demo3d package does something similar (http://www.demo3d.com/) but I need full access to the core as my intent is for more than just visalization.

So my choices are to continue from the ground up or look at integrating an exisiting physics/game engine with Labview/Solidworks.

My goal is to monitor the boxes moving round the conveyor, provide feedback from the simulation (for switching box paths, detecting blockages etc) and use this for visualizations and optimizing conveyor speed and entry of boxes etc.

Took a look at the COSMOSMotion toolkit but this only does open loop. The 3D Picture VIs included with labview get really slow when faced with any decent level of detail let alone motions. Could use RoboWorks for the rendering but it would be great to use a exisiting physics engine instead of writing the whole thing from scatch.

Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

Mark

[Wiebe@CARYA]

Your question is kinda open...

My guess is you want to do it in LabVIEW. Problem is that there are no 3D
engines or Physic engines written in LabVIEW (jet). Making a wrapper around
the 3d and physics packeges, and then integrating them in LabVIEW will be
much work, probably much more then writing your functionality in C/C++, and
interfacing that in your LabVIEW application.

I'm not sure how to help. This is just the way it is...

Regards,

Wiebe.

[markedwards]

Hi Wiebe,

That's kinda where I am... It appears realistic simulations of all sorts of physics show up everywhere nowadays in adverts, flash websites and movies yet try and code something well defined like a billiards game and you'll see just how hard things can get.
I did get most of the way there just laying down the equations in Labview but thought that this kind of thing is done routinely in so many fields that I might be reinventing the wheel.

Mark.

 

[BMac]

You may want to check out some new digital prototyping tools that just released. These tools connect accurate mechanical/physics simulation capabilities in SolidWorks with industrial-grade motion control software in LabVIEW. To include proximity sensor feedback in your LabVIEW control applications, add a dimension to your SolidWorks assembly and connecting it to a Measurement sensor in SolidWorks with an Alert configured (for example, alert if the distance is less than 5 mm). Then in LabVIEW, right-click on the SolidWorks assembly item in the LabVIEW project and select Map Sensors.

The official version of the LabVIEW-SolidWorks interface is now released. It is called the NI SoftMotion Module for SolidWorks and works with SolidWorks 2009 Service Pack 2.1 or higher.

NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks enables mechanical, electrical and control engineers to collaborate by creating a digital prototype of the motion control system that integrates mechanical simulation, motion control software, and sensor feedback. As soon as you have a CAD drawing, you can begin prototyping the machine design long before you incur the expense of building a physical machine. The new tools enable you to do thinks like:

• visualize realistic machine operation
• validate and iterate on the mechanical, control and electrical aspects of your design
• estimate the cycle time performance
• check for collisions or other programming mistakes
• calculate force/torque loads for stress analysis 
• select and size motor and mechanical transmission components
• improve communication between the engineers on your team and with customers
• deploy the validated motion control application to NI CompactRIO for use on the physical machine

The following software versions are required:

• LabVIEW 2009 (32-bit) or later

• LabVIEW NI SoftMotion Module Standard or Premium

• SolidWorks 2009 Service Pack 2.1 or later and SolidWorks Motion Simulation with the Motion Simulation add-in enabled from the Tools menu in SolidWorks. This is included with SolidWorks Premium, Simulation Premium, or Simulation Professional. When you enable the Motion Simulation add-in from the Add-Ins dialog box in SolidWorks, place a checkmark in both the left and right checkboxes so you don’t have to reenable the add-in each time you use NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks.

Here's a few other resources to get you started. 

Getting Started Guide for NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks

Here are links to the evaluation versions of LabVIEW and the NI SoftMotion Module for SolidWorks:

LabVIEW 2009

NI SoftMotion Module (includes a 30 day evaluation license for NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks)

Contact your local SolidWorks reseller to upgrade your SolidWorks software to SolidWorks Premium (which includes the required SolidWorks Motion Simulation capability) or to request an evaluation version of SolidWorks:

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/contact.htm