System Requirements

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Section Overview Supported Computer Platforms Host Computer Client Computer

Section Overview

The Simulink 3D Animation product has the same hardware requirements as the MATLAB product. It is a multiplatform product that runs on PC-compatible computers with Microsoft^® Windows or Linux operating systems. It runs on SGI, Solaris™, and Alpha hardware running UNIX, and also on Apple Power Macintosh^® hardware running Mac OS X.

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Supported Computer Platforms

The Simulink 3D Animation server is the part of the Simulink 3D Animation software that interfaces with your Simulink models. It stores information about the current state of virtual worlds and manages connections to VR clients. The VR client is a VRML viewer that displays a virtual world. The VR client can be either the Simulink 3D Animation viewer or a Web browser with a VRML plug-in.

The following table summarizes the supported computer platforms and the viewer and editor that are provided for each of them.

Platform/Product	VR Server	Simulink 3D Animation Viewer	VRML Editor	VRML Browser Plug-In
Windows	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor and Ligos V-Realm Builder	blaxxun Contact
Windows x64	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor andLigos V-Realm Builder	blaxxun Contact
Linux kernels	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor	No
Linux x86–64 kernels	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor	No
Sun Solaris 64	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor	No
Mac® OS X	Yes	Yes	3D World Editor	No

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Host Computer

The host computer is a desktop computer where you install the MATLAB, Simulink, and Simulink 3D Animation products, a VRML editor and, optionally, a Web browser with a VRML plug-in. You can also install the Simulink Coder product with Real-Time Windows Target or xPC Target™ software to run and view a real-time application.

The following table lists the minimum resources the software requires on the host computer.

Host Computer Hardware Requirements

Hardware	Description
CPU	Intel® Pentium, Athlon or higher (PC)
Graphics card	Graphics card with hardware 3-D acceleration
RAM	128 Mbytes or more
Peripherals	Hard disk drive with 45 Mbytes of free space DVD-ROM drive
TCP/IP communication	If you want to allow a connection from a client computer, you need a network connection between the host computer and the client computer.

The following table lists the minimum software the software requires on your host computer. For a list of optional software products, see http://www.mathworks.com/products/3d-animation/related.html.

Host Computer Software Requirements

Software	Description
MATLAB product	Version 7.9.
Simulink product	Version 7.4. The Simulink product is not required, but highly recommend.
Simulink 3D Animation product	Version 5.1.
VRML editor	The 3D World Editor works on all supported platforms for the Simulink® 3D Animation™ product. The 3D World Editor is installed as part of the Simulink® 3D Animation™ installation. It is the default VRML editor. The V-Realm Builder is also included with the Simulink 3D Animation software, on Windows platforms. See V-Realm Editor Installation (Windows). For other VRML editor options, see Editors for Virtual Worlds.
Web browser	On PC platforms, you can use a Web browser and the Blaxxun Contact plug-in to view virtual worlds. This is an alternative to using the Simulink 3D Animation viewer. Use Internet Explorer® software Version 4.0 or later, or Netscape Navigator® 4.0 or later with Sun Java enabled.
VRML plug-in	If you are using a Web browser instead of the Simulink 3D Animation viewer, you need to install a VRML97 plug-in with External Authoring Interface (EAI) support. If you have Blaxxun Contact (Windows) on your computer, you have already installed a VRML plug-in. Windows platforms — You can install the Blaxxun Contact 4.4 plug-in provided with the Simulink 3D Animation product. For information on how to install the Blaxxun Contact plug-in, see Installing a VRML Plug-In (Windows).

LD_LIBRARY_PATH Environment Variable (UNIX)

If your system does not have the OpenGL^® software properly installed when you run the Simulink 3D Animation viewer, you might see an error message like the following in the MATLAB window:

Invalid MEX-file 'matlab/toolbox/sl3d/sl3d/vrsfunc.mexglx':
libGL.so: cannot open shared object file 

If you see an error like this, set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.

If the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable already exists, use a line like the following to add the new path to the existing one:

setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH
matlabroot/sys/opengl/lib/<PLATFORM>:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH 

If the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable does not already exist, use a line like the following:

setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH
matlabroot/sys/opengl/lib/<PLATFORM> 

In both cases, <PLATFORM> is the UNIX platform you are working in.

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Client Computer

You can use a client computer to view and control a virtual world. Because the MATLAB or Simulink product does not run on this computer, you must connect to a host computer running a simulation or executable code. The host computer, through the Simulink 3D Animation server, provides the values needed to animate a virtual world.

The client computer communicates with the host computer over TCP/IP, and it displays the virtual world using a VR client. In this case, the VR client is a VRML-enabled Web browser. You can verify the TCP/IP connection between the host and client computers by using the ping command from a command-line prompt. If there are problems, you must first fix the TCP/IP protocol settings according to the documentation for your operating system.

The following table lists the minimum hardware resources the Simulink 3D Animation product needs on the client computer.

Client Computer Hardware Requirements

Hardware	Description
Graphics card	Graphics card with hardware 3-D acceleration.
TCP/IP communication	If you want to allow a connection from a client computer, you need a network connection between the host computer and the client computer.

The following table lists the software the Simulink 3D Animation installation requires on the client computer. You do not need to install the software on the client computer.

Because the only component required for the client computer is standard VRML97 viewing software, it is possible that different configurations will work. For example, you might be able to run an operating system not listed in the table Supported Computer Platforms. However, these configurations have not been tested and they are not supported.

Client Computer Software Requirements

Software	Description
Operating system	Windows XP (the TCP/IP protocol must be installed).
Web browser	Use Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later with Java enabled.
VRML plug-in	VRML97 plug-in with External Authoring Interface support. If you have the Blaxxun Contact software (Windows) on your computer, you have already installed a VRML plug-in. Windows platforms -- You can install the Blaxxun Contact 4.4 plug-in provided with the Simulink 3D Animation product. For information on how to install the Blaxxun Contact plug-in, see Installing a VRML Plug-In (Windows).

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Related Products

Installing Simulink 3D Animation Software on the Host Computer

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