Thread Subject: Alternative to Visuals of SimMechanics

Hi there,
I am trying to find an alternative to SimMechanics that ultimately achieves the same visual results. I am currently using it to display a CAD model which has been imported from ProEngineer. The model is controlled with various inputs and moves in response to these inputs in real time. However, I have no need for the physical and modelling complexities that come with the SimMechanics package and I only require the visual model. Is there an alternative that will allow me to have the same result - i.e. a viewing window of a CAD model that can be manipulated in real time - without the SimMechanics package?

Thanks in advance,
James

Hello James,

Eventhough I have no idea about what kind of model you are using thus the complexities of it; I think you can give a shot for Adams for simulating&animating your model. You can make a co-simulation using both matlab and Adams. Basically you add an Adams block to matlab and they just take care of it. Taking robotics as an example you can solve the kinematics of the robot arm in matlab and produce a reference (velecity maybe?) and use this as an input for Adams. It would solve the dynamics for you and simulate(animate) the model making the dynamic -and usually the nonlinear- part easy to solve since you don't acctually solve it, Adams does it for you. Also, setting up a model in Adams is pretty easy too. You can just dig the help pdfs and figure it yourself. Being a total newbie to rigid modelling I was able to figure out how to use it in one week and simulate a parallel robot. Though, the
simulation is very appealing.
Also for real time, I havent used Adams in real time maybe look in to it.

Sinem

"James Pau" <the_mantis81@hotmail.com> wrote in message <haeg8o$708$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Hi there,
> I am trying to find an alternative to SimMechanics that ultimately achieves the same visual results. I am currently using it to display a CAD model which has been imported from ProEngineer. The model is controlled with various inputs and moves in response to these inputs in real time. However, I have no need for the physical and modelling complexities that come with the SimMechanics package and I only require the visual model. Is there an alternative that will allow me to have the same result - i.e. a viewing window of a CAD model that can be manipulated in real time - without the SimMechanics package?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> James

"James Pau" <the_mantis81@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:haeg8o$708$1@fred.mathworks.com...
> Hi there,
> I am trying to find an alternative to SimMechanics that ultimately
> achieves the same visual results. I am currently using it to display a CAD
> model which has been imported from ProEngineer. The model is controlled
> with various inputs and moves in response to these inputs in real time.
> However, I have no need for the physical and modelling complexities that
> come with the SimMechanics package and I only require the visual model. Is
> there an alternative that will allow me to have the same result - i.e. a
> viewing window of a CAD model that can be manipulated in real time -
> without the SimMechanics package?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> James
>

Yes, you can use Simulink 3D animation to export the simulation results to a
VRML world:
http://www.mathworks.com/products/3d-animation/

The model can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Most CAD
packages can export to VRML.

HTH,

Arnaud