RPI-MATLAB-simulator: a tool for efficient research and practical teaching in multibody dynamics

TY - GEN

T1 - RPI-MATLAB-simulator

T2 - Workshop on Virtual Reality Interaction and Physical Simulation

AU - Williams, J.

AU - Lu, Y.

AU - Abel, Sarah Maria Niebe

AU - Andersen, Michael

AU - Erleben, Kenny

AU - Trinkle, Jeffrey C.

N1 - Conference code: 10

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - We present the RPI-MATLAB-Simulator (RPIsim) as an open source tool for research and education in multibody dynamics. RPIsim is designed and organized to be extended. Its modular design allows users to edit or add new components without worrying about extra implementation details. RPIsim has two main goals: 1. Provide an intuitive and easily extendable platform for research and education in multibody dynamics; 2. Maintain an evolving code base of useful algorithms and analysis tools for multibody dynamics problems. Although research often focuses on a specific subset of problems, work too often begins with developing software in a broader scope simply to realize a test bed for research to begin. It is our hope that RPIsim alleviates some of this burden by decreasing development time, thusly increasing efficiency in research. Further, we aim to provide a practical teaching tool. Because it is a fully working simulator, and since it offers the instant gratification of visualized contact dynamics, RPIsim offers students the opportunity to experiment and explore dynamics in the powerful environment of MATLAB. With multiple built-in simulation methods, and support for a simulation data convention, RPIsim facilitates the fair comparison of methods, including those being developed with RPIsim.

AB - We present the RPI-MATLAB-Simulator (RPIsim) as an open source tool for research and education in multibody dynamics. RPIsim is designed and organized to be extended. Its modular design allows users to edit or add new components without worrying about extra implementation details. RPIsim has two main goals: 1. Provide an intuitive and easily extendable platform for research and education in multibody dynamics; 2. Maintain an evolving code base of useful algorithms and analysis tools for multibody dynamics problems. Although research often focuses on a specific subset of problems, work too often begins with developing software in a broader scope simply to realize a test bed for research to begin. It is our hope that RPIsim alleviates some of this burden by decreasing development time, thusly increasing efficiency in research. Further, we aim to provide a practical teaching tool. Because it is a fully working simulator, and since it offers the instant gratification of visualized contact dynamics, RPIsim offers students the opportunity to experiment and explore dynamics in the powerful environment of MATLAB. With multiple built-in simulation methods, and support for a simulation data convention, RPIsim facilitates the fair comparison of methods, including those being developed with RPIsim.

U2 - 10.2312/PE.vriphys.vriphys13.071-080

DO - 10.2312/PE.vriphys.vriphys13.071-080

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-3-905674-57-6

SP - 71

EP - 80

BT - Workshop on Virtual Reality Interaction and Physical Simulation VRIPHYS (2013)

A2 - Bender, J.

A2 - Dequidt, J.

A2 - Duriez, C.

A2 - Zachmann, G.

PB - Eurographics Association

Y2 - 27 November 2013 through 29 November 2013

ER -