Dynamic Simulation with STL file (SOLIDWORKS)

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E0222591
Posts: 4
Joined: 10 Oct 2019, 14:00

Dynamic Simulation with STL file (SOLIDWORKS)

Post by E0222591 »

Hello,

I am currently working on simulating a cable binding robot on V-REP to evaluate its performance. It is a robot consisting of 5 different types of manipulators (cutter, gripper, hammer, tightener & roller) to complete the cable binding procedures, mainly controlled by DC motors and linear actuators.

I have successfully imported the STL files from SOLIDWORKS to V-REP separately into 5 different scenes for 5 manipulators. Now I am trying to assign the joints (Revolute & Prismatic) to the STL files on V-REP and am planning to control the dynamic simulation via Python and non-threaded child script.

I am new to V-REP and wish to seek for advise whether my above approaches are correct or not. Also, is it possible to simulate a steel cable which has the material properties of steel in V-REP as my main goal is to evaluate the performance of the robot to bind the steel cable?

coppelia
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Posts: 10339
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 00:25

Re: Dynamic Simulation with STL file (SOLIDWORKS)

Post by coppelia »

Hello,

not sure exactly what a cable binding robot is. But cables are usually quite tricky to simulate. And keep in mind that CoppeliaSim does only rigid-body simulations. If you need to simulate a cable, then you need to approximate it with several rigid elements, linked via spring-dampers. So it is ok for simulating simple ropes where something is hanging from them, but complex bendings can't really be simulated. Pulley should be simulated by abstracting the cable and using prismatic joints instead.
Usually when trying to set-up a complex simulation, it is better to first try your hands on simpler siutations, to get an idea of how things work and what is possible and what not.

Cheers

E0222591
Posts: 4
Joined: 10 Oct 2019, 14:00

Re: Dynamic Simulation with STL file (SOLIDWORKS)

Post by E0222591 »

Hello copella,

Thank you for your reply and sorry about the spam as I was overwhelmed by the versatility of CoppeliaSim.

I had some progress over the past few days to simulate few revolute joints dynamically via Remote API using Python. As for the construction of steel cable, do you mean to add around 4 cuboids and link them with prismatic joint? Also, about spring-dampers linkage, is it to control the PID parameters as mentioned in this forum post: viewtopic.php?t=2209 ?

Thanks!

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