Key challenges in robotic systems are that robots are expensive and they usually depend on batteries. What if you want to run an experiment with 100 robots, running for 10 hours? Clearpath Robotics, which works in unmanned vehicle robotics for research and development knows these questions all too well.
To address such concerns, Clearpath’s Robot Operating System has built-in support for robot simulation. While this works quite well, it is currently unable to simulate physical properties such as batteries, temperature, or surface roughness. “If your robotics research depends on accurate models, you may want to consider looking at MapleSim – a high-performance physical modelling and simulation tool developed by Maplesoft,” noted Ilia Baranov, senior electrical designer of Clearpath Robotics.
“Using MapleSim, we created a video of the Grizzly Robotic Utility Vehicle taking an open loop control path around a surface. Elements such as current and voltage provided by the batteries, surface slipperiness, and weight distribution play a role in where the Grizzly actually ends up. The graphical representation in MapleSim is easy to understand and quick to modify…
Read the full story above in From Months to Days – a collection of Maplesoft customer application stories.
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