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Mbsimgui First Steps

This document provides instructions for getting started with the multibody simulation software MBSimGUI. It explains how to install MBSimGUI, start the GUI interface, set up and simulate a simple model of a falling rigid body, and load an existing example model of a controlled bicycle.

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Marcelo Prado
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57 views

Mbsimgui First Steps

This document provides instructions for getting started with the multibody simulation software MBSimGUI. It explains how to install MBSimGUI, start the GUI interface, set up and simulate a simple model of a falling rigid body, and load an existing example model of a controlled bicycle.

Uploaded by

Marcelo Prado
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MBSim – Environment

MBSimGUI
First Steps

Martin Förg

09.09.2020

This document shows first steps using the multibody simulation software MBSimGUI.
After installation and start a simple model of a free falling body will be set up and
simulated. Finally, it is shown how to load one of the existing model examples that are
available on GitHub.

Contents
1 Installation 1

2 Starting the GUI 1

3 A simple example 2

4 Loading an existing model example 3

1 Installation
Download the latest release from https://www.mbsim-env.de/service/releases and extract it to
a folder of your choice. MBSimGUI is now ready to use. If you want to integrate MBSimGUI in
your desktop environment, e. g. to have a shortcut on your desktop, descend to the bin folder and
execute the script desktopIntegration 1 .

2 Starting the GUI


If you have run desktopIntegration in chapter 1, just double-click on MBSimGUI on your desktop.
Otherwise, change to the bin folder and start the application from there.
Starting MBSimGUI opens a new window, the main window, as shown in figure 1. The main
window provides the following widgets:
• the menu bar on top of the window allows for setting GUI options, managing projects and
exporting project data.

• the buttons bar provides buttons to start and stop the simulation, to open the animation or
the plotting tool and to debug the model.
1
There are two files named desktopIntegration in this folder, one for Linux (*.sh) and one for Windows (*.bat).

1
Figure 1: The GUI.

• the model tree contains all elements of the project in particular the multi-body system (MBS)
and its elements as well as the solver. It allows for adding and removing elements as well as
setting their properties. Moreover, the solver element offers different numerical solvers like
integrators or linear system analyzers.

• the parameter tree contains all parameters associated with the project or one of its elements.
It allows for adding and removing parameters as well as setting their properties.

• the 3D view shows the model in terms of the design of its elements. The view on the MBS can
be translated, rotated and zoomed.

• the echo area gives some informations to the simulation process and shows possible model
errors.

Whenever we begin a new project there is already one element existing within the MBS. It is the
inertial frame named ”I” which is always the starting point of your modeling. All absolute values to
be defined or calculated are related to this frame. The different colors refer to the axes x, y and z of
the coordinate system.
To change the view on the MBS you can use one of the standard view buttons or just press one of
the three mouse buttons while moving the mouse within the 3D view. For rotation use the left, for
translation the right and for zoom the middle mouse button.

3 A simple example
Now we are going to simulate a free fall of a rigid body. By default gravitation is enabled acting
along the negative y-axis.
First, we will add a rigid body with a DOF along the y-axis. For this, open the elements ”Project”
and ”MBS” in the model tree. In order to open an element within the tree just left-click on the
arrow next to the element. A right-click on the container named ”objects” shows a context menu.
From there choose ”Add body” and then ”Add rigid body”.
A properties dialog opens for setting the body’s data. Go to the tab named ”Kinematics”, activate
”Translation” and choose ”Translation along y axis” from the drop down list (figure 2(a)). Press the
”OK” button to apply the change and to close the dialog. In the 3D view a blue body should appear
(figure 2(b)).

2
(a) Property dialog of the rigid body. (b) 3D view of the rigid body.

Figure 2: Adding a rigid body to the MBS.

Figure 3: The animation tool OpenMBV.

Now, push the ”Start simulation” button, which is the most left button in the buttons bar. After
the simulation is finished we can animate the body’s motion using OpenMBV.
Push the ”OpenMBV” button in the middle of the buttons bar to start OpenMBV. For animation
click the most right button in the buttons bar named ”Run”. We see the body falling along the y-axis
of the inertial coordinate system (figure 3).

4 Loading an existing model example


There are numerous model examples that demonstrate the features and capabilities of MBSim. Just
visit the GitHub repository at https://github.com/mbsim-env/mbsim and step into examples/xml
to get an overview of the existing projects that can be loaded by MBSimGUI. The folder bicycle for
example contains a model of a controlled bicycle, see figure 4.
The project files can be downloaded separately or at once by dowloading the complete MB-
Sim source archiv https://github.com/mbsim-env/mbsim/archive/master.zip. To load a spe-
cific model just click ”load” in ”Project” menu and select the corresponding project file with the
extension *.mbsx.

3
Figure 4: Model of a controlled bicycle.

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