Beta-Testers for new Simulink FRC Blockset Wanted

[vamfun]

Originally Posted by Gautam

Teams that are beta-testing the FRC Library for Simulink (and eventually, any FRC team that uses the library) will get access to a standard bundle of MathWorks products. This bundle includes Simulink 3D Animation (the virtual 3d environment).

Great to hear.

It does not come with 3D modeling components for FRC robots; however, you can build and view custom VRML worlds, or import VRML worlds built in some other application.

I think a simple 4 wheel or 6 wheel robot that just integrates wheel speeds to get movement would suffice to test basic maneuvering scripts. Many of the engineering mentors can build the necessary dynamic models and make them available to others. Eventually, more complicated models with 3D modeling components could be added. Simple arms with a few joints can be easily modeled but ball harvesters etc would be problematic.

I know some teams have looked at SimMechanics and SimDriveline. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on whether these products would be relevant/useful for your team.

It would nice to have the forces modeled , especially wheel friction and dynamic loading but I think adding another modeling language would be a burden for most teams. However, if these programs were available, some clever teams could develop the dynamics of a basic 6 wheel robot and generate the simulink code from it for others to use on a parametric basis.