Can you add an export feature?
Is there any way we could see an animate mode where we can turn our 3d models(the robots) into movable objects Which we can play back to visualise how it might work/look in a match
Also very nice work on the latest release of protobot the improvements are great
Another thing that would be cool to add is being able to program the robot in whatever language you use and simulate it in protobot. I have used the old one before and it wasn’t great, i’m glad that the project got revived and got a new dev team. I do think that adding the code will be difficult because you don’t code the robot in c# you code it in blocks, c++, and python. I can’t bring things home from school over the summer so this would be a life saver if you could program in it. If you could program in it there should be a tab for the full field, and another tab for just brain simulation. Also you could try to add controller driving support (specifically the vex controller and other game controllers that are close to it). You should also be able to test driver control (if you get the controller support working) and autonomous separate. I definitely like the idea of importing 3d models and possibly other finished robots from other cad softwares (something to think about). All in all, try to add importing 3d models, programming the bot in it, and importing other finished bots from cad software. I’m just happy i might not have to use onshape anymore it is a nightmare.
I personally think that the ability to import 3d models into vex vr so teams can visualise and test there robots in a digital environment this might also help teams who can’t afford a Field
I also really like the idea of turning protobot into a platform for making testing and coding your robot in any of the coding languages
So this, if even possible, would be very difficult. First of all being able to program the robot requires a whole library to control motors, pistons, etc. Then you have to simulate physics which, from my experience working on a driving simulator, is difficult . This is mainly a problem because real driving will vary so if you spend all your time virtually, you will struggle when actually driving (although it’s still good practice).
The main reason however this isn’t really feasible is it requires a very strict standard for cadding to be able to open it in a simulator. For example, every team would have to create joints correctly or the software won’t know what is supposed to move. That’s also ignoring the difficulty of parsing a cad file (idk what format .step or smth) into another format protobot could use for the simulator.
Not saying it’s impossible and it would be a great resource… Just don’t bank on that happening because it’s very hard.
Unity has a built in physics engines or they also have different things that you can get for free to simulate it. I know for a fact unreal engine has a really good base physics engine but completely redoing the entire program in a different editor would be even more difficult
Unity has a physics engine /you can make one and protobot is currently made in unity
Yes you’re right, game engines do have physics and I am using Unreal Engine. However you still have to code acceleration, deceleration, centrifugal force (if drifting is desired), and… There are some weird collision things. For example when I put a block on the field and push it against the wall, the robot shakes around and goes flying due to the engine not liking the block being unable to move. (I haven’t even added intaking yet)
It’s very possible, I’m just saying it wasn’t easy, especially if trying to make it compatible with any cad design rather than made for a specific robot.
Is there any chance we could see elastic bands being added and cables,
I was thinking how could this be added for cables both smart and battery cable and perhaps using inverse kinematics
And for elastic bands perhaps just scaling the part so the elastic band fits
Is there any way we can run it on Mac?
I’m pretty sure there are some threads on this, and I would assume you could use something like crossover if you’re okay with it being a bit slower
Not sure if this still works, since it was posted relatively long ago. Additionally, I believe you can run onshape or fusion on mac without any additional applications, which are generally considered to be better softwares.
Here’s a tutorial for onshape, I only use protobot and haven’t watched it, so I can’t attest for its effectiveness.
Here’s a fusion360 tutorial, I haven’t watched this one either. I hope this helps.
Here’s a fusion tutorial if you