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Sure you can put together your robot and turn it on. Since I am an electrical engineer, my fellow practitioners call this a "smoke test." No smoke, no short circuits, no sparks means the first test passed. Now your robot starts to move and quickly runs off the table, crashing to the floor. Oooops! May be a design or manufacturing flaw. Well, the experienced builder knows to hold the robot in the air and observe the first few tests. Even when avoiding disaster, the robot may not do what the builder expected. Thus, some simulation during the design phase is advisable. A three dimensional simulator with good graphics and real world physics is the "Breve" simulator. Start by downloading the simulator for your computer, choose MacOS, Linux or Microsoft Windows from www.spiderland.org/breve/download.php Follow the instructions from the WEB site, then read some of the documentation. Run the demos soon after you do the installation. You have to define your robot and its environment in a language called "steve." The simulation of action and graphic presentation are provided for you. There are samples to help you get started. This is textual, like writing a program, not graphical input. If you have never written any computer programs this may not be the simulator for you.
Purchased software yet free demos. www.newtonium.com
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Last updated 2/25/05