Simulation Software

    Greetings all

    I am a Masters student working with a SDA-10D (DX100) robot, which I am using to execute tool-paths for an extrusion process. Due to the current situation, it doesn't look like I will be reunited with my robot any time soon, so I am looking for a simulation package with which I can check toolpaths offline.

    I have a quote for MotoSim and it is way out of my funding. As far as I can see there is no student version for this either?

    I have also looked at RoboDK, which seems a lot cheaper (student version). I am not sure what ROS can do in this regard, but it would preferably have to run on Windows for it to work at this stage.

    If anyone could give advice on what software would be the best to pursue, that would be greatly appreciated. All I really need is to be able to check toolpaths which I have generated to make sure the robot can execute these without reaching any singular points. And it needs to be student-friendly when it comes to price : )

    Many thanks

    Daniel

    Hello, DKirkman.

    Motoman Europe released a 90 day trial of MotoSim, but to download it, You should be located within Europe. I don't know if other branches of Motoman had similar offerings.

    http://motodownload.azurewebsites.net/downloadpage/offline-simulation/

    RoboDK is also a good option. The only problem is that isn't designed to upload programs generated externally, e.g., in a real robot or other simulation software. It can do it, but the method isn't officially supported, and I achieved mixed results uploading KUKA programs. Can't tell about Motoman programs.

    Quote from DKirkman

    I am a Masters student...

    I'm 99.99999999999999% sure you've thought of this but have you tried appealing to the various developers, telling them that you are a student and that the current situation has really put a stick in your spokes? Somebody will be empathetic, I'm sure.

    You could try Octopuz, Cenit (Fastsuite 2), Delfoi, ABB (RobotStudio [Hey, shoot for the moon!]), etc etc etc...

    We use Octopuz and I know they've been quite generous with temporary licenses when we've needed an additional seat so if you send them a message it's possible they'd hook you up with a temporary key? Could secure them a lifelong fan, so it's worth asking.

    FWIW MotoSim is... probably one of the rougher characters in the business, everything I listed above is like driving a porsche over driving a 1989 Chevy Sundance without a safety compared to the proprietary software, aha. With the exception of having the exact controller there, I can't stress enough how mindblowingly convenient that is for accurate simulation. The UI design though... oof.

    I've been ok with Motosim. I have completed two projects now through the simulator and dumped them into the robot when it arrived and only had to touch up a couple points. Not sure about the other software out there but I've been able to completely manipulate the ladder and dump it in and it works great.

    Quote from Noob1982

    I've been ok with Motosim. I have completed two projects now through the simulator and dumped them into the robot when it arrived and only had to touch up a couple points. Not sure about the other software out there but I've been able to completely manipulate the ladder and dump it in and it works great.

    Honestly, that's its strong suit amongst what I've tried. You're using a 1:1 virtual representation of the controller itself, so generally anything that works on your simulation will work on your IRL cell - hell, I haven't been able to try it yet but I guess you can even connect your controller to MotoSim via your network and not just monitor but send a shortlist of commands to it and run jobs. No other OLP is going to be able to do that with a Motoman robot without breaking a few license agreements, at least not for a while.

    My biggest and only gripe with it is the UI. Some of the decisions made, simple things like moving your PoV around just seem to purposely be against every industry standard, go backwards, have baffling settings (why would I ever need a manual control wobble view for programming?) and make it feel like a fight to use, when other OLPs are borderline fun to utilize.

    Building a cell is a pain, too - again mostly because of the interface. Documentation and tooltips are borderline nonexistent. But, what I CAN do is load the .jbl i'm working on and modify it in real time and see with virtually perfect precision what will happen out on the floor. The value of that almost outweighs any of the perks that the aftermarket OLPs offer.

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