This section provides further instructions on how to use Blender to setup simulation scenarios.
Note
The Blender interface is divided in various panels (windows). The mouse and keyboard shortcuts used change depending on the panel over which the mouse pointer is located.
Follow these recommendations to better visualise a simulation scenario. Before launching a simulation:
Configuring physics properties for objects in a scene can be done in the Properties >> Physics panel. Here it is possible to change the simulation for the selected object. The most useful settings are:
Another property that can be toggled is the Actor flag. Only objects with this flag and a Collision Bound will be considered by some of the sensors
For Dynamic and Rigid Body objects, it is possible to define further properties, most importantly their mass and Collision Bounds. The mass will determine the force required to make the object move. Collision Bounds can be selected from a predefined list of shapes, or set to the convex hull of the mesh.
The Logic Editor window can be used to give behaviour to different objects in the scene. This is done using three different kind of blocks, called Sensors, Controllers and Actuators (NOTE: This is different to the robotics components provided by MORSE). By combining this three types of blocks, objects can react to certain events and produce an action in response.
An explanation of all the different options available for configuring the Logic Bricks can be found here.
In this panel it is also possible to add Game Properties to objects, which are variables that can be accessed by Python scripts during the execution of the simulation. Properties can be used to store information about objects. In many cases, MORSE uses these variables to identify different types of objects.
This operation is tricky, and is much easier if the Blender interface has at least a 3D View and an Outliner panel. Follow these steps:
The two main operations that require selecting the robot and all of its components are: