A first-of-its kind motion simulation and computer aided engineering application for iOS and Android
After many long months of completely overhauling the user interface, MOMDYN v2.0 for iOS is now live and out of beta testing! I generated this little slinky wave animation to celebrate. Download it from this link and if you enjoy, make sure to leave a review.
Quite a bit going on recently in the world of MOMDYN as we prepare version 2.0 for release on the App Store. I've been uploading a lot of short videos to Instagram showcasing the upgraded features, so make sure to follow @mobile.multibody.dynamics. Below is a gif that was posted there showing how the effect of rotational motion can be simulated by a string of linear oscillators, when phased just right. Kind of looks like a "loading" animation, eh?
That's right, you can now follow @mobile.multibody.dynamics, or go to https://www.instagram.com/mobile.multibody.dynamics/ where we'll be posting short videos of some of the projects you can build on the app. Also a good way to track progress on the upcoming MOMDYN 2.0 release for iOS. Want to join the beta test? Well you can do that too, right here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/xLu2Ose2
As I mentioned in my last post, the last few months have been dedicated towards porting the iOS version of Mobile Multibody Dynamics to native Swift, with SwiftUI interface and SceneKit for 3D graphics. I'm happy to say that its getting close! Close enough that I have a beta test available that you can try today, and here's the link:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/xLu2Ose2
For a little eye candy, and to show off the new 3D graphics engine, here's a simple string of masses and springs. My selling point for MOMDYN has always been that its disconnected from a workstation, doesn't require internet, etc, so its there whenever you get the creative urge. This is that in action.
While pace has slowed on new Mobile Multibody Dynamics releases since MOMDYN 2.0 on Android, rest assured, the show goes on. There will be a version 2.0 for iOS, using native SwiftUI and SceneKit ... soon. in the meantime, I've done some cool stuff like this Euler angle rotation code:
Check out the brand new video on our YouTube page showing a simulation of a double pendulum using two rigid links. The kinematics are defined using two revolute joints for rotation, and rigid translations to define the centers of rotation. Double pendulums are famous for being chaotic, a small change in initial conditions lead to a large change in response. Here, we show this by gradually increasing the initial angle, where the pendulum motion starts out as fairly simple and repeated oscillation, it becomes more and more disorderly as the initial angle increases, with the second link eventually doing complete flips relative to the first link. Learn to build a model like the animation below, and video after the jump.
As I've mentioned in the last two posts, MOMDYN is getting its biggest upgrade yet, with version 2.0 for Android implementing a fully rebuilt, native interface. We will be rolling out to all new and existing users in the next week. In the meantime, check out this tutorial on Youtube to create a mass-spring-damper system, typical of vibration analysis (after the jump).
As I posted a couple months ago, I have been hard at work re-building the Android version of Mobile Multibody Dynamics. Well, I'm happy to say that the update is just about 98% done, and ready to go for beta testers! If you are an Android user, you can opt into the beta test by visiting https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.badeyedea.momdyn. Below image is from the updated tutorial video for a simple pendulum, and you can catch a Youtube video showing how to create this model after the jump.
While I haven't been very active on the MOMDYN blog or social media lately, I'm glad to report I've been *very* active on the development side, and am happy to announce the biggest update yet: Version 2.0 for Android! So what makes this the biggest update yet? How about a completely overhauled and updated user interface. You can see an example in the image below; crisper graphics, brighter colors, more familiar design. On the left, the currently released version 1.7, on the right, the upcoming version 2.0.
As for the technical details, the interface has been re-written to use native Kotlin, heavily leveraging Material Design elements. This change will make everything feel a lot more natural, and performance more responsive and crash-free. Chaquopy is used to load the Python-based modeling engine. Lastly, in my favorite trick, the Google Filament physics-based-rendering engine is used for the 3D graphics. Want to get in on the beta testing (soon), drop me an email. I think you'll like it!
Long time, no post. Been quite active with the MOMDYN updates, in fact, making things more efficient, and as of today, prettier. Check out the animation below with our newest feature: color specifications for bodies.
A fairly healthy batch of updates are coming in version 1.5 of MOMDYN. The first couple of changes you can see in the gif below. First, in the 3-D diagram you now get spring graphics, as has always existed in the 2-D diagram. Second, when you flip over to the plots in the report view, there is now a legend above each of them. If you tap one of the legend entries, you can also de-active or re-activate which lines to include in the plot.
Thought I should show a little love to the blog, it had been a while. Most notably in the last few weeks is I have been porting over the documentation to a nice new site developed using sphinx. I had already written most of my documentation in close to a reStructuredText format, so this has been a fairly straightforward transition, just working the little details now to get it just how I like it. The new site is linked from the help button, along with the two basic tutorials, as can be seen in the animation below.
The latest MOMDYN release is on the way, will be in the stores in the next day or so. The universal joint is the newest joint in the app, which creates a frame with rotations about two axes in an Euler sequence. You can see this in the graphic above, which consists of two universal joints, a rigid translation, and two rigid body boxes. Note the large angular displacements where you can observe the relatively slow oscillation about the vertical (Y) axis, and faster oscillation about the horizontal (X) axis.
Besides the new joint, I did a whole lot of refactoring and bug fixing in this release. Added a whole lot of test coverage, so while this may not be the most feature-rich update, but I also hope it will be a lot smoother running and crash-free. I plan for this to be a trend; not too many new features going, but a lot of refinement to make the existing features work well. If there's anything you would like to see in upcoming versions, or anything that I'd royally screwed up, I would love to hear it!
Love, MOMDYN! And if you care for the sweet Christmas Music, check out the video of our Christmas tree on Youtube.
Its been a great couple of months for us, after officially releasing back in late September, we crossed the 1,000 download mark just a couple of weeks ago. We're planning a lot of cool stuff for the New Year, Just to name a few:
Along with the new release of MOMDYN onto the App Store and Play Store, I have created two new tutorials, for a simple pendulum, and a mass-spring-damper. These will be permanent pages (not blog posts), and I'm going to incorporate them and their corresponding Youtube videos directly into the app. Check out the videos below, and go download the app! (or join the beta, its free, just send me an email).
Guess what? As of today, the 16th of September, 2020, MOMDYN is available for the public on the iOS App Store! Check out that screenshot below, first (and only) result for multibody dynamics, how's that for fulfilling a life goal?
