This tutorial is dedicated to the International Research Training Group (IRTG) SoftTissueRobotics. The focus of this tutorial is to give an introduction in the multibody-physics simulation framework DART. But before we go ahead and create our own physical worlds, we need to install some components.
These are
- Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
- A Windows X Server
- DART
- Some knowledge about how to build and execute C++ programs in the WSL
Please note, this Readme assumes you have a Windows computer. If you have a Linux system you are probably already knowing what you are doing.
We need the windows subsystem for linux to run DART. You can find install instructions here.
To visualize the physics engine we need an windows X Server in order to forward the display output from the WSL to Windows. Download and install (via your Windows system) a windows X-server. You can find the VcXsrv Windows X Server wich we recommend to use here.
Find the DART install instructions here. You can try to install DART with apt
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:dartsim/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libdart6-all-devIn case this does not work (happend to me already) make sure you have a clean system
sudo apt remove libdart*Then follow the instructions to install DART from source. Just to be sure, install all optional dependencies.
This tutorial is derived from the DART tutorials and examples that come with the installation of DART which you can find under: dart/tutorials and dart/examples.
Note DART's copyright notice:
Copyright (c) 2011-2016, Humanoid Lab, Georgia Tech Research Corporation Copyright (c) 2016-2017, Personal Robotics Lab, Carnegie Mellon University Copyright (c) 2011-2019, Graphics Lab, Georgia Tech Research Corporation Copyright (c) 2017-2019, Personal Robotics Lab, University of Washington Copyright (c) 2017-2019, Open Source Robotics Foundation All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
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Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Make sure you are in the tutorial's subdirectory.
cd your/workspace/directory/hello_dartThen create a build directory and build the executable.
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
makeForward your Display output from the WSL to Windows. First start the X Server on your windows system. Then in the WSL console type:
export DISPLAY=:0Launch the executable from the build directory:
cd helloDART/build
./hello_DARTFollow the instructions detailed in the console.
In this tutorial you will learn to
- create a simple world in DART (
hello_dart) - create a body in this world (
hello_dart) - import more complex robot structures in the physics engine (
hello_panda) - simulate collisions between bodies (
hello_collisions)
For each of the tutorials you find a separate subdirectory with the instructions for the tutorial as a tutorial.md file.