MathEngine Toolkits Documentation Set 

Welcome to the documentation for the Alpha 0.0.5 version of MathEngine Toolkits.

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0. 

Demos

Demo programs showcase our products. They are designed to show the core capabilities of our Dynamics and Collision Toolkits in an action-packed game-like environment

GreaseMonkey

GreaseMonkey may look like a car racing game, but it's actually an interactive test-bed demonstrating the power of the MathEngine Toolkits to simulate a wide range of vehicles and behaviors in real time.

This is a Renderware-based application. It is only available for Win32 and Sony PlayStation®2.

Actor

The Actor Technology Demo features Vivid Image's latest 3D game engine using MathEngine's Dynamics and Collision Toolkits.

This demo demonstrates the successful application of physics in a gaming environment. Highlights include the manipulation of complex dynamically-simulated objects that demonstrate natural behavior. There are some little surprises to discover too, just click away!

Executable demo available only for Win32.
Demo movie available in AVI format.

Examples

Example programs are intended to show how an interesting and often complex physical system can be solved by the Toolkits.

BallnChain

 Balls are thrown at a hanging chain; the chain responds to the impact in a realistic manner.

Bridge

Balls are thrown at a plank bridge; the bridge responds to the shock in a realistic way.

ConvexStairs

 Convex geometrical shapes fall down a staircase; collision between objects is detailed and realistic as different shapes fall in slightly different ways.

Cradle

 A set of four pendulums interacting with each other; the balls interact in a realistic way.

ManyPendulums

 

 A large array of pendulums disrupted by a falling wood block. The large number of pendulums does not slow down the simulation.

SamsToy

 A simulation of an actual "cube toy" consisting of eight cubes hinged together so that they may be flipped about into various configurations.

This is a RenderWare-based application. Executable and source are only available for Win32.

Topple

A simple game that uses the Collision Toolkit and the Dynamics Event Manager. Numerous objects are stacked into piles which you can knock over by throwing balls at them. Rotate the view and take aim, then throw a ball.

Tutorials

The physical systems demonstrated in the tutorials are often trivial since they are intended to be an extension of the documentation and were conceived to highlight a specific component of the Toolkits.

BallHitsWall1

Uses Collision Toolkit alone, without Dynamics Toolkit. The scenario: a ball is thrown at a wall, bounces off the wall, bounces off the floor, and then exits the scene. Note: There is no gravity in this simulation

BallHitsWall2

 Reproduces the behavior of BallHitsWall1, only now the Dynamics Toolkit is being used to control the motion.

BallHitsWall3

 Shows how small changes to BallHitsWall2 achieves dramatically different behavior.
Bounce Shows a ball dropping on a plane and bouncing. This example demonstrates the use of contacts with the Dynamics Toolkit, but without using the Collision Toolkit. Additional balls can be thrown by pressing the spacebar. You can move the camera to aim before throwing

 

BoxCar

 

 BoxCar is a very simple vehicle simulation with steering and suspension using the MdtCarWheel joint. The vehicle is controlled by dragging the mouse in the display window.

CarTerrain

 CarTerrain is a very simple vehicle simulation with steering and suspension using the MdtCarWheel joint. The Collision Toolkit is used to handle the collisions between the wheels and the uneven terrain.

Drop

 Simulates a single falling ball. This is the simplest example using the Kea Solver of the Dynamics Toolkit. The example demonstrates a single body with only gravity applied.

FixedPath

Shows how to use a fixed path joint. A fixed path joint allows you to precisely control the position and/or rotation and linear and angular velocities of a dynamic body in such a way that it interacts properly with other dynamic objects.

Hinge

A body is connected to the world with a hinge joint. Alternatively, by running "hinge 2", two bodies are connected to each other by a hinge joint. In either case, the hinge can be motorized and you can set rotational limits.

KeaOnly

 A simple pendulum, with and without direct calls to the Kea Solver API. This example shows how to write an application that calls the Kea Solver directly, and contrasts it (using ifdefs) to an application that uses the Dynamics Toolkit's top-level API, the Mdt Library.

Prismatic

 This tutorial demonstrates a prismatic joint. Like a hinge joint, a prismatic joint can have limits and be motorized.
Snooker A no-pockets European style of snooker where the objective is to hit combinations, not sink balls. This examples shows different contact properties of ball-ball, ball-table, and ball-cushion collisions.