Getting Started

Main Window

The main window of the DSim Manager has four tabs: Simulation, Integrators, Object Hierarchy, and Test. You must specify at least one integrator on the Integrators tab and at least one object on the Object Hierarchy tab to have a functional simulation. You create the object hierarchy by dragging objects in from the components palette. Once you have defined and saved your simulation, you can run it from the Test tab.

DSim Manager does not have any graphics capability, so you can't plot simulation results. However, you can run it and log data to a text file for review. Once you know your simulation is running without errors, you can run it in VisualCommander and start plotting variables and sending commands.

DSim Manager saves the simulation setup in a file with a ds2 extension. This is an xml file and can be viewed with any text editor.

Components Palette

The floating components window provides you with access to the DSim model libraries installed on your computer and to any simulation templates that you have saved.

The Object tab of the Components window provides a list of the model libraries found on your computer. DSim ships with a "Builtin" library with several example components. You can drag a component onto the Object Hierarchy tab of the main window and then drag it onto a parent to create a hierarchy. You can change the hierarchy at any time.

The templates tab lists any templates you have saved. Templates are created from the DSim Manager menu. A template is a saved group of components that you reuse as a unit in new simulations.

Example Setup File

The example file shown below contains a single integrator and a single second-order object.

 <Simulation>
    <version>1</version>
    <timeStep>0.01</timeStep>
    <startSeconds>0</startSeconds>
    <startJD>2455623.953075618</startJD>
    <timeScale>1</timeScale>
    <name>Second Order Dynamic Simulation</name>
    <integrator>
        <name>RK4</name>
        <type>DSimRK4</type>
        <library>builtin</library>
    </integrator>
    <objectTree>
        <object>
            <name>second_order</name>
            <type>DSimSecondOrder</type>
            <library>builtin</library>
            <integrator>RK4</integrator>
            <logVariable>yDotDot</logVariable>
            <logVariable>yDot</logVariable>
            <logVariable>y</logVariable>
        </object>
    </objectTree>
</Simulation>