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OGRE (Object-Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine) is a scene-oriented, flexible 3D engine written in C++ designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to produce applications utilising hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. The class library abstracts all the details of using the underlying system libraries like Direct3D and OpenGL and provides an interface based on world objects and other intuitive classes.
Features
Features Productivity features
- Simple, easy to use OO interface designed to minimise the effort required to render 3D scenes, and to be independent of 3D implementation i.e. Direct3D/OpenGL.
- Extensible example framework makes getting your application running is quick and simple
- Common requirements like render state management, spatial culling, dealing with transparency are done for you automatically saving you valuable time
- Clean, uncluttered design and full documentation of all engine classes
- Proven, stable engine used in several commercial products
Platform & 3D API support
- Direct3D and OpenGL support
- Windows (all major versions), Linux and Mac OSX support
- Builds on Visual C++ and Code::Blocks on Windows
- Builds on gcc 3+ on Linux / Mac OSX (using XCode)
Material / Shader support
- Powerful material declaration language allows you to maintain material assets outside of your code
- Supports vertex and fragment programs (shaders), both low-level programs written in assembler, and high-level programs written in Cg, DirectX9 HLSL, or GLSL and provides automatic support for many commonly bound constant parameters like worldview matrices, light state information, object space eye position etc
- Supports the complete range of fixed function operations such as multitexture and multipass blending, texture coordinate generation and modification, independent colour and alpha operations for non-programmable hardware or for lower cost materials
- Multiple pass effects, with pass iteration if required for the closest ‘n’ lights
- Support for multiple material techniques means you can design in alternative effects for a wide range of cards and OGRE automatically uses the best one supported
- Material LOD support; your materials can reduce in cost as the objects using them get further away
- Load textures from PNG, JPEG, TGA, BMP or DDS files, including unusual formats like 1D textures, volumetric textures, cubemaps and compressed textures (DXT/S3TC)
- Textures can be provided and updated in realtime by plugins, for example a video feed
- Easy to use projective texturing support
Meshes
- Flexible mesh data formats accepted, separation of the concepts of vertex buffers, index buffers, vertex declarations and buffer mappings
- Biquadric Bezier patches for curved surfaces
- Progressive meshes (LOD), manual or automatically generated
- Static geometry batcher
Animation
- Sophisticated skeletal animation support
- blending of multiple animations with variable weights
- variable/multiple bone weight skinning
- software and hardware-accelerated skinning pipelines with intelligent buffer sharing
- manual bone control
- Configurable interpolation modes, accuracy vs speed tradeoffs
- Flexible shape animation support
- Morph animation for legacy applications where you wish to perform simple linear blends between shape snapshots
- Pose animation for modern shape animation, allowing you to blend many poses at variable weights along a timeline, for example expression / mouth shapes to perform facial animation
- Both techniques can be implemented in hardware and software depending on hardware support
- Animation of SceneNodes for camera paths and similar techniques, using spline interpolation where needed
- Generic animation tracks can accept pluggable object adaptors to enable you to animate any parameter of any object over time
Scene Features
- Highly customisable, flexible scene management, not tied to any single scene type. Use predefined classes for scene organisation if they suit or plug in your own subclass to gain full control over the scene organisation
- Several example plugins demonstrate various ways of handling the scene specific to a particular type of layout (e.g. BSP, Octree)
- Hierarchical scene graph; nodes allow objects to be attached to each other and follow each others movements, articulated structures etc
- Multiple shadow rendering techniques, both modulative and additive techniques, stencil and texture based, each highly configurable and taking full advantage of any hardware acceleration available.
- Scene querying features
Special Effects
- Compositor system, allowing for full-screen postprocessing effects to be defined easily, via scripts if desired
- Particle Systems, including easily extensible emitters, affectors and renderers (customisable through plugins). Systems can be defined in text scripts for easy tweaking. Automatic use of particle pooling for maximum performance
- Support for skyboxes, skyplanes and skydomes, very easy to use
- Billboarding for sprite graphics
- Ribbon trails
- Transparent objects automatically managed (rendering order & depth buffer settings all set up for you)
Misc features
- Common resource infrastructure for memory management and loading from archives (ZIP, PK3)
- Flexible plugin architecture allows engine to be extended without recompilation
- ‘Controllers’ allow you to easily organise derived values between objects e.g. changing the colour of a ship based on shields left
- Debugging memory manager for identifying memory leaks
- ReferenceAppLayer provides an example of how to combine OGRE with other libraries, for example ODE for collision & physics
- XMLConverter to convert efficient runtime binary formats to/from XML for interchange or editing
Smarter control in robotics & automation!
“ Orocos” is the acronym of the Open Robot Control Software project. The project’s aim is to develop a general-purpose, free software, and modular framework for robot and machine control. The Orocos project supports 4 C++ libraries: the Real-Time Toolkit, the Kinematics and Dynamics Library, the Bayesian Filtering Library and the Orocos Component Library. 
- The Orocos Real-Time Toolkit (RTT) is not an application in itself, but it provides the infrastructure and the functionalities to build robotics applications in C++. The emphasis is on real-time, on-line interactive and component based applications.
- The Orocos Components Library (OCL) provides some ready to use control components. Both Component management and Components for control and hardware access are available.
- The Orocos Kinematics and Dynamics Library (KDL) is a C++ library which allows to calculate kinematic chains in real-time.
- The Orocos Bayesian Filtering Library (BFL) provides an application independent framework for inference in Dynamic Bayesian Networks, i.e., recursive information processing and estimation algorithms based on Bayes’ rule, such as (Extended) Kalman Filters, Particle Filters (Sequential Monte methods), etc.
Orocos is a free software project, hence its code and documentation are released under Free Software licenses.
Physics libraries such as ODE provide excellent real-time simulation, embedding them in a 3D application to create a virtual reality is far from trivial. It is often prohibitively difficult to create a simulated reality that incorporates complex dynamic objects that interact with each other and the environment under physics’ constraints.
One of the major obstacles is mapping between meshes and objects supported by the physics engine.—This is what EZPhysics aims to solve.
EZPhysics API is licensed under the GNU Lesser Public License (LGPL).
The system is composed of two parts:
- Editor & Simulator—Lets you interactively embed objects supported by the physics engine into 3D meshes, attach joints and constraints to the physics objects, save the “physically rigged” scenes into files, and run simulations.
- API—Lets you embed the “physically rigged” meshes into your application. This involves using classes and methods for reading the editor files and manipulating the physical aspects of the objects, such as applying torques and forces to joints.
 
Soruce: here
The aim of the page is to become a useful resource for scientists, engineers and students using Ubuntu (or any other) Linux.
The Katana Robotic Arm is typically used for handling, measurement, or testing applications in assembly, production, and laboratory automation, says Neuronics. The robot is billed as an “intelligent” industrial robotic arm with safety features that “allow it to work directly hand-in-hand with human operators without the need for any additional safeguards or fences,” says the company. The Katana is also touted for its ability to run as an an independent stand-alone unit, without requiring an external control host.
Oh no, Mr. Bill! The Katana in action
The new Linux version of the Katana allows low-level access to the robot’s Linux control board, and comes with system, communication, and motion libraries available as open source packages. This open source access provides application opportunities “that could hitherto only be met by developing highly expensive custom engineered robotics systems,” says the company.
The Katana is based on a single-board computer (SBC) equipped with a PowerPC-based Freescale MPC5200 processor that provides 750 MIPS (millions of instructions per second) of performance, says Neuronics. The robot has six Texas Instruments (TI) TMS320 32bit motor controllers, one for each axis. Built around a CAN bus architecture, the robot also offers Ethernet and USB ports. The Katana is said to operate in three modes: control, standalone direct, and a standalone RPC/Web-services mode that supports technologies such as SOAP and Ajax for web-based control.
The Katana’s control board
Specifications for the Katana Robotic Arm are said to include:
* Processor — Freescale MPC5200
* Embedded controllers — 6 x TI TMS320 32bit motor controllers
* Memory — 64MB RAM
* Flash — 32MB flash
* CAN bus — 1 x control bus; 1 x sensor bus; external CAN connector
* Networking — 1 x Ethernet hub
* USB — 1 x host; 1 x device
* Other I/O — integrated digital I/O extension board
* Katana software/services:
o Communication server
o Standalone mode
o CAN open (PDO) driver interface
o Control-pad deamon
o Fieldbus server
o Ajax-based web Interface
o Process image server
o Eventhandler as web service
o Configurable debugging modes
o XML-RPC command and control interface
o Linux shell interface via web service
o SOAP server command and control interface
o C++ libraries and Python 2.5 bindings
* Operating system — Linux 2.4.25 (Linux kernel 2.6 optional) with Xenomai hard real-time extensions; driver patches for control board
Denx Linux and Xenomai
The embedded Linux version of Katana runs a 2.4.25 Linux kernel (upgradable to 2.6.22) that is said to be optimized for industrial high availability. The robot has been developed with the Denx Embedded Linux Development Kit (ELDK) software development kit (SDK), an open-source Linux distribution and development tool suite that is especially popular in Europe’s industrial Linux community.
Katana software architecture
The Linux kernel is coupled with the Xenomai pre-emption and scheduling real-time add-on framework for Linux, which is supported by recent versions of ELDK. Xenomai provides “skins” for emulating API requests for different real-time operating systems (RTOSes). In the Katana implementation, Xenomai provides a development framework that cooperates with the Linux kernel to provide pervasive, hard real-time support to Nucleus-, kernel-, and user-space applications, says Neuronics.
Neuronics offers a Katana Native Interface (KNI) C++ library for control application development “at the lowest interface level,” says the company. The KNI interface can be exported as a Python 2.5 binding, enabling Python development of native and external programs. A control interface is also said to be available directly on the robot, with interfaces in C++ and Python.
For non-programmers, the company provides a GUI-based application programming interface (API) called Katana4D, which is targeted at industrial applications, and offers a built-in scripting language. Developers can move the robot arm into the desired position by hand, and Katana4D detects the position, generating the appropriate code, says the company. Katana4D is also said to provide AI algorithms for path optimization and adaptation, and can automatically convert applications to Python for deployment on the Katana in standalone mode.
This month, Neuronics announced a “Katana UniKit” robot axis development board. The UnkiKit is said to offer 1-3 axes (axis controllers and motors), a CAN adapter, and a plug-and-play live CD with a customized Ubuntu Linux distribution. The distribution is said to offer sources, documentation, cross compilers and toolsuites for learning, developing, and modifying robotics applications. Aimed at research, education, and OEM robotics development, the UniKit can be purchased separately from the Katana.
Founded in 2001, Neuronics is a spin-off venture from the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Institute for Informatics of the University Zurich.
Availability
The pricing for the embedded Linux version of the Katana starts at 19,500 Euros, or about $24,900 US, says Neuronics. No pricing or availability information was provided for the new Ubuntu-based Katana UniKit development board. More information on the Katana, including links to detailed information on APIs, patches, hardware, and more, may be found here.
Text taken from: http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Robotic-arm-runs-Linux/
Open Source Ecology is a movement dedicated to the collaborative development of tools for replicable, open source, modern off-grid “resilient communities.” By using permaculture and digital fabrication together to provide for basic needs and open source methodology to allow low cost replication of the entire operation, we hope to empower anyone who desires to move beyond the struggle for survival and “evolve to freedom.”
By our analysis, most of the technologies needed for a sustainable and pleasant standard of living could be reduced to the cost of scrap metal + labor. There is immense potential for social transformation once this technology is fully developed for building interconnected self-sufficient communities, since people will be freed from material constraints and able to seek self-actualization.
We understand that this is an ambitious task, but we have accomplished much and are making rapid progress. Factor e Farm is the land-based facility where we are putting this theory into practice. Our means of achieving these goals are meticulously detailed in the “Resilient Community Construction Set” (formerly known as the GVCS) and the OSE Proposal.
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
Main features:
sky
- default catalogue of over 600,000 stars
- extra catalogues with more than 210 million stars
- asterisms and illustrations of the constellations
- constellations for twelve different cultures
- images of nebulae (full Messier catalogue)
- realistic Milky Way
- very realistic atmosphere, sunrise and sunset
- the planets and their satellites
interface
- a powerful zoom
- time control
- multilingual interface
- fisheye projection for planetarium domes
- spheric mirror projection for your own low-cost dome
- all new graphical interface and extensive keyboard control
- telescope control
visualisation
- equatorial and azimuthal grids
- star twinkling
- shooting stars
- eclipse simulation
- skinnable landscapes, now with spheric panorama projection
EMC is software that implements real-time control of equipment such as machine tools, robots, and coordinate measuring machines. It runs in realtime under Linux with the RTlinux or RTAI patch. It provides a software PLC, and uses the HAL for flexibility.
CAELinux is a computer aided engineering Linux distribution.They say you just insert the CAELinux LiveDVD in a computer and turn it into a professionnal CAE workstation.
It is based on the open-source CAE softwares Salomé, Code_Aster, Code_Saturne and OpenFOAM , you can load your CAD geometry in Salomé and start partitionning and meshing your problem in just 5 minutes.
Then you can simulate incredibly complex physics with the open-source FE & CFD solvers Code_Aster, Code-Saturne, OpenFOAM & Elmer: non-linear thermo-mechanics, coupled fluid-structure dynamics, seismic / non-linear explicit dynamics, contacts, visco-plasticity, fluid dynamics, heat exchange, convection heat transfer and radiation, electro-magnetcis in other words nearly all physics problem can be addressed with the integrated solvers!! Then reload your results files in post-processing applications like Salomé, GMSH, Visit, or Paraview to visualize your data in 3D… And don’t forget all these features are based on free softwares.
Included Software:
Software
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Use
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| Salome_Meca_2007.1 |
3D CAD,Meshing Post Processing, Multiphysics FE analysis |
| Salome v3.2.6 |
3D CAD, Meshing Post Processing |
| Code Aster v9.1 |
multiphysics FE analysis |
| Impact |
explicit FE dynamics |
| OpenFOAM v1.4.1 |
multipurpose CFD oriented solvers |
| Elmer v5.3 |
multiphysics FE package |
| Calculix 1.7 |
pre-post & FE solver, Abaqus-like syntax |
| Code-Saturne |
3D CFD/combustion solver |
| GMSH 1.65 & 2.0 |
Scriptable & general purpose geometry modelling, meshing and post processing |
| Gerris flow solver v0.6.0 |
2D / 3D CFD solvers based on automatic octree mesh refinement |
| MBDyn |
multibody dynamics |
| Tochnog |
statics & dynamics FE solver |
| OpenFlower |
3D CFD solver |
| Dynela |
non-linear explicit dynamics |
| Dolfyn CFD |
2D/3D CFD solver |
| GetDP |
general PDE solver |
| Octave + Octave-Forge |
SoftwareUseMATLAB compatible mathematical programming |
| Scilab |
Matlab/Simulink-like mathematical programming environment |
| wxMaxima |
Maple like symbolic computing environment |
| R and RKWard |
Mathematical modelling & statistics (similar to S-Plus) |
| Paraview |
general purpose 3D visualization software |
| QCAD |
2D CAD program |
| Netgen |
3D mesh generator |
| Tetgen |
3D mesh generator |
YASEP, “Yet Another Small Embedded Processor”. It’s a configurable (16-bit or 32-bit) microcontroller core. It is meant to be small and as simple as possible. Students and hobbyists can also easily participate and learn from this project. The author thinks that by choosing sometimes unusual methods, it is possible to concentrate on the real issues of CPU development, mainly : architectural choices and implementation details.
YASEP exists in the form of a package that is not just a simulator, an assembler, a disassembler, a manual, a development tool, it is all that and it will be much more ! Every part is integrated in the others (and vice versa), so the whole remains (almost) coherent, easy to use and quick to develop, fix, maintain..
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