condynsate is a dynamic system simulation and visualization tool built with PyBullet and MeshCat. It automatically simulates multiple objects and their interactions as described by .urdf, .stl, and .obj files and can render real time visualizations in a web browser.
This tool was built by Grayson Schaer during the 2023 Fall semester at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the Grainger College of Engineering 2023-24 Strategic Instructional Innovations Program: Computational Tools for Dynamics and Control grant.
Condynsate provides real-time simulation and visualization of articulated bodies with nonlinear dynamics in Python. It was optimized for education and promotes easy in-class demonstrations and lab demos without physical equipment. Further, it encourages students to activate motor neurons, and simulates play during the learning process --both of which are beneficial to the processes of memory and learning.
When we say "open an Anaconda Prompt," what we mean is to start the Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) application. Here is one way to do that:
Note that this application will only exist after you follow the instructions to 1 Install Miniconda for Windows.
When we say "run a command," what we mean is to type something into the window of an Anaconda Prompt and press enter. See this beginners guide to Windows Commands.
All the files on your computer are organized in folders, which are commonly referred to as "directories." When you are working on the command line, you are working in one of these directories. Commands you run can find files in that directory, but cannot (by default) find files in other directories.
When we say "change the working directory," we mean exactly that --- telling an Anaconda Prompt the directory in which you want to work.
To do this, we run the command
cd path\to\directory
where "path\to\directory" is replaced by the location of the directory in which you want to work. One easy way way to find this location (i.e., the "path" to your directory) is by dragging its folder from the File Explorer into your Anaconda Prompt window (see documentation on Quickly Copy Files Paths to Your Command Prompt via Drag and Drop. In particular, I would first type "cd " (note the single trailing space):
C:\Users\jakek>cd
Then, I would drag a folder into the powershell window and press enter. For instance, suppose I had created a folder called ae353 somewhere on my computer and dragged it in, then pressed enter --- I would see something like this:
C:\Users\jakek>cd C:\Users\jakek\OneDrive\Documents\ae353
C:\Users\jakek\OneDrive\Documents\ae353>
See documentation on Find and Open Files using Windows Command Prompt for a way to search for the directory location of files on your computer.
If you already have Miniconda installed, you can ignore this step.
If you have some other distribution of conda installed (Anaconda, Miniforge, etc.), we reccomend that you first uninstall that distribution then install Miniconda.
If you do not have Miniconda already installed, download the most recent Miniconda installer for Windows 64 from the miniconda website or just click here to download it automatically. Once the .exe is downloaded, run it. The .exe file has the format Miniconda3-latest-Windows-x86_64 and will be in your default downloads folder C:\Users\USER NAME\Downloads.
Once the wizard is running, click next.
Click I Agree.
Ensure Just Me (recommended) is selected and click Next.
Click Next.
Ensure Create start menu shortcuts (supported packages only) is checked and Register Miniconda3 as my default Python 3.11 is NOT CHECKED.
Once installation is complete, click next.
You may deselected Getting started with Conda and Welcome to Anaconda then click Finish.
Navigate to the Windows Start Menu folder located at C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Miniconda3 (64-bit).
To create a desktop shortcut to Anaconda Prompt (the application that will be used interact with Miniconda), right click on Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3), navigate to Send to, then click Desktop (create shortcut).
To verify that Miniconda is installed properly, open Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) and run the command
conda --version
If Miniconda is installed correctly, you should get a response that lists the version of Miniconda you just installed.
To install condynsate in a Miniconda virtual environment, open Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) and run the command
conda create -n ae353
When prompted, type y and press enter.
When complete, run the command
conda activate ae353
You can confirm the virtual environment you just created is activated correctly when the text (base) on the left hand side of the command line changes to (ae353).
Once you've ensured the virtual environment is activated, configure it by running the commands
conda config --env --add channels conda-forge
conda config --env --set channel_priority strict
conda clean -a -y
Now install the Conda-Forge dependencies by running the command
conda install -y git matplotlib notebook numpy pybullet pynput pyside6 sympy scipy
Once the installation is complete, install condynsate by running the commands
pip cache purge
pip install condynsate
You can check that condynsate installed correctly by running the command
python
This starts a Python shell in your Anaconda prompt. Next run the commands
import condynsate
condynsate.__version__
If condynsate is installed correctly, the current version will be shown. You may now type
quit()
to quit the Python shell.
Open Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) and run the command
conda activate ae353
You should see the prefix to your prompt change from (base) to (ae353).
Next, change your working directory to wherever you cloned this repository.
In your already open Anaconda Prompt (Miniconda3) run the commands
git fetch
git pull
Do not worry, this will not overwrite any of your own work.
In your already open Anaconda Prompt (miniconda3) run the command
jupyter notebook
A browser window should open with the Jupyter Notebook interface. You can now navigate to and open any of the notebooks (with extension .ipynb) used for examples, tutorials, or design projects.
We strongly recommend you duplicate and work with a copy of any given notebook rather than working with the original. Feel free to ignore this suggestion if you are a git expert.
When we say "open the terminal", what we mean is to start the Terminal application. To do this, you can use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+alt+t.
When we say "run a command," what we mean is to type something into the window of the Terminal and press enter.
All the files on your computer are organized in folders, which are commonly referred to as "directories." When you are working on the command line, you are working in one of these directories. Commands you run can find files in that directory, but cannot (by default) find files in other directories.
When we say "change the working directory," we mean exactly that --- telling the Terminal the directory in which you want to work.
To move in the directory tree, we run the command
cd path\to\directory
where "path\to\directory" is replaced by the location of the directory in which you want to work. If you want to move up a single directory, you can run the command
cd ..
If you already have Miniconda installed, you can ignore this step.
If you have some other distribution of conda installed (Anaconda, Miniforge, etc.), we reccomend that you first uninstall that distribution then install Miniconda.
If you do not have Miniconda already installed, run these four commands in the Terminal to quickly and quietly install the latest 64-bit version of the installer.
mkdir -p ~/miniconda3
wget https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -O ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
bash ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh -b -u -p ~/miniconda3
rm -rf ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
Restart the Terminal. After installing, initialize your newly-installed Miniconda by running the command
~/miniconda3/bin/conda init bash
To verify that Miniconda is installed properly, run the command
conda --version
You should get a response that lists the version of Miniconda you just installed. If you do not, more help on installation can be found here.
To install condynsate in a Miniconda virtual environment, open the Terminal and run the command
conda create -n ae353
When prompted, type y and press enter. This creates a new virtual environment. to activate the environment, run the command
conda activate ae353
You can confirm the virtual environment you just created is activated correctly when the text (base) on the left hand side of the command line changes to (ae353).
Once you've ensured the virtual environment is activated, configure it by running the commands
conda config --env --add channels conda-forge
conda config --env --set channel_priority strict
conda clean -a -y
Now install the Conda-Forge dependencies by running the command
conda install -y git matplotlib notebook numpy pybullet pynput pyside6 sympy scipy
Once the installation is complete, install condynsate by running the commands
pip cache purge
pip install condynsate
You can check that condynsate installed correctly by running the command
python3
This starts a Python shell in your Anaconda prompt. Next run the commands
import condynsate
condynsate.__version__
If condynsate is installed correctly, the current version will be shown. You may now type
quit()
to quit the Python shell and exit out of the Terminal.
Open the Terminal and change your working directory to wherever you cloned this repository.
Run the commands
git fetch
git pull
Do not worry, this will not overwrite any of your own work.
Run the command
conda activate ae353
You should see the prefix to your prompt change from (base) to (ae353). This means you are in the Conda environment you created for work with AE353.
Run the command
jupyter notebook
A browser window should open with the Jupyter Notebook interface. You can now navigate to and open any of the notebooks (with extension .ipynb) used for examples, tutorials, or design projects.
We strongly recommend you duplicate and work with a copy of any given notebook rather than working with the original. Feel free to ignore this suggestion if you are a git expert.
When we say "open a terminal," what we mean is to start the Terminal application. Here are two ways to do that:
in the Dock, type Terminal in the search field, then click Terminal.
, open the /Applications/Utilities folder, then double-click Terminal.See documentation on Open Terminal for more information. Note that it is often helpful to have more than one terminal window open at the same time (or more than one tab in the same window).
When we say "run a command," what we mean is to type something into the Terminal and press return. For example, suppose we said:
run the command
pwdto find your current working directory
You would type pwd into the terminal window and press return, with the result being something like this:
timothybretl@Timothys-MacBook-Pro ~ % pwd
/Users/timothybretl
See documentation on Execute commands and run tools in Terminal on Mac for more information. Also see the Command Line Primer for a list of frequently used commands.
All the files on your computer are organized in folders, which are commonly referred to as "directories." When you are working on the command line in a terminal, you are working in one of these directories. Commands you run can find files in that directory, but cannot (by default) find files in other directories.
When we say "change the working directory," we mean exactly that --- telling the terminal the directory in which you want to work.
To do this, we run the command
cd path/to/directory
where "path/to/directory" is replaced by the location of the directory in which you want to work. One easy way way to find this location (i.e., the "path" to your directory) is by dragging its folder from the Finder into your terminal window (see documentation on Drag items into a Terminal window on Mac). In particular, I would first type "cd " (note the single trailing space):
timothybretl@Timothys-MacBook-Pro ~ % cd
Then, I would drag a folder into the terminal window and press return. For instance, suppose I had created a folder called ae353 somewhere on my computer and dragged it in, then pressed return --- I would see something like this:
timothybretl@Timothys-MacBook-Pro ~ % cd /Users/timothybretl/Documents/ae353
timothybretl@Timothys-MacBook-Pro ae353 %
See documentation on Specify files and folders in Terminal on Mac for other ways to specify the path to a directory.
If you do not already have Command Line Tools installed, open the Terminal and run the command
xcode-select --install
Click the Install button on the window that opens and agree to the license agreement.
Make sure your machine's operating system is updated to the most current version.
The installation steps for M1 machines vs. x86_86 machines are different.
If you have some other distribution of conda installed (Anaconda, Miniforge, etc.), we reccomend that you first uninstall that distribution then install Miniconda.
Open the Terminal.
Run these four commands to quickly and quietly install the latest 64-bit version of the ARM64 installer on your M1 machine.
mkdir -p ~/miniconda3
curl https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-arm64.sh -o ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
bash ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh -b -u -p ~/miniconda3
rm -rf ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
Restart the terminal.
Initialize your newly-installed Miniconda by running the commands
~/miniconda3/bin/conda init bash
~/miniconda3/bin/conda init zsh
conda --version
Open the Terminal.
Run these four commands to quickly and quietly install the latest 64-bit version of the x86_64 installer on your Intel machine.
mkdir -p ~/miniconda3
curl https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh -o ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
bash ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh -b -u -p ~/miniconda3
rm -rf ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
Restart the terminal.
Initialize your newly-installed Miniconda by running the commands
~/miniconda3/bin/conda init bash
~/miniconda3/bin/conda init zsh
conda --version
To use keyboard interactivity in the projects, you must first grant the Terminal security access to monitor inputs (keyboards and mice). To do this
Choose Apple menu > System Settings
Click Privacy & Security 
(or Security & Privacy on older systems).
In the ribbon on the side, click the Input Monitoring tab. If the terminal is not in the list you will need to add it:
Click the lock icon to unlock the list. Input your password to unlock.
Click the + button.
Navigate to Applications/Utilities.
Locate the Terminal app and select Open to add it to the Input Monitoring list
Check the box next to the Terminal app in the Input Monitoring list to enable it.
Now, in the ribbon in the side, click the Accessibility tab. If the Terminal is not in the list, follow the steps above to add it.
Check the box next to the Terminal app in the Accessibility list to enable it.
To create a new Miniconda virtual environment, in your already open Terminal run the command
conda create -n ae353
When prompted, type y and press enter. This creates a new virtual environment. To activate the environment, run the command
conda activate ae353
You can confirm the virtual environment you just created is activated correctly when the text (base) on the left hand side of the command line changes to (ae353).
Once you've ensured the virtual environment is activated, configure it by running the commands
conda config --env --add channels conda-forge
conda config --env --set channel_priority strict
conda clean -a -y
Now install pip from Conda-Forge by running the command
conda install pip
Once the installation is complete, install condynsate and other dependencies via pip by running the commands
pip cache purge
pip install wheel condynsate pyside6
You can check that condynsate installed correctly by running the command
python3
This starts a Python shell in your Terminal. Next run the commands
import condynsate
condynsate.__version__
If condynsate is installed correctly, the current version will be shown. You may now type
quit()
to quit the Python shell.
Open the Terminal and run the command
conda activate ae353
You should see the prefix to your prompt change from (base) to (ae353).
Next, change your working directory to wherever you cloned this repository.
In your already open Terminal run the commands
git fetch
git pull
Do not worry, this will not overwrite any of your own work.
In your already open Terminal run the command
jupyter notebook
A browser window should open with the Jupyter Notebook interface. You can now navigate to and open any of the notebooks (with extension .ipynb) used for examples, tutorials, or design projects.
We strongly recommend you duplicate and work with a copy of any given notebook rather than working with the original. Feel free to ignore this suggestion if you are a git expert.
For examples of usage, see examples. For tutorials on using condynsate to design a project, see tutorials.
FAQs
Simulates and visualizes articulated systems in real time
We found that condynsate demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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