Real-Time Simulation Software for Mechanical Equipment Added to Altair Partner Alliance

Altair has added CM Labs Simulations’ real-time, multi-body simulation and advanced visualization software, Vortex Studio Create to the Altair Partner Alliance (APA).

Vortex Studio—a simulation and visualization software for worksite system-level, in-the-loop modeling of mechatronics and mechanical equipment —features high-fidelity, real-time simulation, the company says.

Simulations built via Vortex Studio’s desktop editor can be deployed as interactive and immersive driver-in-the-loop simulators, integrated into realistic scenes with 3D visual effects and advanced real-time rendering. By incorporating humans, weather, vegetation and water into simulations, designers can enhance the end-user experience with immersive environments, according to Altair.

Vortex Studio enables design teams to simulate and visualize mechatronic equipment operation on a virtual worksite. Engineers can validate workability, mobility and usability with drivers or control systems in-the-loop with the machine interacting with its virtual operating environment. This includes the simulation of tires and tracks on soft-soil, buckets and other implements digging and pushing soil, cables systems and tethers, hydrodynamics and contact physics. It’s a virtual sandbox for many equipment applications including:

• Off-highway: construction, agriculture, mining, forestry, port/logistics
• Maritime equipment: lifting, drilling, pipelay, launch and recovery, subsea
• Defense ground vehicles: tactical vehicles, ground robotics
• Mobile robotics: industrial, logistics, security, homecare

“Joining the Altair Partnership Alliance puts Vortex Studio into the hands of Altair-enabled product designers and mechanical engineers, providing them with tools to build virtual prototypes and real-time driver-in-the-loop simulators,” says Lisa Barbieri, vice president, marketing and customer experience, CM Labs. 

“Vortex Studio’s advanced interactive 3D simulation software is a great complement to our Altair HyperWorks solution,” says Rajiv Rampalli, senior vice president, HyperWorks Development, Altair. “With the ability to exchange simulation data in real-time with Altair Activate models, it’s an innovative new approach that makes it an ideal addition to the Altair Partner Allianceand further extends our leadership in CAE to include human evaluation of equipment.”

The APA offers on-demand access to a broad spectrum of software applications from over 50 companies. Altair's customers can leverage a wide range of software tools from a centralized source, helping them reduce time to market, increase design intelligence and make smarter decisions, faster, the company says.

Altair HyperWorks users can download Vortex Studio here. To learn more about Vortex Studio, Altair invites interested parties to attend the introductory webinar hosted by Altair and presented by CM Labs on October 24, at 10 a.m. ET.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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