Recently, my research team at the University of Waterloo was approached by Mark Ideson, the skip for the Canadian Paralympic men’s curling team, about developing a curling end-effector, a device to give wheelchair curlers greater control over their shots. A gold medalist and multi-medal winner at the Paralympics, Mark has a passion to see wheelchair curling performance improve and entrusted us to assist him in this objective. We previously worked with Mark and his team on a research project to model the wheelchair curling shot and help optimize their performance on the ice. The end-effector project was the next step in our partnership.

The use of technology in the sports world is increasing rapidly, allowing us to better understand athletic performance. We are able to gather new types of data that, when coupled with advanced engineering tools, allow us to perform more in-depth analysis of the human body as it pertains to specific movements and tasks. As a result, we can refine motions and improve equipment to help athletes maximize their abilities and performance. As a professor of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, I have overseen several studies on the motor function of Paralympic athletes. My team focuses on modelling the interactions between athletes and their equipment to maximize athletic performance, and we rely heavily on Maple and MapleSim in our research and project development.

The end-effector project was led by my UW students Borna Ghannadi and Conor Jansen. The objective was to design a device that attaches to the end of the curler’s stick and provides greater command over the stone by pulling it back prior to release.  Our team modeled the end effector in Maple and built an initial prototype, which has undergone several trials and adjustments since then. The device is now on its 7^th iteration, which we felt appropriate to name the Mark 7, in recognition of Mark’s inspiration for the project. The device has been a challenge, but we have steadily made improvements with Mark’s input and it is close to being a finished product.

Currently, wheelchair curlers use a device that keeps the stone static before it’s thrown. Having the ability to pull back on the stone and break the friction prior to release will provide great benefit to the curlers. As a curler, if you can only push forward and the ice conditions aren’t perfect, you’re throwing at a different speed every time. If you can pull the stone back and then go forward, you’ve broken that friction and your shot is far more repeatable. This should make the game much more interesting.

For our team, the objective was to design a mechanism that not only allowed curlers to pull back on the stone, but also had a release option with no triggers on the curler’s hand. The device we developed screws on to the end of the curler’s stick, and is designed to rest firmly on the curling handle. Once the curler selects their shot, they can position the stone accordingly, slide the stone backward and then forward, and watch the device gently separate from the stone.

For our research, the increased speed and accuracy of MapleSim’s multibody dynamic simulations, made possible by the underlying symbolic modelling engine, Maple, allowed us to spend more time on system design and optimization. MapleSim combines principles of mechanics with linear graph theory to produce unified representations of the system topology and modelling coordinates. The system equations are automatically generated symbolically, which enables us to view and share the equations prior to a numerical solution of the highly-optimized simulation code.

The Mark 7 is an invention that could have significant ramifications in the curling world. Shooting accuracy across wheelchair curling is currently around 60-62%, and if new technology like the Mark 7 is adopted, that number could grow to 70 or 75%. Improved accuracy will make the game more enjoyable and competitive. Having the ability to pull back on the stone prior to release will eliminate some instability for the curlers, which can help level the playing field for everyone involved. Given the work we have been doing with Mark’s team on performance improvements, it was extremely satisfying for us to see them win the bronze medal in South Korea. We hope that our research and partnership with the team can produce gold medals in the years to come.

ABB_IRB_120_Model_IK_OK_6_RealParamsLinearization.msim

I did the model of the ABB IRB 120 in MapleSim, but I would like to lock several links but I do not know how to do it.

Also I need the differential equations of the robot, which must be six differential equations but in MapleSim equation extraction page there are lots of equations.

Please can you help me ?

HW5DC.msim

HW5HYD.msim

HW5Pneu.msim

I am trying to (again) extract the equations of the systems which have been done by me, but the equation extraction gave me wrong results.

For example;

The DC motor and the inverted pendulum equation must be 3. (third) order and only a differential equation.

The pneumatic motor and the inverted pendulum must be a differential equation (any order).

Also the hydraulic motor and the inverted pendulum must be a differential equation (any order).

I tried to use "isolate" command but it did not work for me in this case. How can I get the differential equations of the systems ?

I have added the MapleSim simulations and the differential equations that I had.

Please help me for this problem chain.

Error when running 'm_model.m' to generate simulink function block when using 'Group all parameters into nested structure'. No errors when using 'Do not group parameters'.

Error using m_fullSwing (line 125)
Invalid setting in 'MapleSim_fullSwing/MapleSim_fullSwing/MapleSimParameters' for parameter 'Value'.
Caused by:
    Error using m_fullSwing (line 125)
    Expression '[Param.Address.ArmPlane, Param.Address.ClubRelHand,  ... ]' for
    parameter 'Value' in 'MapleSim_fullSwing/MapleSim_fullSwing/MapleSimParameters' cannot be evaluated.
        Error using m_fullSwing (line 125)
        Error: Invalid expression. When calling a function or indexing a variable, use parentheses. Otherwise, check for
        mismatched delimiters.
 

HW4.msim 

I did the base part of a robot in the MapleSim. I am trying to get the differential equation of the system, but the MapleSim gave me 2 different differential equations. When I use these differential equations, I could not reach to my goal. I think I need only one differential equation whose degree must be 2. The system works well, but the problem is a differential equation of the system. How can I get the correct differential equation? And also, why are there 2 different equations? Which one represents what? Thanks for answering.

We have just released updates to Maple and MapleSim, which provide corrections and improvements to product functionality.

As usual, the Maple update is available through Tools>Check for Updates in Maple, and is also available from our website on the Maple 2018.2.1 download page, where you can also find more details.

For MapleSim users, use Help>Check for Updates or visit the MapleSim 2018.2.1 download page.

How could this be set up in Maplesim?  A vibration signal is imparted on the box and we want to observe the behavior of the sprung object inside the box.

We have just released an update to Maple, Maple 2018.2. This release includes improvements in a variety of areas, including code edit regions, Workbooks, and Physics, as well as support for macOS 10.14.

This update is available through Tools>Check for Updates in Maple, and is also available from our website on the Maple 2018.2 download page, where you can also find more details.

For MapleSim users, the update includes optimizations for handling large models, improvements to model import and export, updates to the hydraulics and pneumatics libraries, and more. For more details and download instructions, visit the MapleSim 2018.2 download page.

I need help for two exercise. In the first I have in the secondary circuit nothing, in the second exercise un inductor.thanksinduzione_fra_due_circuiti.msim

How do I simulate the mathematical model of infectious disease using MapleSm? Is it possible? because I had search through the tool in MapleSim is full of engineering tools. 

Thanks to Mr. Joe Riel, my previous problem is the port's name and the input signal's name was the same name was solved. It worked well in the new model but when I try to do exactly the same thing in my current model, the custom component can't be generated even if the "Check dimension" button shown that "no issues found". 

This time error is:
(in SetComponent) flattening error: Errors: Input length = 1
Error in Component btnGenComponent with the caption "Generate MapleSim Component"

Does anyone know from what this error "Input length = 1" happens? 

I am very appreciated for your help.

Why Sim Biology and Bioinformatics are not included in the maple sim?

Hi everyone, I need to use the integral calculation in MapleSim but there is no MapleSim Block to do it. So I create a Custom Component and using the integral calculation from Maple, the expression of the equation was done. But when I click Dimension analysis button, one error popped out as the photo. Have anyone got the same error before? How should I do to solve it? Thank you very much.

We have just released a new version of MapleSim.  The MapleSim 2018 family of products offers new tools for developing digital twins, greater connectivity with other modeling tools, and expanded modeling scope. Improvements include:

• New tools for creating motion profiles
• FMI  import for FMI 2.0 Fixed-Step Co-Simulation
• Optimized handling of large models
• Inclusion of temperature effects in the MapleSim Hydraulics Library from Modelon and MapleSim Pneumatics Library from Modelon
• Heat transfer through air and water with the MapleSim Heat Transfer Library from CYBERNET

See What’s New in MapleSim 2018 for more information about these and other improvements.

I have training video that shows the visualization window "docked" below the main window.   Can this work space arrangement be done in sim2017 ??  

Also I push the anchor button and nothing seems to happen