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ACADEMIC EDITION | February 2012 | Issue 2
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Using MapleSim in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Models Provides Insights and Options Not Possible with Traditional Tools
 MapleSim™, Maplesoft’s modeling and simulation product, is a key tool for Quanser design engineers in developing the QBall. The QBall-X4 is a quadrotor helicopter design with four motors and speed controllers fitted with 10-inch propellers. The first step in its development was to create high-fidelity 3-D dynamics models of the system and its flying characteristics. The results and insights gained through using MapleSim were then transferred to the remaining toolchain to complete the development.
MapleSim gave Quanser engineers two significant advantages over traditional tools. The most important benefit to using MapleSim was its ability to fully capture the dynamics of the gyroscopic effects, the stabilizing effects of the spinning parts of the QBall. With traditional tools, gyroscopic effects are extremely difficult or impossible to treat, as developing sufficiently high fidelity models by hand is simply too difficult and too time consuming. Typically, design engineers resort to making various model simplifications or compromises for the model; ultimately, this reduces the accuracy and effectiveness of the simulation process. Since MapleSim automatically derives the system equations directly from the model diagram, the Quanser engineers developed a very high fidelity model with gyroscopic effects in very little time and with little effort.
Secondly, because it was so easy to make design changes in the MapleSim physical modeling environment, Quanser was able to test different designs for the rotors and choose the one that worked the best for them. MapleSim let them efficiently consider and dismiss alternate UAV configurations, such as single rotor, or coaxial counter rotating propeller configuration, before settling on the quadricopter design.
Read the full case study: click here.
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Maplesoft Events 
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FKFS Internationales Stuttgarter Symposium
March 13th-14th
Stuttgart, Germany |
6th International CTi Symposium
March 21st-23rd
Rochester, Michigan |
ICTCM
March 23rd-25th
Orlando, Florida |
| For further details about these events, click here. |
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Maple T.A. Content Center Re-designed
 The Maple T.A. Content Center has been re-designed! The Maple T.A. Content Center offers thousands of Maple T.A. questions. This content is freely available for you to use and customize for your own classes. Browse through content in mathematics, science, engineering and more!
Visit the Maple T.A. Content Center
Live Webinar: Advanced Modeling and Simulation Techniques for Multibody Robotic Systems
Thursday, March 1st at 12:00 pm ET
 This webinar introduces new techniques and case studies for efficiently increasing the fidelity of system models for multibody robotic system design. Using symbolic computation techniques, multibody models can be effectively preprocessed to select optimal coordinate frames, eliminate redundant calculations, simplify algebraic constraints, and generate computationally minimal code for real-time deployment. Furthermore, novel mathematical techniques can be deployed for efficient parameter optimization and other advanced analysis.
Applications in robotics, including space and industrial robotics will be presented. The symbolic computation system Maple and the related modeling system MapleSim will be used to illustrate examples.
Live Webinar: Driveline Modeling and Simulation: Challenges and Solutions for HIL Simulation
Wednesday, March 21st at 10:00am ET
 In this webcast, Dr. Derek Wright, MapleSim Product Manager, and Dr. Orang Vahid, Senior Modeling Engineer, at Maplesoft will present some of the challenges faced by hardware- and software-in-the-loop (HIL and SIL) simulation of complex driveline models. These models present unique difficulties to engineers wishing to do control design and validation via HIL and SIL simulation. Specifically, there is often a trade-off necessary between model fidelity and simulation speed that may necessitate model approximations and result in reduced effectiveness of the designed controllers. Discussion will include the role of Modelica and acausal modeling in achieving manageable physical models and how symbolic formulations can increase simulation speed without reducing model fidelity.
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 MAPLESOFT IN THE PRESS |
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Deploys Maplesoft Technology
Desktop Engineering, January 26, 2012
JPL is implementing Maple, MapleSim and MapleNet in its various projects. Whether creating America's first satellite, Explorer 1, sending the first robotic craft to the moon or exploring the edges of the solar system, JPL has been at the forefront of pushing the limits of exploration. |
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Maplesoft offers testing and assessment software for technical education
The Engineer (UK), January 4, 2012
Maple T.A. 8 testing and assessment software from Maplesoft is designed for technical education and research, and aims to help instructors to improve students’ comprehension. |
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Slapshot robot aims to create game-changing hockey sticks
DesignFax, December 20, 2011
MapleSim played a critical role in the design and development of the SlapShot XT. MapleSim allowed Hockey Robotics to efficiently and accurately simulate the coupled dynamic electrical and mechanical behavior of the equipment. |
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