Introduction

Instrument tools are provided to dump physical data into HDF5 format. The datasets, together with the Benchmark Problems for Multibody Dynamis (BPMD) framework are used to compare different methods in solving multibody systems with bilateral joints and unilateral frictional contacts in an unbiased way. These datasets will help researchers to concentrate on analysis of existing methods and construction of more accurate solvers, without worrying about implementation of the whole physics engine.

Example Usage

Install hdf5

sudo apt-get install libhdf5-dev

Build Gazebo

This HDF5 instrument tool requires building Gazebo from source, with the cmake parameter HDF5_INSTRUMENT [default False] as True. Learn how to build Gazebo from source

cd ~/gazebo
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DHDF5_INSTRUMENT=True ../
make -j4
sudo make install

Collect Datasets

Use only gzserver

./test/integration/INTEGRATION_physics_inertia_ratio

Use the world file

gazebo ~/gazebo/worlds/friction_demo.world

Then a file named ode_frames.hdf5 will be generated at the directory exactly where the above command is run.

View the HDF5 file

hdfvivew is used to open the hdf5 files. You can install it via the terminal:

sudo apt-get install hdfview

Then open the stored file with:

hdfview ode_frames.hdf5

A hierarchical file shows up:

Note: The instrument tool will save hierarchical data for each time step, so it will be slow to write the data into the ode_frames.hdf5 file. Be patient, especially for complex simulation scenarios such as Atlas robots or many body simulation.