Multibody Simulation in an Object Oriented Programming Environment

: A multibody system simulation architecture capable of generating the dynamical equations of the multibody system symbolically, automatically create the computer code to simulate these equations numerically, run the simulation and graphically display the results is discussed. The power of object oriented programming is used systematically to manipulate the symbolic, numeric and graphic modules and produce an effective tool for understanding the complicated motions of multibody systems. The architecture has been implemented for planar two and three body systems in OOPSS (Object Oriented Planar System Simulator) a software package written in Zeta-Lisp. The package is supported by a nice user interface which has the capability to interactively modify system parameters, change runtime initial conditions and introduce feedback control. Plans are underway to implement the architecture for complex multibody systems.