MBsysPy¶
MBsysPy is a wrapper of MBsysC libraries. It allows the user to analyze multibody systems without needing to buy Matlab or to learn C programming language.
In its basic way of work it allows to get an equivalent computation speed as Matlab. However for advanced user it can be used to wrap an entire C project, getting the speed of C compiled libraries while keeping the ability to use Python tools (matplotlib, scipy.optimize) and to adapt on the fly the parameters of the model without any compilation step or opening MBsysPad.
WARNING: MBsysPy is only compatible with 64 bits!
Requirements¶
MBsysPy requires a Python3 (see below for Python2) distribution with numpy for computation and updated pip for packages installation. Other packages such as matplotlib and scipy are usefull as they allow better vizualization (graphs generation) and analysis tools (optimization, statistical tools…).
For Linux you can install Anaconda, remember to take the Python 3.X (64 bits) version. It is a distribution of Python that includes by default all the required packages, and a lot more. Moreover it comes with Spyder which is a python IDE.
Usually Python is installed by default on Ubuntu so you only have to install the packages python3-pip and python3-numpy. You can install Spyder which is a python IDE. However according to your Linux distribution the pre-installed Python version may be not Python3 but Python2, or you may have both.
REMARK:
If you want to install latest pip version follow the official instruction. It is not said but it requires distutils:
sudo apt install python3-distutils.
REMARK:
As Python2 has reached its end of life (since january 2020), we do not check the compatibility of MBsysPy with this version.
Upgrading pip¶
Installing MBsysPy requires an up-to-date version of pip:
pip install -U pip. Refer to the official pip
documentation for
details.
Installation¶
The package of MBsysPy is distributed using pip but are hosted on a
specific repository. The installation is pretty straightforward:
pip install --extra-index-url https://www.robotran.eu/dist/ MBsysPy --user.
The option --extra-index-url add pip to our repository, while the
option --user is used to install the package in the user folders
(avoiding admin access requirements). According to your system
configuration this command has to be entered by different way described
below.
Using Spyder¶
Start Spyder (you may have to firstly run anaconda-navigator to get
the Spyder icon), then select the console (bottom-right panel where
a version number is printed for example Python 3.5.2) by clicking
inside it. Then just write the previous command (pip install ...).
If you get the message SyntaxError: invalid syntax it is possible
that in your system the spyder console does not have access to pip. Try
another method.
Using Anaconda-prompt¶
Start Anaconda-prompt, it should open a terminal. In this terminal
write the previous command (pip install ...).
Using a system terminal¶
Open a system terminal and write the previous command
(pip install ...). According to your system configuration, your
terminal may not have access to pip command. In that case prepend the
previous command with python -m (it gives:
python -m pip install...).
If your system haves both Python 2 and Python 3 installed, you
may have to prepend with python3 -m instead of python -m.
Remarks and Testing¶
According to your system configuration, you may not have access to the
packages installed via anaconda (using anaconda-prompt and/or
spyder started from anaconda) from python started from the system.
If you cannot access the package containing the MBsysPy module,
please check KnownTroubleshootings.
After installation, you can check that everything is correct by typing
import MBsysPy in Python. If the MBsysPy module is not found,
please check KnownTroubleshootings.
Lot of our class and functions are documented (but not all, work still
in progress). You can see the related documentation, after importing
MBsysPy, in the field __doc__ of the function or class:
import MBsysPy
print(MBsysPy.MbsData.__doc__)
print(MBsysPy.MbsData.__init__.__doc__)
print(MBsysPy.MbsData.set_qdriven.__doc__)
In spyder you can show the documentation in the Object inspector panel
(top right) by writing in the Object field, for example:
MBsysPy.MbsData or MBsysPy.MbsData.set_qdriven.
Updating MBsysPy¶
To update the package follow the same installation procedure than used
for installation with the command
pip install --extra-index-url https://www.robotran.eu/dist/ MBsysPy --user --upgrade
instead of the previous one. The only difference is the addition of the
option --upgrade.
Using development version¶
To update the package follow the same installation procedure than used
for installation but with the command
pip install --extra-index-url https://www.robotran.eu/dist/ MBsysPy --user --upgrade --pre
instead of the previous one. The only difference is the addition of the
option --pre.
Using PyCharm IDE¶
We do not recommend using PyCharm but some users did manage to configure PyCharm so that MBsysPy works. We do not provide any support for this IDE.
Using Thonny IDE¶
We do not recommend using Thonny and do not provide any support for this IDE. If you still want to use Thonny, please install a 64bits version of Python. Also, you will maybe need to configure specifically this IDE so that MBsysPy works.