Simulator3

Simulator3 is a cross-domain simulation platform designed for high-fidelity modeling and real-time visualization across engineering disciplines. It provides a unified environment for multi-physics simulation, including rigid body dynamics, fluid-structure interaction, thermal transport, and electro-mechanical coupling, with a modular architecture that supports custom components and third‑party solvers.

Development and availability: The project emerged from a collaboration among academic researchers and industry developers in the 2010s and was released with an emphasis on extensibility and reproducibility. It is distributed under an open or mixed license model, depending on the chosen distribution, and receives continual updates from an active community and commercial partners.

Architecture and features: The core engine manages simulation loops, scene graphs, and data I/O, while separate subsystems handle physics, rendering, and analytics. A plugin system enables new solvers, sensors, and control algorithms. Scripting through Python and Lua, as well as a graphical scenario authoring tool, facilitate rapid model construction. The platform supports real-time and accelerated simulations, GPU-accelerated compute paths, and virtual reality interfaces for immersive debugging. It exports to common CAD/CAE formats and supports co-simulation with external tools.

Applications: Simulator3 is used in robotics prototyping, autonomous vehicle development, aerospace research, mechanical engineering education, and architectural/environmental analysis. It serves both research environments and industrial training programs, enabling rapid iteration of control policies and system-level testing.

Reception and limitations: Reviewers cite its modularity, solver interoperability, and strong visualization as strengths, while noting a learning curve and substantial hardware requirements for large models. Licensing terms and ecosystem maturity vary by distribution.

See also: Gazebo, Unity, Simulink, OpenFOAM.