Simulation Fundamentals

Core concepts of robot simulation: physics engines, contact dynamics, collision detection, rendering pipelines, and simulation accuracy vs. speed trade-offs.

Learning Objectives

1. Why Simulate?

1.1 Simulation vs. Real World

1.2 Use Cases: Testing, Training, Digital Twins

2. Physics Engines Overview

2.1 Rigid Body Dynamics

2.2 Contact & Collision Models

2.3 Constraint Solvers

3. Collision Detection

3.1 Broad Phase (AABB, BVH)

3.2 Narrow Phase (GJK, EPA)

4. Simulation Stepping

4.1 Fixed vs. Adaptive Time Steps

4.2 Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

5. Rendering in Simulation

5.1 Ray Tracing vs. Rasterization

5.2 Domain Randomization

6. Accuracy vs. Performance

7. Comparison of Physics Engines

Exercises

References