Geometric shapes

The objects in this section are the universal elements for drawing a virtual system in PLC-Lab. These objects offer a large number of setting options.

There are three different shapes to choose from. These in turn are divided into three categories.

Category: Dynamic (physics)

These objects are subject to physics. They are subject to gravity and can be moved by conveying elements. The objects are used to build the moving parts of a system. They also form the individual parts that can be combined to form a solid body. These objects are also used for the moving parts of joints.

Dynamic objects without gravity

If you want to create an installation from a bird's eye view, you need the dynamic objects without gravity. To do this, deselect the "Depends on gravity" option in the properties of the object in the "Physics properties" section. As a result, the object moves in a zero-gravity space when the simulation starts. However, this also means that the object moves practically unrestricted when a force is applied, unless it is stopped by another object.

You can see this below:

In our example, the blue rectangle is pushed and accelerated by the cylinder. It then moves to the right until it collides with the stationary object.

If you do not need this, you can set a damping of the linear and rotational movement as of PLC-Lab version 1.5.0.9. You can find the settings for this in the properties section "Advanced settings->Physics properties->Damping settings".

In the following example, a linear and rotational damping with the value 20 was set in the dynamic object:

With the preset damping, the blue rectangle is shifted to the right by the cylinder, but then remains in this position.

In the next example, the blue rectangle is also damped and can therefore be moved back and forth by the cylinders.

Category: Static (physic)

These are also physics objects. However, they are not dynamic; they remain at the position where they were drawn. Typical examples are guide rails, static stops, and walls. When dynamic objects collide with static objects, their movement is interrupted abruptly. This is similar to the influence of a billiard table's cushion on the balls.

These objects can also serve as "anchor objects" for the objects moved by joints.

Category: Decoration (no physic)

These objects are used as decoration for the virtual system. They can be used, for example, to cover other parts of the system. They are purely visual and have no function. Because these objects are invisible to the physics engine, they do not influence other objects. Typical for this object type are covers or background graphics.