Simulation Software

[LOTR]

Hi MyBB Bofs.
Need some help/advice.
My 14 year old son has a school project and we'd like to use some simulation software to create a demonstration of how his idea will be constructed and how it will work. So I am looking for some recommendations as to which software would be the easiest to use. As this will be a once of item, I'm looking for something that's free (preferably not a trail, as it will likely take him more than a month to learn the software and to complete the project).
I note that there's plenty of items found on the Interwebs via Google, but as I have no idea in this space, I'm not sure which will be easiest. So I'm reaching out to you wise folk for some inputs.
TIA

 

[Binary_Bark]

Try Blender

https://www.blender.org/download/

 

[Johnatan56]

Try Blender

But:

might be better as it talks about how to use blender itself.

 

[Dairyfarmer]

Sketch-Up

 

[LOTR]

@Sugarman , @Johnatan56 , @Dairyfarmer
Appreciated. Thanks for the info. Will give them a try over the weekend.

 

[eXisor]

Sketchup is quicker to learn and may be a better fit for the situation, whereas Blender is a tool he can build a career on.
.

 

[ArmatageShanks]

Sketchup, very very easy to use

 

[LOTR]

Sketchup is quicker to learn and may be a better fit for the situation, whereas Blender is a tool he can build a career on.
.

Sketchup, very very easy to use

Thanks folks

 

[newby_investor]

Do you mean physics simulation?

FreeCAD also has some rudimentary mechanical simulation built into it. Haven't used it myself but a friend used it to design a perfectly balanced telescope housing that he built last year.

Solidworks is pretty epic, easy-ish to use (you can learn it quickly enough) but it's not free, it's quite expensive. Not sure about trial versions, the mechanical engineers here at work swear by it.

 

[LOTR]

Do you mean physics simulation?

FreeCAD also has some rudimentary mechanical simulation built into it. Haven't used it myself but a friend used it to design a perfectly balanced telescope housing that he built last year.

Solidworks is pretty epic, easy-ish to use (you can learn it quickly enough) but it's not free, it's quite expensive. Not sure about trial versions, the mechanical engineers here at work swear by it.

Nah - nothing so deep. Just a "slap the pieces together" sort of thing, and then what each piece does to "make this work".

 

[w1z4rd]

I find this site useful https://www.tinkercad.com/

 

[saor]

Nah - nothing so deep. Just a "slap the pieces together" sort of thing, and then what each piece does to "make this work".

Without proper details it's difficult to actually recommend something. You holding back on the specifics for a reason? A fluid simulation is different to mechanics is different to cloth. Some apps might be easier if all you want is some gravity and simple interacting objects. Do you want the cube to bounce around, do you want to render the simulation to video, do you need gravity controls or modelling ability to create complex shapes...

For real - what exactly do you want to do?

 

[LOTR]

/snip
For real - what exactly do you want to do?

He has this idea to to build "Floating Islands" in the ocean which can be used for "Farming". Much like oil rigs - but on a larger scale. Basic "put togethers" will be the farm land (base), a de-salination plant, docking facilities, accomodation, storage, solar power station, and various other items. The "Island" must be able to move to either the "best weather conditions" or to avoid storms/hurricanes, etc. The idea does not neccesarily have to work, or be even be feasible.
So looking for something that can show the "slap it all together process". We will also build a "scale" model, that we will put in the swimming pool and video tape as part of the "reseach".

 

[w1z4rd]

He has this idea to to build "Floating Islands" in the ocean which can be used for "Farming". Much like oil rigs - but on a larger scale. Basic "put togethers" will be the farm land (base), a de-salination plant, docking facilities, accomodation, storage, solar power station, and various other items. The "Island" must be able to move to either the "best weather conditions" or to avoid storms/hurricanes, etc. The idea does not neccesarily have to work, or be even be feasible.
So looking for something that can show the "slap it all together process". We will also build a "scale" model, that we will put in the swimming pool and video tape as part of the "reseach".

Made with tinkercad



In hindsight, not my best design, its impractical. I forgot to put a little shopping trolley there. Where else will it get food from?

 

[Duan]

Do you mean physics simulation?

FreeCAD also has some rudimentary mechanical simulation built into it. Haven't used it myself but a friend used it to design a perfectly balanced telescope housing that he built last year.

Solidworks is pretty epic, easy-ish to use (you can learn it quickly enough) but it's not free, it's quite expensive. Not sure about trial versions, the mechanical engineers here at work swear by it.

Solidworks is not bad, but Have a look at this:

 

[Duan]

If you just want free easy to use cad try https://grabcad.com/

 

[saor]

He has this idea to to build "Floating Islands" in the ocean which can be used for "Farming". Much like oil rigs - but on a larger scale. Basic "put togethers" will be the farm land (base), a de-salination plant, docking facilities, accomodation, storage, solar power station, and various other items. The "Island" must be able to move to either the "best weather conditions" or to avoid storms/hurricanes, etc. The idea does not neccesarily have to work, or be even be feasible.

Given the complexity of usually even basic simulations, I wouldn't even bother creating a simulation as such, but rather just a digital version of the idea which you can screengrab whilst manipulating the objects and moving them around to show some crude approximation of the system. You can than add narration and do some basic video editing.

You could do this in sketchup or any cad software easy enough to pick up. Doing this in blender is also super easy, but would require an afternoon or two getting to grips with blender, creating objects and basic viewport navigation.

This was my quick mess around in blender (with lame dramatic voiceover):

 

[w1z4rd]

I really hope to be able to sit down with someone and learn blender one day, its a pretty big learn. On my todo list.

 

[LOTR]

Given the complexity of usually even basic simulations, I wouldn't even bother creating a simulation as such, but rather just a digital version of the idea which you can screengrab whilst manipulating the objects and moving them around to show some crude approximation of the system. You can than add narration and do some basic video editing.

You could do this in sketchup or any cad software easy enough to pick up. Doing this in blender is also super easy, but would require an afternoon or two getting to grips with blender, creating objects and basic viewport navigation.

This was my quick mess around in blender:

Very nice - I like - basically similar to what I had in mind. We have set aside Sunday to try this out and experiment (will download the software on Sat). We'll start with sketchup and see how it goes.

Thanks to all for your contributions.

 

[saor]

Very nice - I like - basically similar to what I had in mind. We have set aside Sunday to try this out and experiment (will download the software on Sat). We'll start with sketchup and see how it goes.

Thanks to all for your contributions.

Maybe download & go through a few tutorials before then. Good luck. Hope you manage to find something that lets you build what you have in mind.

Could also consider building the farm in Minecraft.