A corba-based distributed real-time crane simulator with 3D visualization

The development of a simulator for a crane equipped with a claming device is reported in this paper. The real-time simulation is built upon a complete mathematical model of the claming machine with 3D graphics and interactive features. Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) technology is employed to distribute the calculation of the complex dynamic equations on a more powerful server, while relieving the client computer to concentrate on graphics rendering, collision detection and control signal collection. The communication methods and concurrency model of both the client and the server are carefully selected to ensure reliability without compromising the speed The server supports multiple users. Thus, more than one user can share the resource of a single server when they are connected to a network that supports Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or Internet Protocol (IP). OpenGL is used as the graphics Application Programming Interface (API). Users can select different visual angle to watch the scene while operating the virtual machine.