July/August 2020

| INTERVIEWS & REPORTS | www.smartmachinesandfactories.com July/August 2020 | 31 | T he adoption of collaborative robots (cobots) has been slowed by the need for sizeable capital outlay, combined with slow and cumbersome commissioning practices which make it hard to visualise the application. Now, start-up company Vikaso aims to accelerate the adoption of robotics in the UK, which has been painfully slow to date. At the core of the new approach is modelling software from Visual Components, which is based on an advanced physics “engine” called NVidia PhysX, which allows users to simulate and visualise physical forces, including the effects of collisions and gravity, as well as materials properties. Though PhysX has its roots in video gaming, it can be adapted to advanced 3D manufacturing simulation. “Visual Components is not very widely used in industrial applications,” says company director Vaibhav Boricha. “What motivated us to use it was when I was an end user, working at BMW on the Mini, it was painfully slow for me to develop automation applications. Our approach makes it possible to accelerate the development and implementation process. My colleagues and I come from that end user background, so we have seen automation work, day in, day out, in the factory, after the integrators have gone.” Video gaming spinoff PhysX is an open-source software development kit (SDK), which NVidia developed to accelerate the development of its video gaming software GameWorks. Physics engines are used in most video games because they free game developers from having to write their own code to simulate classical mechanics and soft body dynamics. PhysX itself originated as a physics simulation engine called NovodeX, developed by a spin-off from ETH Zurich called NovodeX AG. In 2004, Ageia acquired NovodeX AG Smart simulation: video gaming turns digital twin to accelerate uptake of collaborative robots Andy Pye, consultant editor for Smart Machines & Factories, speaks to Vikaso director Vaibhav Boricha, who plans to come out of lockdown all guns blazing to accelerate the update of collaborative robots.