URSim for Non-Linux Systems

URSim is a simulation software that is used for offline programming and simulation of robot programs.

There are some limitations to the simulator since no real robot arm is connected. Specially the force control will be limited in use. If Simulation Mode is selected in the bottom left corner, it is possible to simulate digital inputs on the I/O page.

URSim is a simulation software intended for offline programming and simulation of both robot programs and manual movement of robot.

NOTE: Not all functions works compared to a real robot, please see below.
- Emergency stop can not be used
- Input IO state can not be set
- Paths are perfect
- Collisions with self or with surrounding objects do not work
- Force mode will not work

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URSim In Virtual Machine

The following describes how to run URsim in a Windows operating system.

Installation instructions

Description: URsim is made for the Linux operating system. For running the simulator in another operating system, a virtual machine is needed. A virtual machine is basically just a program, where multiple operating systems can be installed, including Linux.

There are various options available, but these two are the most common players:

• VMWare Player (free for non-commercial use, small fee for commercial use)  The VMWare version requires an update to VM12
• VirtualBox (freeware)

For easy convenience for non-Linux users, a virtual machine has been created for UR users. This contains a simulator for UR3, UR5 and UR10. It is not possible to run more than one simulator simultaneously.

Important notice:

The virtual machine has been tested on different pc’s with different players. However Universal Robots do not guarantee and do not provide any support, should if the guide below should turn out to be insufficient for running the virtual machine. Depending on the hardware configuration of the target PC, it might be necessary to modify the drivers in the virtual machine for obtaining full use of all hardware (soundcard, network adapter, etc).

Requirements prior to installing:

• Min. 8 GB free space on hard drive
• Download a virtual player
• Download 7Zip (freeware program for unzipping rar-files) or similar
• Download zipped virtual machine to a desired folder of your choice

Step-by-step guide:

• Install a virtual player.
• Unpack the zipped virtual machine in a desired folder on your pc
• Start the virtual player.
• Proceed in this guide to either VMWare Player or VirtualBox

VMWare Player

1. Start 'VMWare Player'

2. Press 'Open a virtual machine' and find the path where the zipped files was unpacked

3. Select URSim in the list and press 'Play virtual machine'

4. Press 'OK' when incompatibility dialog is shown

5. Press 'Download and Install' if VMWare Tools needs to be installed

6. Press 'OK' if keyboard hook timeout needs to be updated

7. Press 'OK' when the Removable Devices dialog is shown

5. The Virtual machine is now started:

VirtualBox

1. Start VirtualBox and press 'New'

2. Define name (your choice), type: Linux, Version: Ubuntu

3. Select Memory size of 768 MB and press 'Next'

4. Select Use an existing hard drive file and define the path to the folder where the zipped file was unpacked, press 'Create'

5. Press 'Start' for starting the virtual machine

6. If an error saying 'Hardware acceleration is not available' is shown then it may be required to reboot the Windows computer into BIOS setup and enable hardware access to Virtual Machines and then restart Windows, VirtualBox and the virtual machine. 

7. The Virtual machine is now started