It is possible to import scenes generated with another software than Marilou. The import generates a Marilou scene file (.mphx or .mworld) : this file have to be added to the simulation project. Because external files formats are subject to changes, do not hesitate to send to anyKode support your problematic scenes. 

Note: Importers display traces in the terminal window (Check the Open the DEBUG console window option from the Tools->Options menu). 

Import a file: Files -> Import menu, choose the file format to be imported. 

The COLLADA scenes importer generates:

• a .mphx file that contains all the imported scene
• for each shape, a 3D .X file. The name is prefixed by the scene file name and suffixed by the name of the shape .X.
• The first exported mesh is duplicated and suffixed by _firstshape.X (This file can be used directly by the URDF importer)

Imports URDF and GAZEBO files (multiples extension are available). 2 search directories are used to locate resource files ( 3D files, includes ...)

• Imports URDF files and generate a .mphx file that contains all the scene
• Resources like package://dir1/dir2/myfile.abc are resolved as myfile.abc
• Import of file.dae is replaced by file_firstshape.x (generated with COLLADA importer). If file_firstshape.x does not exist, the importer searches file.stl
• Simple xacro expressions are supported
• Collision detection is disabled for geometries that have a (0,0,0) size. In this case, the importer changes the (0,0,0) size by the specific value (0.011, 0.012, 0.013)
• The optimizer removes unused fixed joints

Gazebo resources directory: Gazebo root directory. When a resource is required, the importer tries to locate it from the Current world resources base directory then in the Gazebo root directory. Current world resources base directory: resources root directory. This directory must contain the URDF file to be imported. .mesh files: indicates whether .mesh files are mounted or whether the importer must prefer to use a previous .obj or .x export. Rotate Scene Around X: rotates the final scene around the X axis. Auto-center meshes: if the property is checked, meshes are automatically centered. In this case, the absolute position is modified in order to place them at the original visual absolute position. Rotate meshes local matrix: changes the mesh orientation from Gazebo axes to DirectX ones. This option is not useful with URDF files. Minimum object mass: the importer set at least the 'minimum mass' for each object. Default mesh scaling: mesh vertices scaling. This value is used when the mesh does not have any scale information. Disable collision with link: sometimes, URDF files define a geometry (box) that is located completely under the ground. This option allows to disable collision detection for this geometry. Optimize links structure: removes empty links and fixed joints in order to decrease kinematic chain length and increase the simulation stability. Disable collisions on the same kinematic chain: disable collision detection from entities that are inside the same kinematic chain.

The importer saves current settings in a file named [the URDF file to be imported].gazeboimporter.xml 

VRML files import

Other tools