With Algadoo you can design gear models to simulate their performance in a virtual environment, allowing you to verify their operation and improve their efficiency. The platform also supports the simulation of other important factors: air friction, gravity, speed, momentum, and other forces. The interface is cartoonish and very similar to MS Paint, making simulation and the use of its drawing tools a fun task. Thanks to its options, you can create the gears by interacting with the cursor.
Bottom Toolbar Options
- Grids: Show and hide grids.
- Air friction and buoyancy: Add and set air friction and buoyancy with a multiplier, a linear term, a quadratic term, wind speed, and angle.
- Gravity: Enable gravity by setting the direction and strength of gravity.
Simulation Controls
You will have the following controls: play, pause the simulation, and adjust speed. It also has a zoom tool and a scroll service to analyze the components.
Side Toolbar
- Sketch: To draw objects by hand.
- Knife: To cut anything in the simulation.
- Move: Move objects and water.
- Drag: Drag objects while the simulation is running.
- Rotate: Rotate the object and water.
- Scale: Change the scale of the gear mode.
- Brush: Draw a polygon with a brush stroke.
- Eraser: Erase a component.
- Polygon: Draw shapes freely.
- Gear: Create gears with axes.
- Square: Draw square shapes.
- Circle: Draw circular shapes.
- Plane: To create planes at any angle.
- Chain: Create chains and ropes.
- Spring: Connect two objects with a spring.
- Fix: Weld an object onto the underlying one.
- Axle: Connect objects with an axle, then add a motor.
- Thruster: Add a thruster.
- Laser pen: Add a laser-emitting pen.
- Tracer: Attach a tracer to an object to add lines.
- Texture: Rotate, move, and resize an object's texture.
Object Options
In the top right corner you will find options to view object properties, choose a material for a component, configure its characteristics, customize its appearance, and visualize it.
- Materials: glass, gold, helium, ice, rubber, steel, stone, and wood.
- Characteristics: density, friction, restitution, and attraction. And the option to convert the component into unbreakable.
- Customize: color, borders, and design.
- Visualizations: speed, momentum, angles, and other forces.
With the listed options you can generate any kind of gear shape and simulate its functioning in a virtual environment. Algodoo is a free program available for Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS.
