/tribology-final-2023

This repo holds Carson Loyal's tribology final project that includes a Unity interactive friction, wear, and lubrication demo.

Primary LanguageShaderLabApache License 2.0Apache-2.0

Tribology Simulation Project

Overview

Welcome to the Tribology Simulation Project! This project explores the world of friction, wear, and lubrication through the development of a simulation and interactive tool. The motivation behind this project is rooted in the belief that hands-on and visual tools significantly enhance the learning process, making complex tribological concepts more accessible.

Motivation

As a learner, the motivation for this project stems from a personal preference for hands-on and visual learning. Tribology, being a complex field, often involves intricate mathematical models. The creation of this simulation tool aims to address the gap in user-friendly platforms and cater to the way many of us learn best.

Features

  • User-Friendly Simulation Tool: A simulation tool developed using Unity for exploring introductory tribology concepts.
  • Visual Representation: Dynamically observe and manipulate friction, wear, and lubrication scenarios.
  • Interactive Sliders: Adjust material properties through sliders for enhanced user engagement and understanding.

Running the Application

Pre-Compiled Executables

If you downloaded the Tribology_Demo_Carson_Loyal.zip archive from the class website, you can extract that folder contents to your local machine. From there open the folder that corresponds to your current computing platform (ie open "StandalongWindows" if you are on Windows 11 etc). Then you will find an executable file that you can run and voila!

Prerequisites for Building from Scratch

  • Unity: Ensure you have Unity installed on your machine.

Instructions for Building

  1. Clone or download the repository to your local machine.

  2. Open Unity and navigate to the project folder.

  3. Open the main scene (Assets/Scenes/SampleScene.unity) in Unity.

  4. Customize the scenes and materials as needed for your project.

  5. Build the application for your desired platform:

    • For Windows: File -> Build Settings -> Select "PC, Mac & Linux Standalone" -> Choose "Windows" -> Click "Build"
    • For Mac: File -> Build Settings -> Select "PC, Mac & Linux Standalone" -> Choose "Mac" -> Click "Build"
    • For Linux: File -> Build Settings -> Select "PC, Mac & Linux Standalone" -> Choose "Linux" -> Click "Build"

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the build.

  7. Run the built application on your chosen platform.

Conclusion and Future Work

This project represents a step towards easy access to tribological simulations, providing a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, and students. Future work may involve expanding the tool's capabilities, incorporating more advanced tribological models, and establishing collaborations for continued development and refinement.

Feedback

I welcome your feedback! If you have any questions, suggestions, or issues, feel free to create an issue on the repository.

Thank you for exploring the fascinating world of tribology with us!