Physics Sim for PC (req)

[Vran]

If it exists, where can I get ...

Or if it does not exist, to whom can I write requesting the production of ...

a simulator for the PC which does the following:

• has an inventory of bolts, screws, pipes, plates, bars, nails, rivets, and a host of other real-world metals used in architecture and mechanical engineering
• has an inventory of capacitors, resistors, transformers, induction coils, conductive materials, insulators, and a host of other real-world electrical components uses in electrical engineering
• has an inventory of wood, ceramic, and other material products which one typically finds in a hardware store. For example, "wood" would include 4x4s of various lengths, plywood boards of various areas, solid slabs of oak, pine, maple, birch, cedar, or ash of various volumes, etc.
• has an inventory of standard bonding materials and tools, including glue, tar, arc welders, open flames, tape, and rubber
• is intelligent enough to allow me to couple Part A to Part B only when, in real life, those two parts can be coupled together
• is intelligent enough to interpret the physical relationship of Part A to Part B in the merged piece AB.
• allows for changes to gravity, luminosity, air resistance and other fricative agents, etc.
• for the metal components, allows me to pick my own alloy compositions (with up to 5 different metals, each of which constitutes at least 1% of the complete alloy) from amongst 20 different refined elements (iron, gold, copper, aluminum, silver, nickel, lead) and 10 different common synthetic metals (steel [of various classic compositions], brass, bronze)
• is intelligent enough to interpolate all of this data and report back how the device would operate if placed in a designated environment (e.g. a flat wood tabletop, a bumpy asphalt drive, a grassy knoll on a windy day, or beneath an iceberg in the frigid waters of the Arctic)

Yeah. I realize that last request (if not others of the ones which were listed before it) is a monumental task for a programmer to overcome. But if it has been done already, I'd like to know so I could purchase this software for personal use. And if it has not yet been done, I'm wondering who you think would be the best agency to contact to voice an interest in this software?

[Doppleganger]

I played a limited version of what you described not a week past. Talk to Morgoth, he might remember what the game was called.

What it doesn't have, based on your list -

Originally Posted by Vran

• has an inventory of wood, ceramic, and other material products which one typically finds in a hardware store. For example, "wood" would include 4x4s of various lengths, plywood boards of various areas, solid slabs of oak, pine, maple, birch, cedar, or ash of various volumes, etc.
• has an inventory of standard bonding materials and tools, including glue, tar, arc welders, open flames, tape, and rubber
• allows for changes to gravity, luminosity, air resistance and other fricative agents, etc.
• for the metal components, allows me to pick my own alloy compositions (with up to 5 different metals, each of which constitutes at least 1% of the complete alloy) from amongst 20 different refined elements (iron, gold, copper, aluminum, silver, nickel, lead) and 10 different common synthetic metals (steel [of various classic compositions], brass, bronze)
• is intelligent enough to interpolate all of this data and report back how the device would operate if placed in a designated environment (e.g. a flat wood tabletop, a bumpy asphalt drive, a grassy knoll on a windy day, or beneath an iceberg in the frigid waters of the Arctic)

Originally Posted by Vran

But if it has been done already, I'd like to know so I could purchase this software for personal use.

That last one probably won't happen for a game. You could ask an engineering student if they've heard of such a simulator.

[Vran]

I use the term "sim" loosely. If I implied a game, then that is because I see such a tool as a game, i.e. a fun program to fool around in for hundreds upon hundreds of hours, but I 100% agree that what I'm asking for sounds more in keeping with a mythical materials science engineering program similar to their discipline as Mathlab is to mathematics or CAD editors famously are to design and civil engineering.

[The Morg]

If it's a game-like program you're looking for, Garry's Mod is like a big sandbox that lets you play around with the physics engine from Half-Life 2. It certainly doesn't meet all the points you requested, but it's pretty fun for those who like to tinker.

What exactly do you plan on doing with the software? Designing a Mars rover or something? Or just having fun?

[Vran]

End-goal: build my own car from scratch.

Mid-goal: build my own car engine.

1st goal: construct a 20-step Rube Goldberg device which could realistically transfer 90% of the kinetic energy I put into a kick into the final component of the chain. 90% as an arbitrary number to shoot for in terms of wanting to maintain efficiency of energy transfer in a real-world system exposed to air resistance, other sources of friction, etc.

All along the way goal: I want the program to auto-log "blueprints" (if you will) for my contraption so that, if I e-mailed them to a fellow scientist, he could reproduce my results from his own experimental setup. Whereby "scientist" I mean "13 year old kid in Nashville" and by "experimental setup" I mean "best game that wasn't a game EVER."

[Tyranidos]

I totally read the thread title as "Physics Sims" and was like wtf there was already physics in the Sims.

[Blastoise]

Originally Posted by Vran

Yeah. I realize that last request (if not others of the ones which were listed before it) is a monumental task for a programmer to overcome. But if it has been done already, I'd like to know so I could purchase this software for personal use. And if it has not yet been done, I'm wondering who you think would be the best agency to contact to voice an interest in this software?

Depends. How willing are you to pay for software that will have a price tag of "fuck you in the ass?" I mean, you are aware that programs that do a fraction of what you're asking for have licensing fees in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, right?

[Vran]

I'm aware. I have a friend who had a $10,000 program (market value) from the EE department at our old university. "Free of charge" for the EE students, but I suppose it gets factored in somewhere to the university's tuition. ;)

[The Morg]

Are you planning on getting this software for free then?

I say we make it, and earn MILLIONS.

[Vran]

Downloading anime : stealing a candy bar ::
Downloading PhotoShop : stealing medication ::
Downloading $10,000 software : stealing a work of art from a museum.

Not a smart move in my opinion.

I was hoping to get a name. With a name, I could begin Googling more competently for similar software, for any possible acronyms this sort of software goes by (like, making it up completely, let's say all these sorts of programs were called PSS or Physics Simulation Software), and I could try to find similar programs, find reviews, find a lot of stuff. Empowered with just that little bit of additional knowledge, I could write to the Mech E department of my old university, tell them in a brief letter what I'm interested in doing, and ask them if they've heard of (the top 3 softwares I've found) and if they recommend any of them. Then ask 'em if they know of any public facilities which might have the necessary software license so I could go there and try it out. No point in buying what you haven't even gotten to test out first.

Making this software is too big for one man or even a small team. You need highly-competent, highly-experienced engineers from all manner of different disciplines to offer their feedback about the simulator's interpretation of the variables. For example, a mech e student might tell you "hey yeah, that looks like how it'd happen in real life!" but an actual mechanical engineer with 20 years work experience could tell you that in real life the heat generated from friction during that specific rotation would cause your components to snap or to meld together or whatever. In other words, to break. As another example, a chem e student might say "yeah, you could mix these metals together," but how the hell would he know what they do? Humanity is still so backwards in metallurgy that a lot of what we know about alloys is still coming from trial and error. We're still hearing things like, "Hey, wow! If you have 60%/30%/10% or 70%/20%/10% it's a superconductor but if you have 65%/25%/10% it's a semiconductor! Who knew!? " Obviously not humanity. -_-; And thus obviously not the team making this program. Not unless one of the guys on board was a big player in materials science.

In the end, making this program requires one of three things:
(a) the biggest open source project ever,
(b) the nerdiest entrepreneurial venture ever, or
(c) government funding with interests in application from NASA, the Department of Defense, the CIA, the NIH, and other agencies which could benefit from civilians' inventions

Imagine if I invented a better hepa filter for less? Imagine if I made a portable (i.e. carried on one's person) transceiver which could be used to wiretap homes remotely with great precision from as far away as 2 kilometers? Imagine if I made a car engine with 15% improvement in fuel efficiency and 5% reduction in hazardous emissions? Imagine if I made a 15-ton tank capable of going from 0 mph to 60 mph in under 10 seconds and didn't tear itself apart in the process?