Active Simulation Objects, Contexts, and Simulation States

You create product or resource content in a design or nominal state, which you can use in a variety of contexts. When you modify product or resource data temporarily to simulate a scenario, you use a transient model of the content. The transient model does not affect the design state, which is also known as the nominal state.

When you create content, you can use it in multiple contexts. For example, if you create a part, that content can be experienced:

• By itself
• Within a product context
• Within a process, product, and resources (PPR) context, which defines how the product and its constituent parts are built
• Within a model, scenario, and result (MSR) context, as a digital experiment.
  Notes: A manufacturing simulation is a specific type of MSR that enables you to test different manufacturing scenarios.

  A simulation state defines the transient state of the product or resource. You can persist a simulation state; that is, you can save and reuse it.

For example, in a product context, you can create a state for a door part in which the door's position is open. The simulation state is:

• Used as an initial state in simulation to achieve consistent and repeatable results
• Available for you to apply at any time.

One and only one simulation state can be active at any time for an ASO. The active state serves as an initial state and is applied at the beginning of a simulation.

You can create unique states within each context. For example, you can create an open door state for the product context, an open door state for the PPR context, and another open door state for the MSR context. If you create identical but distinct states in different contexts, you can modify the state in one context without it affecting the state in another context. For example, you can change the open door state in the MSR context from fully open to partially open without affecting the open door state in the product context. If you want to modify a simulation state defined in a lower context, you can copy or "roll up" the state into a higher context. You can also roll up a simulation state from a lower context to make it the active state.

Depending on your ASO, you can see and manipulate different states within 3D Simulation. You can view states defined for the ASO in the root context (that is, the root resource product). If there is not a state defined for the ASO in the root context, then you can view any states defined in ASO’s reference.

To illustrate this rule, the examples use the hierarchy shown below.

If Station.1 is set as the ASO, the state for the station defined in the line context (Station.1 State.1) is displayed in the Simulation States panel.

If Robot.1 is set as the ASO, the state defined in the Robot.1’s reference (Robot State.1 ) is displayed in the Simulation States panel. In this case, there are no states defined for Robot1.1 in the line context.

When 3D Simulation opens, you can view states defined for the ASO in the context of MSR. If no state is defined for the ASO in the MSR context, then states defined for the ASO in the model of the MSR are displayed. If there is not a state defined for the ASO in the model, then you can view any states defined in ASO’s reference.

To illustrate this rule, the examples use the hierarchy shown below.

If Line (that is, the model of the MSR) is set as the ASO, the Simulation States panel displays the state for the line defined at MSR context (Line State.1).

If Station.1 is set as the ASO, the Simulation States panel displays Station.1 State.1. Station.1 has a state defined at the Line level (that is, the model of the MSR).

If Robot1.1 is set as the ASO, the Simulation States panel displays Robot State.1. For Robot.1, there is no state defined in the MSR context, nor is there a state defined in the model of the MSR context. Robot.1 is defined as the reference of the ASO, and Robot State.1 is the reference state.

If you create a state in a lower context (for example, in the PPR context) and you want to copy that state into a higher context (for example, the MSR context), you can roll the state up into the higher level.

You can roll up or copy that state to a higher context by using the command. To access the command, in the Simulation States panel , right-click on the state.

When a state is rolled up to the PPR context

The system copies the reference state into the PPR context, updates the Simulation States panel to display the state, and marks the state as active.

When a state is rolled up to the MSR context

The system copies the reference state into the MSR context and updates the Simulation States to display the state. If there is an active scenario, the system adds the copied state to it and marks the copied state as active.

Similarly, if you have multiple states in the panel that you want to roll up, you can use the Copy All States into Current Context command.

The scenario copies all reference states in the panel from the reference into the higher context (MSR or PPR). The system updates the Simulation States panel to display the copied states. In the case of states copied into the PPR context, the last state is marked as active. In the case of states copied into the MSR context, the last copied state is added to the scenario and is marked as active.

You can publish states of physical resources to their references.

If a physical resource is a child of another resource, you can roll down the state to the resource. For example, if you have a PPR context containing a line, which contains a station, which contains robot, you can roll the station state to the robot. Right-click the state thumbnail, and select Copy to Reference. The state of the resource ASO in the current context is copied into its reference. On the tree, the copied state is stored under the behavior representation of the resource ASO's reference.