This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) This articlecontainspromotional content. Please helpimprove it by removingpromotional language and inappropriateexternal links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from aneutral point of view. See ouradvice if the article is about you and read ourscam warning in case someone asks for money to edit this article.(February 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Vortex Studio is a simulation software platform developed byCM Labs Simulations. It features a real-timephysics engine that simulatesrigid body dynamics,collision detection, contact determination, and dynamic reactions. It also contains model import and preparation tools, an image generator, and networking tools for distributed simulation which is accessed through a desktop editor via aGUI. Vortex adds accurate physical motion and interactions to objects in visual-simulation applications for operator training, mission planning, product concept validation, heavy machinery androbotics design and testing,haptics devices, immersive andvirtual reality (VR) environments.^[1]

The Vortex Studio content creation platform and theC++SDK have several modules that simulate physics-based particles,sensors, floating bodies, cable systems, earthmoving operations,grasping, and vehicles (wheeled or tracked). Vortex has modular architecture: developers can integrate their projects into3D visualisation frameworks and deploy them in environments that contain software-in-the-loop (SIL),MATLAB,hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), andmotion platform components.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Vortex" software – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Vortex Studio is developed by CM Labs Simulations Inc., a private company established inMontreal in 2001. CM Labs was created when the management ofMathEngine Canada Inc. purchased a portion of the business from MathEngine PLC, the parent company in the UK. MathEngine Canada Inc. was originally the research and development team responsible for creating the Karma physics simulation engine forcomputer games. That team and underlying technology came Lateral Logic Inc, founded in 1994 in Montreal, which had developed rigid-body dynamics and collision detection engines for use in custom simulators sold to Sisu AB for forestry harvester operator training and to Nokia for product demonstration. Lateral Logic was acquired by MathEngine in 1999.

CM Labs shifted its focus away from gaming. It now supports two distinct markets, visual simulation for training (VST), targeting Vortex at robotics and heavy-equipment operator training in both commercial and military applications, and heavy equipment prototyping and engineering, targeting mostly manufacturers and academia.

Vortex Studio has been under active development ever since the initial launch of the software in 2001. It usually has three releases per year (a, b and c).

Vortex has been used for commercial, military, and academic projects. It has been used to simulate vehicles, robotics, and heavy equipment in construction, mining, forestry, marine,subsea,planetary, academic, and military environments. It has also been used to simulate the movements and behaviour of animals and insects for scientific purposes. Sample examples are:

• TheExplosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robot simulator developed by theEuropean Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) for training purposes. EADS uses Vortex to model the physical behaviour of the robot as it maneuvers in its simulated environment, interacting with other objects while processing user commands.^[2]

• A driverless vehicle designed byCarnegie Mellon University’sRed Team Racing^[3] for theDARPA Grand Challenge that uses Vortex for preplanning and onboard navigation to “accurately simulate the vehicle as it navigates the terrain, including both local area constraints and global path planning objectives.”^[3]

• Heavy-equipment operator training simulators such as towercrane, mobile crane, crawler crane, andconcrete pump for the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario^[4] and theInternational Union of Operating Engineers – Local 721.^[5] These simulators are used to prepare operators for proper equipment use and accident avoidance.

• Georgia State University’sAnimatLab project, which is a simulation software environment that models how the body and nervous system dynamically interact in a Vortex-governed virtual physical world where relevantneural and physical parameters can be observed and manipulated.^[6]

• Game physics
• Robotics simulator

• Bourg, David M. (2001).Physics for Game Developers. O’Reilly.
• Coutinho, Murilo G. (2001).Dynamic Simulations of Multibody Systems. Springer-Verlag.
• Kuipers, Jack B. (1998).Quaternions and Rotation Sequences. Princeton University Press.
• Lanczos, Cornelius (1986).The Variational Principles of Mechanics. Dover Books.

• A Virtual Highway for Road Warriors, MT2 2008 Volume 13, Issue 6Archived 2012-12-16 at theWayback Machine
• The Daily Commercial News, May 12, 2008Archived February 19, 2012, at theWayback Machine
• Visual Interactive Simulation Lecture, Spring 2005, Physics Engines

• Computer physics engines
• Rigid bodies
• Virtual reality

• Articles with a promotional tone from February 2019
• All articles with a promotional tone
• Articles lacking in-text citations from July 2023
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Articles with multiple maintenance issues
• Articles needing additional references from July 2023
• All articles needing additional references
• Webarchive template wayback links