{"id":1819,"date":"2019-06-19T07:53:43","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T11:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robodk.com\/blog\/?p=1819"},"modified":"2019-06-19T07:53:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T11:53:45","slug":"difference-simulation-offline-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robodk.com\/blog\/difference-simulation-offline-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the Difference Between Offline Programming and Simulation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Offline Programming (OLP) and simulation are closely related, but they’re not the same. Confused? Here is the simple explanation of this fundamental question.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What is robotic offline programming?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is robotic simulation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are they the same thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These terms are often used together in a way that suggests that they have equal meaning (e.g. “OLP\/Simulation”) but they are not exactly the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could easily get confused and exasperated if you tried to use a robot simulator for offline programming. What’s worse, it could lead to you wasting many hours trying to get the wrong software to perform a task it wasn’t designed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s time to set things straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offline Programming vs Simulation: Are They The Same Thing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The basic answer is: No, offline programming and simulation are not the same things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, in robotics, they are very closely related\u2026 in most cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a Venn diagram to show how the two terms are related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Offline_Programming_vs_Simulation\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, offline programming always involves simulation \u2014 with a small exception which I’ll explain in a moment. However, there are a vast number of simulators which have nothing to do with offline programming (or with robotics, for that matter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good rule of thumb is to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Almost) All Offline Programming is Simulation <\/p>

BUT <\/p>

Not All Simulation is Offline Programming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What is Robot Simulation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>A simulator<\/a> is a piece of mechanical equipment or a software program which is designed to represent the conditions in a physical environment. Said another way, <\/a>simulation<\/a> involves imitating the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The classic example of a simulator (from outside of robotics) is a flight simulator for training pilots. This machine includes both hardware and software elements to look and behave realistically like a real airplane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In robotics, simulation is used for various purposes, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n