Install the Software

If you would like to run the software on your own computer, follow these instructions which recommend the use of a Conda-based installation process. The process below describes setting up a new base environment with the needed software installed.

1) Miniconda

Miniconda is a stripped down version of Anaconda so that you can install only what you desire. If you already have Miniconda (or Anaconda) on your computer, you can skip this step or delete your prior Miniconda (or Anaconda) folder on your computer to uninstall it. Download Miniconda for your operating system:

https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html

Install as a user, not an administrator, when asked. This will install the package manager conda and configure your computer to use the Python installed with Miniconda when you open a terminal or command prompt.

2) Create and Activate an Environment

Open either the terminal (Linux/Mac) or the (Anaconda) command prompt (Windows) and type the following series of commands followed each by the <enter> key to execute the commands.

Create the environment with:

conda create -c conda-forge -n learn-multibody-dynamics python=3.10

The -c conda-forge flag installs the packages from Conda Forge. Conda Forge is a community maintained collection of compatible software packages and offers a larger number of packages than the default configuration.

Now activate the environment:

conda activate learn-multibody-dynamics

3) Install Packages

Now you can install the packages that are required for executing the code in this book with this command:

conda install -c conda-forge ipympl ipython jupyter notebook matplotlib numpy pythreejs "scikits.odes" scipy "sympy>=1.11"

4) Open Jupyter Notebook

To check that everything works, type the command to open Jupyter:

jupyter notebook

Jupyter should open in your web browser and you should be able to run the scripts and notebooks found on the other pages.

Software Versions

This website was built with the following software versions:

import IPython
IPython.__version__

'8.25.0'

import jupyter_sphinx
jupyter_sphinx.__version__

'0.5.3'

import matplotlib
matplotlib.__version__

'3.8.4'

import notebook
notebook.__version__

'7.2.1'

import numpy
numpy.__version__

'1.26.4'

import platform
platform.python_version()

'3.11.9'

import pythreejs._version
pythreejs._version.__version__

'2.4.2'

import pkg_resources
pkg_resources.get_distribution("scikits.odes").version

'2.7.0'

import scipy
scipy.__version__

'1.14.0'

import sphinx
sphinx.__version__

'8.0.2'

import sphinx_material
sphinx_material.__version__

'0.0.36'

import sphinx_togglebutton
sphinx_togglebutton.__version__

'0.3.2'

import sympy
sympy.__version__

'1.12.1'