Solar system Simulator (Gravitation study)

Goal

The goal of this exercise was to create a solar system simulator, of N celestial bodies. We are therefore interested in gravitational force fields, which are conservative vector fields.

Features

Choice of:

• Camera position (Free Fly Cam by Sergey Stafeev: WASD for movement, QE for up/down, mouse for orientation, shift for speed boost, acceleration).
• Placement, mass, and initial velocity of a new planet in the system.
• Simulation speed (in X per ticks, e.g., 120 hours per game tick).
• Show or hide certain elements: planet information (speed, mass, position), vector field.

Details

The constants used:

• Universal Gravity = 6.6743e-11F

Recommended values:

• Simulation speed: The faster the speed, the more inaccuracies accumulate (and the larger the planet trails become). It is therefore recommended to stick to values close to the default ones.
• New planet:

Architecture

All planet calculations can be found in Astral Object. Constants and time calculations in Globals. The vector field in Vectorial Fields. The camera in Camera Behaviour & Free Fly Camera. Interfaces in Instruction Button, New Planet Placer, Planet Info & Time Controller.

Written by

• Félix Becaud
• Jessica Perrochaud
• Morgane Dero