Assets

Assets in ProtoTwin are preconfigured models that can be imported into the digital world to speedup the creation of larger models and systems. You can create and publish your own assets under an organization you belong to for reuse in other models, or import an existing asset from ProtoTwin’s standard library.

Importing Assets

To import an asset into the simulation environment, you must do the following:

Click the import button in the toolbar.
Click the assets tab to open the asset explorer.
Click the import button underneath the asset.

Asset Explorer

The asset explorer lists all the public assets that were created in ProtoTwin. You can search for an asset, filter the listed assets by category or filter by the library they were published under.

Libraries

You can filter the assets displayed through the following libraries:

ProtoTwin Assets: These are public assets created by the ProtoTwin engineering team.
My Assets: These are public and private assets created by yourself.
Public Assets: These are public assets created by any user of the software wanting to share their work.
Organization Assets: These are public and private assets created under an organization you belong to.

Creating Assets

To create an asset, the process is the same as creating any model in ProtoTwin. You import the CAD file into the application, then you add components to define behavior to individual parts. The only real difference between assets and models, is that you cannot publish an asset containing scripts. This decision was made purposefully to prevent potential scripting conflicts that could arise when importing an asset into a model containing local scripts.

To create an asset with scripted behavior, you must first publish a package containing any components and tools you wish to use, then install the package using the package manager. You may then add the components defined in the package to the various entities, just like you would normally do when creating a model. Since ProtoTwin uses the package manager to resolve scripting conflicts, this approach is acceptable.

Publishing Assets

Assets must be published under an organization.

Organizations

The manager of an organization, along with any members, will have access to any private assets published under the organization. The manager can publish an asset themselves, but may also permit members to publish assets.

Joining an Organization

To join an organization as a member, ask the manager of the organization to invite you to the organization. Once invited, you should receive a verification email. Once you’ve received an email, click the link in the email to join the organization.

Creating an Organization

You can create an organization. After manual approval, you will become the manager of the created organization. This will allow you to publish assets under the organization. You will also be allowed to invite other users to join your organization, as members. Members of the organization may also be permitted to publish assets under the organization.

Asset Format

Assets are published through the script editor. The following files are mandatory:

asset.json: Defines the asset name, title, visibility, category, compatibility and metadata properties.
README.md: Describes the contents of the asset. The README.md file will be rendered when viewing details about the asset in the asset explorer.

The asset.json file must contain a JSON object with the following properties:

Name: The name for the asset, plus the organization scope is provided as @organization/asset-name.
Title: The title for the asset.
Public: True if the asset should be publicly visible to any user of the software not belonging to your organization, false otherwise.
Compatibility: The version range of the software the asset is compatible with.
properties: The metadata for the asset.

Please see the illustrative example below for the asset.json file:

{
    "name": "@prototwin/straight-belt-conveyor",
    "title": "Straight Belt Conveyor",
    "public": true,
    "category": "Conveyors",
    "compatibility": ">=1.2.0",
    "properties": {
        "manufacturer": "ProtoTwin",
        "model": "Straight Belt Conveyor",
        "parametric": true
    }
}

For industrial robots, you will need to provide these additional properties:

{
    "properties": {
        "axes": 0,
        "payload": "",
        "reach": "",
        "repeatability": ""
    }
}

Publishing

To publish an asset, follow the instructions outlined below:

Right-click in the file explorer and select New Item from the context menu.
Select Asset Definition from the dropdown, choose an appropriate Category, then click Add to create the required files.
Update the README.md and asset.json files by filling out the required information.
Right-click on the asset.json file in the file explorer and select Publish Asset from the context menu.

Scripting

Assets can be imported into the digital world programatically by calling the importAsset() function on the world. An example of a Tool that can be used to import assets is provided below:

    import { type World, Tool, Icon } from "prototwin";

    @Icon("material-symbols:conveyor-belt-sharp")
    export class AddConveyorAsset extends Tool<World> {
        override valid(world: World): boolean {
            return true;
        }

        override async execute(world: World): Promise<void> {
            const entities = await world.importAsset("@prototwin/straight-belt-conveyor");
            console.log(entities.map(entity => entity.name));
        }
    }

It is important to note that this function allows Torq to import assets into the simulation environment. You can ask the AI to import an asset if you cannot find what you are looking for, or if you just want the AI to create a simple layout. Please see the API documentation for more information.