Features

ProtoTwin is the first and only browser-based industrial simulation platform. You can view, modify and collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world. There is nothing to install and updates are entirely automatic.

Core Framework Features

Effortlessly build powerful and reliable models with real-time physics. ProtoTwin was designed to be intuitive and simple to use. making it possible to quickly iterate on your designs and test new ideas.

Deterministic Models
Run your model many times with the same initial conditions and the result will be identical. Your simulations are deterministic by default, even across reset events, different web browsers and operating systems.
Simplified Scripting
The integrated scripting environment supports code auto-completion and IntelliSense. Type and syntax errors are detected. Built-in types, functions and properties are intuitive and fully documented.
Zero Compile Time
The engine includes a TypeScript API, eliminating the need for slow script compilation, allowing you to iterate and test models rapidly. The inspector refreshes automatically to reflect any changes.
Configurable Timestep
Create powerful and precise models by configuring the frequency of the physics simulation. ProtoTwin simulations run at 100Hz by default, but it is possible to run models at frequencies beyond 10kHz!

Physically Based Rendering

Our bespoke rendering engine simulates real-world light dynamics and material interactions, generating exceptional visualizations that capture subtle details in your scenes. Rendering quality is configurable, allowing you to favor performance when running on hardware with limited capabilities.

Integrated Robot Controller

The integrated robot controller uses a general inverse kinematic solver, capable of executing a variety of instructions. You can program robots easily through the user interface, or create advanced scripted programs. The robot controller can handle any industrial robot, including those containing closed kinematic loops.

Virtual Commissioning

Connect to physical PLCs for controls testing and virtual commissioning. Prove your CAD and test your control logic in the digital twin before you commit to building the real machine. ProtoTwin can connect to a wide range of PLCs through many supported protocols, including Siemens S7, Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP, TwinCAT ADS, Omron FINS, Modbus TCP, Mitsubishi MELSEC and OPC UA.

Python API Connection

Use our Python API for deep reinforcement learning and AI robotics. Programmatically load models, step the simulation, read signals and write signals. Create vectorized RL environments with ProtoTwin Gymnasium. Generate high-quality synthetic data using our physics simulation engine. Train machine learning models to control industrial and humanoid robots with dynamic motors.

Custom Physics Colliders

Custom colliders are useful when you need to model precise collisions between parts. The collider tool can generate high-fidelity physics colliders for detailed mesh topologies. The collider tool is tightly integrated into ProtoTwin Simulate. You can customize settings to balance fidelity with runtime performance.

Simulate in Virtual Reality

Enter the simulation! Connect your VR headset and launch ProtoTwin VR at the click of a button. Observe and interact with your model in real-time inside virtual reality. No separate viewer application is required.

Incredible Performance

Performance is uncompromised. Our simulation engine uses a purpose-built data-oriented architecture, allowing you to simulate dynamic digital twins and factories with thousands of industrial robots and machines.

Complete Features List

Browse and filter through the full list of features for each of our products.

Product
Category
WebGL 2.0 Support
Supports the latest version of WebGL API without costly abstraction layers.
GLTF 2.0 Support
Import 3D glTF/glb assets directly into the software.
Onshape Support
Link your Onshape account or sign up directly with Onshape and import your files directly into the software.
Onshape CAD Sync
Automagically update your model without losing existing work by synchronizing any CAD changes.
Physically Based Materials
Generate realistic visuals by using physically-based material properties.
Soft Shadows
Supports Percentage-Closer Filtering (PCF) and Percentage-Closer Soft Shadows (PCSS) with random sampling.
Material Libraries
Quickly select materials from built-in or custom libraries.
Parallax Occlusion Mapping
Achieve stunning surface detail with simple geometry.
Environment Maps
Quickly select environment maps from our built-in library or generate your own radiance and irradiance environment maps from HDR images.
Tone Mapping
HDR pipeline with gamma-corrected Exponential, Reinhard, Filmic & ACES tone mapping.
Animations
Create animations with configurable easing between keyframes.
Non-Uniform Scaling
Supports efficient non-destructive non-uniform scaling of meshes on the GPU.
Automatic Instanced Rendering
Entities with the same meshes and materials are automatically rendered instanced for improved performance.
Configurable Camera Lens
Adjust camera position, orientation, projection, tone mapping, exposure and field-of-view in real-time.
Virtual Reality (VR)
View and interact with your models in real-time inside Virtual Reality. Launch VR at the click of a button. No separate viewer application required.
Rigid Body Physics
Rigid bodies experience gravity, contact forces and applied forces.
Automatic Collider Selection
Collider types are automatically determined by analyzing geometry through the editor.
Convex Colliders
Select convex colliders which create a shrink-wrap around finer unimportant details for efficient and robust collision detection.
Custom Colliders
Create custom colliders for meshes by decomposing the geometry into a set of convex shapes, delivering high-fidelity for complex shapes.
Collider Regeneration
Colliders automatically respond to position, rotation and scale changes. Scale entire hierarchies effortlessly.
Physics Materials
Set precise static and dynamic (viscous) friction and restitution coefficients for pairs of materials.
Collision Layers
Assign layers to entities with physics and control which pairs of layers can collide with each other.
Dynamic Joints
Create dynamic physics joints between rigid bodies, which can be driven by motors with force/torque limits.
Motors
Create motors with position and velocity control, force/torque limits, stall detection and automatic stall recovery.
Springs
Create linear and rotational springs, with configurable stiffness, damping and plastic deformation.
Sensors
Create volumetric, distance and color sensors to detect object presence, measure distances and colors.
Creator
Duplicate an entity, its descendants and any components on a specified time interval.
Deleter
Delete entities as they come into contact with the deleter's bounding geometry.
Configurable Fidelity
Control the fidelity of the simulation by adjusting the physics timestep and the number of solver iterations.
Small Parts
Simulate small parts with dimensions as small as 100 microns.
Apply Velocities
Set linear and angular velocities directly on rigid bodies for the next timestep.
Apply Forces
Apply external forces to rigid bodies at or offset from their center of mass.
Transport Surfaces
Simulate conveyors by defining transport surfaces.
Physics Visualization
Visualize physics collision geometry to debug physics-related issues.
Multi-Threaded Architecture
Our engine uses a minimum of three threads and up to as many threads as your CPU supports.
Hybrid Entity Component System
A hybrid data-oriented entity component system architecture delivers high-performance simulations with a simple scripting interface.
Intelligent Resource Manager
The resource manager reduces memory consuption by sharing common resources, automatically disposing of unused resources.
Fully Deterministic Simulation
Simulations produce the same results across different browsers and operating systems.
Zero Compile Time
Our engine exposes a TypeScript API, eliminating the need for slow script compilation and allowing you to iterate and test models more rapidly.
Typescript Scripting
Create custom scripted components using our simple TypeScript API.
Configurable Timestep
Create more precise models by configuring the frequency of the simulation. Run your models at 100Hz or 10kHz!
Simple Event Subscriptions
Easily subscribe for events with automatic unsubscription on component removal.
Zero Reset Logic
Components and entities are automatically reset, meaning you don't need to implement any reset logic inside scripts.
Multi-Platform Support
Our online web-based industrial simulation software supports Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.
Data Collection & Analysis
Record and plot data whilst the simulation is running. View your plots in real-time. Plots can be exported to SVG and data to CSV.
Video Recorder
Record a video of the simulation using our built-in video recorder. Videos are saved using the WEBM file format.
GLTF Recorder
Export GLTF frames for rendering photorealistic videos of your simulation using third party offline rendering software.
Script Editor
Edit script components directly inside the integrated editor, supporting intellisense and autocompletion. All built-in types, functions and properties are fully documented.
FBD SoftPLC
Create Function Block Diagram (FBD) programs to implement control logic without writing a single line of code. The integrated drag-and-drop editor is intuitive and easy to use.
Robot Controller
Create industrial robot programs with instructions like: Pause, Linear Move, Joint Move, Path Move, Set Speed, Set TCP, Await Signal, Set Signal, Call, Conditional Call and Call Script.
Feature Selection
Select poisitions, directions and edges from meshes. Features are automatically detected from mesh topology.
Transform Gizmo
Translate, rotate and scale entities easily using your mouse. Optionally lock to a single axis/plane and snap to increments.
View Cube
Align the camera with the principal axes and toggle the projection mode.
Selection Highlighting
See at a glance what has been selected and preview selections by hovering over entities in the hierarchy.
Live Update
Watch component properties update in real-time whilst the simulation is running.
Entity Searching
Search for entities by name or by the components that are attached to them.
Navigation Mode
Explore a simulation in navigation mode without fear of accidentally changing something.