PHYSX AS A MIDDLEWARE FOR DYNAMIC SIMULATIONS IN THE CONTAINER LOADING PROBLEM

The Container Loading Problem (CLP) is an optimization challenge where the constraint of dynamic stability plays a significant role. The evaluation of dynamic stability requires the use of dynamic simulations that are carried out either with dedicated simulation software that produces very small errors at the expense of simulation speed, or real-time physics engines that complete simulations in a very short time at the cost of repeatability. One such engine, PhysX, is evaluated to determine the feasibility of its integration with the open source application PackageCargo. A simulation tool based on PhysX is proposed and compared with the dynamic simulation environment of Autodesk Inventor to verify its reliability. The simulation tool presents a dynamically accurate representation of the physical phenomena experienced by cargo during transportation, making it a viable option for the evaluation of dynamic stability in solutions to the CLP.