The Space Editor Guide

The Space Editor is a powerful visual tool within the Simulation Playground that allows you to define and manipulate the physical layout of your simulation environment. It provides a 2D canvas where you can draw, name, and arrange the different locations where tasks and objects reside.

Purpose and Functionality¶

The main purpose of the Space Editor is to create a spatial context for your simulation. While a simulation can run without a defined layout, adding one provides several key benefits:

• Realism: It makes the simulation more realistic by representing the physical constraints of a workspace.
• Visualization: It helps you and others visualize the flow of work and movement of objects between different areas.
• Validation: It enables a class of location-based validation metrics, such as checking if an actor is in the correct location to perform a task, or if a location has exceeded its capacity.

The layout Object in simulation.json¶

The Space Editor directly interacts with the layout object in your simulation.json file. Any changes you make in the editor (like drawing or resizing a location) will be reflected in this JSON object in real-time, and vice-versa.

A typical layout object looks like this:

"layout": {
  "meta": {
    "units": "meters",
    "pixels_per_unit": 20
  },
  "locations": [
    {
      "id": "prep_area",
      "name": "Prep Area",
      "shape": {
        "type": "rect",
        "x": 50,
        "y": 50,
        "width": 300,
        "height": 150
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "oven_area",
      "name": "Oven Area",
      "shape": {
        "type": "rect",
        "x": 400,
        "y": 50,
        "width": 150,
        "height": 150
      }
    }
  ]
}

• meta: Contains metadata about the layout, such as the units of measurement and the pixels_per_unit scale for rendering on the canvas.
• locations: An array of location objects. Each location has:
  • id: A unique identifier used to reference the location from tasks and objects.
  • name: A human-readable display name.
  • shape: An object defining the location's geometry. Currently, only rect (rectangle) is supported, with x, y, width, and height properties in pixels.

Using the Space Editor¶

You can access the Space Editor by clicking on its tab in the Simulation Panel.

Creating a New Location¶

1. Click the + Add button in the Properties panel on the right.
2. Your cursor will change to a crosshair.
3. Click and drag on the canvas to draw a new rectangular location.

Once you release the mouse, the new location will be created, and a corresponding object will be added to the locations array in your simulation.json.

Selecting and Editing a Location¶

• Select: Simply click on any location on the canvas to select it. The selected location will be highlighted, and its properties will appear in the Properties panel.
• Move: Click and drag a selected location to move it around the canvas.
• Resize: Click and drag the handles on the corners and edges of a selected location to resize it.
• Edit Properties: When a location is selected, you can edit its id and name in the Properties panel. These changes will be immediately reflected in the JSON.

Snapping and Options¶

The Options panel provides settings to make it easier to align your locations:

• Enable Vertical/Horizontal Snapping: When enabled, the edges of the location you are dragging or resizing will "snap" to the edges of other locations on the canvas, helping you create clean, aligned layouts.
• Snap Tolerance: This value (in pixels) controls how close an edge needs to be to another edge before it snaps.

By using the Space Editor, you can quickly build a visual representation of your process environment, adding another layer of realism and detail to your simulations.