clock stepping and ODE

On Nov 11, 2007 4:42 PM, Jon Watte (ODE) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> 3) To make a simulation stable, make sure that you're using a fixed time
> step. Variable time step sizes, say based on the clock, will introduce
> energy into the system.

This was from the "sliding box on plane" thread earlier this week, but
I was wondering what kind of instability using the system clock would
generate?  The user's guide specifically mentions that "ODE is
designed to be used in interactive or real-time simulation."  That
implies that ODE will be able to use an outside clock in some fashion,
although it shouldn't be variable stepping if you want to keep it
real-time.

Did I misunderstand something from the previous post?  I was hoping to
use ODE on an RT system.

quig


-- 
There was a pirate's parrot who got a bad case of sunstroke and was
heard crowing, "Pieces of seven, pieces of seven," which was clearly a
parroty error.