[ODE] Vortex vs. ODE

[Kale Harbick]

I started using MathEngine's dynamics toolkit in 2000, and continued with
Vortex when they split up.  It's time to renew our academic license but
the price was increased a lot, so we're reluctant.  I'm investigating
alternatives and heard about ODE.  I was hoping someone here could compare
Vortex and ODE.  My application is a simulation of a dynamically-stable
hopping robot.  Other people in my group are working on humanoid robot
simulations.  Accuracy is more important to me than speed, as it eases the
migration of controllers from simulation to the physical robot.

thanks very much
Kale Harbick
USC Robotics Lab