CINDER

CINDER is a mechanics-first Python model for rubber V-belt continuously variable transmissions (CVTs). The installed package is imported as cinder.

CINDER models the CVT as a mechanical plant with explicit pulley geometry, belt contact, clamping mechanisms, inertias, shaft boundaries, and hybrid contact/operating modes. The package is independent of the CVT-Simulator web frontend and backend.

Install

python -m pip install cinder-cvt==1.2.0

Verify the installed distribution:

python -c "import cinder; print(cinder.__version__)"

Expected output for this release:

1.2.0

Runtime dependencies are intentionally small:

• NumPy
• SciPy

Public Python API

CINDER v1 has three supported import surfaces:

• cinder — core mechanics, composed systems, shaft boundaries, hosts, and hybrid execution entry points.
• cinder.contracts — versioned JSON-safe assembly/simulation documents, validation, schema information, and result projection.
• cinder.studies — supported static geometry and actuation study APIs.

Modules beneath these public surfaces remain available to advanced users, but deep implementation-module paths are not the compatibility boundary for v1.

Run the reference example

The source repository contains a current fixed-pivot Baja reference case:

python cvtModel/examples/quickstart.py --run

The example imports the installed cinder package. It does not require the frontend or backend.

Documentation

• Getting started
• Public document contracts
• Source layout
• Simulation-document JSON Schema
• Geometry study API
• Actuation study API
• Fixed-pivot flyweight mechanics
• Hybrid impact mechanics

Repository-only material

The monorepo also contains launchTools, tools, validation artifacts, the backend, and the frontend. Those directories are useful to the project but are not part of the cinder-cvt wheel or source distribution.

License

CINDER is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC 4.0). Commercial use requires separate permission. See LICENSE.

The canonical flyweight formulation set lives in the repository-root docs and includes the shared four-quantity boundary, fixed-pivot weight/ramp mechanism, and fixed-orientation sliding-block mechanism. Each PDF is beside its LaTeX source; software/API documentation remains in cvtModel/docs/.