Part Feeding Systems play a vital role in automated assembly, linking in-house logistics with individual assembly stations. One of the main tasks of part feeding systems is to transfer components from a disordered state (e.g. bulk material) to an ordered state (defined position and orientation) so that they can be further processed by automated handling equipment. Knowledge of the natural resting aspects (probability that a geometrical body rests in a certain orientation) of the components is essential for the development and design of part feeding systems. The experimental determination of natural resting aspects is time consuming and expensive since extensive drop tests have to be carried out. Therefore, many approaches have been taken to derive the natural resting aspects mathematically based on the component geometry or by direct dynamic simulation. In this work, the open-source physics engine Blender is used to determine natural resting aspects of arbitrary components without the need for experimental drop tests. In virtual drop tests, components are imported in the common STL format and are dropped on a surface from random initial orientations. The resting orientations of the components are exported and automatically evaluated using MATLAB. The functionality and accuracy of the approach is evaluated by conducting experimental drop tests with five exemplary components. The evaluation shows good agreement between simulated and experimental results.

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