How do I update the plots of a subplot whitout redefining some constant plots?

Hi everyone, I've created a code to use a manipulator robot. In the main script I recall the function "Simulazione" which plots two main results: in the first subplot shows the movements of the robot whitout any functional, while the second one shows the same movements but with a functional. I'd like to plot constant plots only one time but I don't know how to do so. To make the code added below easier to understand, I've divided the 2 groups of constant plots and then there is the whole function.

% CONSTANT PLOTS FOR THE FIRST SUBPLOT
plot3(p_i(1), p_i(2), p_i(3), 'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_i(1) + 0.05, p_i(2), p_i(3)+0.05, '$p_i$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
plot3(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3)+0.05, '$p_{int}$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
plot3(p_f(1), p_f(2), p_f(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_f(1) + 0.05, p_f(2), p_f(3)+0.05, '$p_f$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
grid on

axis equal
xlim([-lmax lmax])
ylim([-lmax lmax])
zlim([-lmax lmax]);


xlabel('x [m]','Interpreter','latex')
ylabel('y [m]','Interpreter','latex')
zlabel('z [m]','Interpreter','latex')
set(gca,'FontSize',16)

title("SENZA FUNZIONALE",'Interpreter','latex')
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% CONSTANT PLOTS FOR THE SECOND SUBPLOT
plot3(p_i(1), p_i(2), p_i(3), 'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_i(1) + 0.05, p_i(2), p_i(3)+0.05, '$p_i$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
plot3(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3)+0.05, '$p_{int}$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
plot3(p_f(1), p_f(2), p_f(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
text(p_f(1) + 0.05, p_f(2), p_f(3)+0.05, '$p_f$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)

axis equal
xlim([-lmax lmax])
ylim([-lmax lmax])
zlim([-lmax lmax])

xlabel('x [m]','Interpreter','latex')
ylabel('y [m]','Interpreter','latex')
ylabel('z [m]','Interpreter','latex')
set(gca,'FontSize',16)
grid on
title("CON FUNZIONALE",'Interpreter','latex')
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


% FUNCTION I USE
function Simulazione(XY1, XY2, XY3, XYe, XYd, XY1_man, XY2_man, XY3_man, XYe_man, t, p_i, p_int, p_f, W, W_fun, lmax)

close all

figure()
for i = 1:10:length(t)
    sgt = sgtitle('4 DoF Manipulator','Color','black');
    sgt.FontSize = 20;
    sgt.FontWeight = 'bold';
    sgt.Interpreter = 'latex';

    subplot(1, 2, 1)
    plot3(0, 0, 0, '.k', 'MarkerSize', 20)
    hold on
    plot3([0 XY1(i,1)], [0 XY1(i,2)], [0, XY1(i,3)], '-r', 'Linewidth', 4)
    plot3(XY1(i,1), XY1(i,2), XY1(i,3), '.k', 'MarkerSize', 20)
    plot3([XY1(i,1) XY2(i,1)], [XY1(i,2) XY2(i,2)], [XY1(i,3) XY2(i,3)], '-b', 'Linewidth', 4)
    plot3(XY2(i,1), XY2(i,2), XY2(i,3), '.k', 'MarkerSize', 20)
    plot3([XY2(i,1) XY3(i,1)], [XY2(i,2) XY3(i,2)+0.095], [XY2(i,3) XY3(i,3)],'-g', 'Linewidth', 4)
    plot3(XY3(i,1), XY3(i,2)+0.095, XY3(i,3), '.k', 'MarkerSize', 20)
    plot3([XY3(i,1) XYe(i,1)], [XY3(i,2)+0.095 XYe(i,2)], [XY3(i,3) XYe(i,3)], '-m', 'Linewidth', 4)
    plot3(XYd(1:i, 1), XYd(1:i, 2), XYd(1:i, 3), '--r', 'LineWidth', 3)
    plot3(XYe(1:i, 1), XYe(1:i, 2), XYe(1:i, 3), '-b', 'LineWidth', 1.5)

    plot3(p_i(1), p_i(2), p_i(3), 'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_i(1) + 0.05, p_i(2), p_i(3)+0.05, '$p_i$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3)+0.05, '$p_{int}$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_f(1), p_f(2), p_f(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_f(1) + 0.05, p_f(2), p_f(3)+0.05, '$p_f$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    grid on

    axis equal
    xlim([-lmax lmax])
    ylim([-lmax lmax])
    zlim([-lmax lmax]);


    xlabel('x [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    ylabel('y [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    zlabel('z [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    set(gca,'FontSize',16)

    title("SENZA FUNZIONALE",'Interpreter','latex')
    
    hold off

    subplot(1, 2, 2)
    plot3(0, 0, 0,'.k','MarkerSize',20)
    hold on
    plot3([0 XY1_man(i,1)], [0 XY1_man(i,2)], [0 XY1_man(i,3)],'-r','Linewidth',4)
    plot3(XY1_man(i,1), XY1_man(i,2), XY1_man(i,3),'.k','MarkerSize',20)
    plot3([XY1_man(i,1) XY2_man(i,1)], [XY1_man(i,2) XY2_man(i,2)], [XY1_man(i,3) XY2_man(i,3)],'-b','Linewidth',4)
    plot3(XY2_man(i,1), XY2_man(i,2), XY2_man(i,3),'.k','MarkerSize',20)
    plot3([XY2_man(i,1) XY3_man(i,1)], [XY2_man(i,2) XY3_man(i,2)+0.095], [XY2_man(i,3) XY3_man(i,3)],'-g','Linewidth',4)
    plot3(XY3(i,1), XY3(i,2)+0.095, XY3(i,3),'.k', 'MarkerSize', 20)
    plot3([XY3(i,1) XYe(i,1)], [XY3(i,2)+0.095 XYe(i,2)], [XY3(i,3) XYe(i,3)],'-m', 'Linewidth', 4)
    plot3(XYd(1:i,1), XYd(1:i,2), XYd(1:i,3),'--r','LineWidth',3)
    plot3(XYe_man(1:i,1), XYe_man(1:i,2), XYe_man(1:i,3),'-b','LineWidth',1.5)

    plot3(p_i(1), p_i(2), p_i(3), 'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_i(1) + 0.05, p_i(2), p_i(3)+0.05, '$p_i$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3)+0.05, '$p_{int}$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_f(1), p_f(2), p_f(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_f(1) + 0.05, p_f(2), p_f(3)+0.05, '$p_f$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)

    axis equal
    xlim([-lmax lmax])
    ylim([-lmax lmax])
    zlim([-lmax lmax])

    xlabel('x [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    ylabel('y [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    ylabel('z [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    set(gca,'FontSize',16)
    grid on
    title("CON FUNZIONALE",'Interpreter','latex')
    
    hold off

    pause(0.05)

end
end

Answer 1

[Divyanshu]

Hi David,

As per the description provided, I have following understanding of the problem:

• Function “Simulazione” is called from a main script and this function has the code to plot two subplots.
• There are two constant plots which you want to plot only once and as the code is present inside a for loop, you are facing the challenge to plot it once.

So, according to above understanding one possible workaround is to place the constant plots code inside ‘if’ block as shown in the below code snippet:

if(j == 1)
    plot3(p_i(1), p_i(2), p_i(3), 'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_i(1) + 0.05, p_i(2), p_i(3)+0.05, '$p_i$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_int(1), p_int(2), p_int(3)+0.05, '$p_{int}$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    plot3(p_f(1), p_f(2), p_f(3),'k*', 'MarkerSize', 16)
    text(p_f(1) + 0.05, p_f(2), p_f(3)+0.05, '$p_f$', 'Interpreter', 'latex', 'FontSize', 16)
    grid on

    axis equal
    xlim([-lmax lmax])
    ylim([-lmax lmax])
    zlim([-lmax lmax]);


    xlabel('x [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    ylabel('y [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    zlabel('z [m]','Interpreter','latex')
    set(gca,'FontSize',16)

    title("SENZA FUNZIONALE",'Interpreter','latex')     
end

Similarly, do the same for the other constant plot as well.

Few pointers to take care of:

• Declare a variable ‘j’ at the start of the function body with value of j = 1
• And make sure to increment the value of j by 1 in the end of the loop body.