mechanical movements ? ..skeleton tools ??

D

dannypilot

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mechanical movements ? ..skeleton tools ??

Hi everybody !

I'd like to put some simple mechanical pieces into Cheetah 3D, and would like to know if it is possible to join them so that they rotate around an axis, and can be linked together, so that by moving one piece, the others will follow.

I thought that maybe by using the skeleton tools it would be possible, but I did not manage to find out a way..

Many thanks in advance !

dannypilot
 
dannypilot said:
Hi everybody !

I'd like to put some simple mechanical pieces into Cheetah 3D, and would like to know if it is possible to join them so that they rotate around an axis, and can be linked together, so that by moving one piece, the others will follow.

I thought that maybe by using the skeleton tools it would be possible, but I did not manage to find out a way..

Many thanks in advance !

dannypilot
Click to expand...

Have you tried putting all the pieces in 1 folder? Then rotate.
 
TerryG said:
Or Import Children to join all into 1 piece.
Click to expand...

Hello and thanks for your reply.

Well, that's not exactly what I'm looking to do. If I put all the pieces in the same folder, all the pieces will translate and rotate in the same way.

I made a quick drawing to explain what I'm trying to do. I hope the attachment works.
 

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    mech.png
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Have you tried attaching them to a stationary piece, but then right clicking on that piece and not having it render? The skeleton, I hope, would still act the right way. Interesting challenge.
 
good examples, but more..

Hello everybody, and thanks for your responses !

Very interesting examples, such as the piston, and the tube with the bolts.

I analyzed two methods that can be used so far in mechanical simulations :

1) skeleton method
2) target method

But in both cases it is quite abstract.

I'd find it very interesting if together we could create a tutorial that generalizes a method for any mechanical simulation.

And why not include a new module in a future version of Cheetah for mechanical simulations ? The skeleton is very good for body movements, and the target useful for many things. But I feel that theres missing a more specific tool for mechanical stuff.

Very interesting and enriching, let's see how we can figure this out!
 
A solution ...

Hi,

There are several ways to solve this, but here is a simple one
 

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  • Image 1.jpg
    Image 1.jpg
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  • Mecanical_Link.zip
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excellent !

Francois said:
Hi,

There are several ways to solve this, but here is a simple one
Click to expand...

Wow, great model François, thanks !

Just a question, when you made the pieces, how did you place the coordinate system in the holes ? When I make a rod from a cube, the coordinate center is inevitably in the middle and I can't figure out how to move it..

I'm still thinking on the tutorial..
 
dannypilot said:
... how did you place the coordinate system in the holes ? When I make a rod from a cube, the coordinate center is inevitably in the middle and I can't figure out how to move it. ...
Click to expand...

You need to go into pivot mode and move the pivot point ( see the help file / Modes in the UI section )
 
Currently, the help file is in a state of LOL.

Here's how you do it. Right click on the menu icons (such as the move tool or scale tool) and then Customize. You should be able to find the Pivot Mode icon and drag it into that icon bar. Why it's not there by default is beyond me.
 
v5!

Ok I got it, I wasn't on version 5. I downloaded the demo, and indeed it seems to work perfectly well the way you explained it.

I'd still like to see some future version with some basic mechanical tools. (hope the developer hears about this post!)

Cheetah is a great soft thought, I think I'm gonna buy the new version now that I've seen its capabilities that are awesome !

Thanks again for all your help :icon_thumbup:
 
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