Complex track shape

Matsuo · 5 Sept 2009, 18:02

Hi all,

I'm having problems with the following:

I've drawn a (kinda) complex shape of a tank track. I've tried dividing the outline (thus creating the opportunity to place and align any segments), but without any success. I already know how to create simple tracks, but the complex shapes are still a mystery! I've attached both the .skp file and an image to show exactly what I mean. If there's anything that's (somewhat) unclear, please let me know

The thing I'm trying to create (specifically the track segments of the tank):

This is the shape I want to use (for now)

Gaieus · 5 Sept 2009, 18:10

Dude, first I thought that the image is what you modelled and asked myself "what the hell is this guy doing here in the newbie forum"?

Anyway. If you really want to model it detailed, model one segment, make it a component and copy it along the path of the track (of course, you will need to do a lot of meticulous rotation and such but that should be the only way)

Matsuo · 5 Sept 2009, 21:02

@gaieus said:

Dude, first I thought that the image is what you modelled and asked myself "what the hell is this guy doing here in the newbie forum"?

Anyway. If you really want to model it detailed, model one segment, make it a component and copy it along the path of the track (of course, you will need to do a lot of meticulous rotation and such but that should be the only way)

If I only were so good

So you suggest I should use copy along path (from what I can understand from your post)?

Gaieus · 6 Sept 2009, 09:59

Well, "something like that". Copy along path can place your copies at equal distances but won't align them so there you will need to use some manual method (but that's what such a fine model is all about after all)

Matsuo · 6 Sept 2009, 18:35

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline
Check the length of the outline
Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

mac1 · 7 Sept 2009, 04:32

@matsuo said:

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline

Check the length of the outline

Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

MATSUO
Did same approach and did not have the same problem. I found length. inside, is 10652.680 used 101 segs for a tread width of 105.47208mm. The first time checking the segs I found a short one also so, increased the accuracy of the model units to the max. and did not find same problem. Don't know why that should effect the results Maybe I did something else wrong). Before copy/ rotation of treads suggest you check each seg length via entity info. The attached file is what I have done to date.

mac1_complex_tracks.skp

Matsuo · 7 Sept 2009, 17:32

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline

Check the length of the outline

Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

MATSUO
Did same approach and did not have the same problem. I found length. inside, is 10652.680 used 101 segs for a tread width of 105.47208mm. The first time checking the segs I found a short one also so, increased the accuracy of the model units to the max. and did not find same problem. Don't know why that should effect the results Maybe I did something else wrong). Before copy/ rotation of treads suggest you check each seg length via entity info. The attached file is what I have done to date.

That's more like it
I will try your approach (increasing the accuracy) and post my results!

Thanks

edit: Well..I tried your approach, without any success I keep ending up with one piece that's too small! I even tried the offset on surface tool, but that didn't help either

Any other suggestions?

mac1 · 11 Sept 2009, 05:59

@matsuo said:

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline

Check the length of the outline

Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

MATSUO
Did same approach and did not have the same problem. I found length. inside, is 10652.680 used 101 segs for a tread width of 105.47208mm. The first time checking the segs I found a short one also so, increased the accuracy of the model units to the max. and did not find same problem. Don't know why that should effect the results Maybe I did something else wrong). Before copy/ rotation of treads suggest you check each seg length via entity info. The attached file is what I have done to date.

That's more like it
I will try your approach (increasing the accuracy) and post my results!

Thanks

edit: Well..I tried your approach, without any success I keep ending up with one piece that's too small! I even tried the offset on surface tool, but that didn't help either

Any other suggestions?

When I call up the polyline divider on my SU7 version it asks for a interval input and not num of segments. I am guessing if you input a interval such that the tread length/tread width is not an interger it just may truncate the one segment. I accurately measured the tread length then used a width close to the hidden widths( at the max curve point) shown in your model then adjusted that until I obtained an interger number. thus the 101 segs. Hope this helps

mac1 · 11 Sept 2009, 15:18

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline

Check the length of the outline

Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

MATSUO
Did same approach and did not have the same problem. I found length. inside, is 10652.680 used 101 segs for a tread width of 105.47208mm. The first time checking the segs I found a short one also so, increased the accuracy of the model units to the max. and did not find same problem. Don't know why that should effect the results Maybe I did something else wrong). Before copy/ rotation of treads suggest you check each seg length via entity info. The attached file is what I have done to date.

That's more like it
I will try your approach (increasing the accuracy) and post my results!

Thanks

edit: Well..I tried your approach, without any success I keep ending up with one piece that's too small! I even tried the offset on surface tool, but that didn't help either

Any other suggestions?

When I call up the polyline divider on my SU7 version it asks for a interval input and not num of segments. I am guessing if you input a interval such that the tread length/tread width is not an integer it just may truncate the one segment. I accurately measured the tread length then used a width close to the hidden widths( at the max curve point) shown in your model then adjusted that until I obtained an integer number. thus the 101 segs. Hope this helps

Additional info. Checked the ruby library and found bz_sgementor.rb giving you the capability of dividing polyline by segs vs dimension. Download and install. http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/BZ__Segmentor.rb. This should solve the problem. Quick check with my 101 segs indicates it provides the same solution without length truncation at least for this case.

Matsuo · 18 Nov 2009, 21:18

@mac1 said:

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

@mac1 said:

@matsuo said:

Is there a good way to divide the shape after using the 'weld' plug-in? I already tried the following:

Welding the outline

Check the length of the outline

Used 'Convert to > Polyline Divider' and divided it (length of outline / no. of segments (i.e. 20) = segment length)

Problem is that after I did all those steps, a) the shape is distorted, and b) I end up with a gap that is smaller than a segment

What exactly am I doing wrong here? If necessary I will attach a drawing with an example.

MATSUO
Did same approach and did not have the same problem. I found length. inside, is 10652.680 used 101 segs for a tread width of 105.47208mm. The first time checking the segs I found a short one also so, increased the accuracy of the model units to the max. and did not find same problem. Don't know why that should effect the results Maybe I did something else wrong). Before copy/ rotation of treads suggest you check each seg length via entity info. The attached file is what I have done to date.

That's more like it
I will try your approach (increasing the accuracy) and post my results!

Thanks

edit: Well..I tried your approach, without any success I keep ending up with one piece that's too small! I even tried the offset on surface tool, but that didn't help either

Any other suggestions?

When I call up the polyline divider on my SU7 version it asks for a interval input and not num of segments. I am guessing if you input a interval such that the tread length/tread width is not an integer it just may truncate the one segment. I accurately measured the tread length then used a width close to the hidden widths( at the max curve point) shown in your model then adjusted that until I obtained an integer number. thus the 101 segs. Hope this helps

Additional info. Checked the ruby library and found bz_sgementor.rb giving you the capability of dividing polyline by segs vs dimension. Download and install. http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/BZ__Segmentor.rb. This should solve the problem. Quick check with my 101 segs indicates it provides the same solution without length truncation at least for this case.

I will look into it!

My apologies for the late reaction