SketchyPhysics Keyboard Controls

ashscott

Hi all,

discussion on sketchyphysics sure seems to have cooled off since I was last in this part of the forum 2 years ago - thats a shame, over the last few days I have been using SP to model a proposed walking machine and it really is an extraordinary plugin.

I have a couple of questions for you folks that are more familiar with SP and Ruby:

Using (rightx) how do I get servo to sit in a position and stay there without spring loading back to its midway point? I am lifting a leg with the servo, pressing one arrow raises the leg and pushing the opposing arrow lowers the leg but if I release the arrow at any time the leg springs back to the middle position. How can I set things up so the leg maintains it's position when I release the arrow key? Currently the controller says this:

slider('A2_Tilt',0)+(rightx)

Is there a way to apply the same set of keys for certain objects and toggle between them, for example my walking machine has four legs. I can use (rightx) and (righty) to lift and place one leg - is there a way that I can set up a toggle function to apply those keys to each leg in real time so I can move each one individually? IE press spacebar so that the (rightx) and (righty) functions apply to the next leg on the machine?

Any help is much appreciated - I love the plugin and would pay for it if it would encourage Cphillips and co in their endeavours (you can't work for free)

Thanks

Ash

ashscott

Answers to these questions:

Use a motor not a servo
Toggling between keys looks something like this:

if key("m")==1
@B1_Tilt=(righty) and @B1_Twist=(0.5-rightx) and @B1_Ext=key("b")
elsif key("m")==0 and key("n")==0
@stick=0.5-(righty)

If I hold down ("m") the joystick controls a different set of functions than if I hold down ("n"). I also have another set of functions for the joystick if no key is pressed so I have three joysticks in one.

"m" and "n" have been assigned to my second joystick using the software 'joytokey' which I highly recommend. It allows you to set functions to the keyboard but then run them through a second joystick to your primary joystick.

Thus, I am running my sketchyphysicks sim with a logitech attack3 joystick in each hand.

It is an industrial simulation and I haven't seen anything else like it done online. I can't share more because its under NDA but if anyone wants help with something like this then let me know.

Ash

ashscott

There is a much better answer than using a motor to place a joint where you want it - you need to use a servo and a little ruby script

Step1: place your servo within the group you want to move and attach it to a base group
Step2: select the servo and open the sketchyphysics UI
Step3: within the UI apply the following settings
[list=]min:0
max:1
accel:4000
damp:1000
controller:@servo1 (you can actually call it anything starting with @
[/list]
Step4: Select the base of your model and open the sketchyphysics UI
Step5: place the following rubyscript in there:

if frame<1.00
@servo1=0.00
end
# this allows servo to incrementally increase based on joystick input (righty) you can change it to any of the joystick axes
@servo1+=(0.5-righty)
# this sets range of movement for the servo as it is not set in the servo's UI
if @servo1>45;@servo1=45;end
if @servo1<-45;@servo1=-45;end

It took me a long time to work this out (reverse engineering another model) so I am more than happy to help anyone out with it if these instructions are too hard to follow.

I believe this is a very powerful function in sketchyphysics and I have only seen it in one model in the 3DWH

DL xyz

You should just put hinge to limit movement, and motor to move. Put high damp and high speed on motor to make it stand still in position. That is how I make my models, which you can see on my site: http://forsa07.wix.com/dl-design#!design/cc9