Way to measure these angles?

djd711 · 8 Oct 2015, 01:15

Hey folks I could do with some help on the best way to measure angles for many lines within Sketchup. Firstly let me explain the workflow.

I have 2 .dxf files which show me the top down layout and also the side profile for a rollercoaster. I imported these in to Sketchup and after much time and patience I mapped the points from one plan to the other to give me this:

Honestly It's not really important how I got to this point but I thought I would start from the beginning anyway.

So what you see there is a representation of the top of a rollercoaster spine box beam. Just to be clear this is what I mean:

Is there a way to measure the exact angle of rotation for the lines highlighted in blue?

I need to know the angles from 0 to 360 degrees for every one of those types of lines as it follows around the track. I have tried the protractor but it gives me strange results and I find it difficult to use. It doesn't seem to line up to let me measure the angle properly. I would have to move every line to be on an axis and that's ridiculous considering the number of lines I need to measure.

Any help would be fantastic

Cheers, Dave

Krisidious · 8 Oct 2015, 13:17

this is going to take a lot of time...

you can make every line a component... then it will have an axis in it that is oriented to that line. From within that group you can measure the rotation to the next time. write it down. Repeat... good luck.

fredo6 · 8 Oct 2015, 14:48

You can use FredoTools::AngleInspector , which can measure angle between any edges, even disjoint, or between face normals, even disjoint, or from an axis.

AngleInspector Overview
[flash=640,480:3kv67g6q]http://www.youtube.com/v/C5Rgu3Px8V8&hl[/flash:3kv67g6q]

Fredo

djd711 · 8 Oct 2015, 14:48

It's sort of hard to explain. The angle has to be measured in relation to the direction of the track at any given time. I think it's the horizontal axis I need.

driven · 8 Oct 2015, 15:51

I've used 'Component Stringer' to help work out yaw. pitch and roll, in the past...
yaw on the green, pitch on the blue and roll on the red...

I would think you will need all three to describe the rides 'flight' path...

john

dtrarch · 8 Oct 2015, 18:38

Hello all

Just goto the Plugin Store for several dimension apps by SLBaumgartner
This is a real gem and even provides a text group of the selected angle not just a screen visual.
Works with v 2015 Pro
SLBaumgartner: Angular Dimension (Windows) v1.1

dtr

sdmitch · 8 Oct 2015, 19:19

@djd711 said:

I need to know the angles from 0 to 360 degrees for every one of those types of lines as it follows around the track. I have tried the protractor but it gives me strange results and I find it difficult to use. It doesn't seem to line up to let me measure the angle properly. I would have to move every line to be on an axis and that's ridiculous considering the number of lines I need to measure.

Any help would be fantastic

Cheers, Dave

What angle do you want? The angle between the line and the Z axis or some other axis or plane?

sdmitch · 8 Oct 2015, 20:03

@djd711 said:

It's sort of hard to explain. The angle has to be measured in relation to the direction of the track at any given time. I think it's the horizontal axis I need.

Could you post the model(version <=2014), or a representative sample of, and diagram an instance of the angle you want measured.