Physics for tank with wheels and tracks

[santosh.a]

Hi,

 

We need to implement a physics based tank with wheels and tracks but are facing some issues.

 

1. The track chain is coming off the wheels, similar to the physics/tracks_02 demo.

2. Track pieces are colliding with each other and causing unwanted dynamics.

3. The tracks are vibrating significantly when tank is not moving, similar to the physics/tracks_02 demo

 

Can anyone share some info on how to go about creating tank physics or provide a working prototype? Thanks in advance.

[ulf.schroeter]

I doubt that track chain elements simulation via physics engine is really a good idea, both stability- and performance-wise. Game engine physics simulation is far from perfect (float precision issues, numerical stability, performance tradeoffs etc) If I remember correctly especially if the 'Weight' difference between simulated bodies is large (e.g. heavy hull vs. light track chain elements) this is especially problematic.

 

 

I think in most high-end games today still only the key elements of the tank (body, turret, wheels) are simulated as rigid bodies and the track chain elements are just animated as skinned mesh attached to the wheels. On each frame the positions of modelled physics wheel are used for updating the track skinned mesh bones transforms.

[santosh.a]

Thanks Ulf for a clear response. This is just as we suspected. We were checking the possibility of adding track physics since simulations go beyond games in the context of realism. But because of the issues that you mentioned, I think this is not a good idea.