[SOLVED] BodyRope Length

[Tsetso]

Hi, I'm trying to make a winch that has a rope to it. I can't find a proper way of manipulating the rope length. ( as I don't want to actually wind the rope around the winch ) Think of it as a crane.

I have a BodyRope created via:

ropeMesh = addToEditor(Unigine::createCylinder(radius, height, int(height / step), 7));

BodyRope body = class_remove(new BodyRope(ropeMesh))

In other words I start with a fixed size mesh.

I need to be able to control the length of the rope for our simulation, but so far I've no acceptable approach. I've tried to play with the LStretch factor, but it's more like a workaround that has to involve the number of steps factor as well.

Can you recommend any possible solution for such a task? Am I missing something really obvious here?

[morbid]

Hello Tsetso,

On 8/17/2018 at 12:52 AM, Tsetso said:

I can't find a proper way of manipulating the rope length

Unfortunately, BodyRope has no such parameter.

I've consulted our dev team and there're a couple of possible ways to implement winch-like object.

Using Ball Joint instead of Rope could be considered as an alternative approach. This will require logic that controls adding and removing of new "rope" elements. The geometry could be created with MeshDynamic .

In our Superposition Demo you can find a similar way of imitating a rope - check the cable_skinned object and its property.

Another way could be using 3rd party physics.

[Tsetso]

Hi morbid! Thanks for responding. After investigating my options, I ended up using a ball joint for relatively fixed air logistics. For the actions where "winching" is needed, I dynamically changed the particles of the rope ( pos, vel ). I haven't tried the dynamic mesh approach as I think I'm solve the issue, but that sounds like a generic approach to such scenarios where adaptable geometry is needed. The 3rd party option would be overkill as that adds support overhead. I think objects like cables, hoses and pipes would make a great addition as an add-on in the future...

[morbid]

The dynamic mesh could make it more complicated. I'm glad that you've found a way to do this!

Please feel free to contact us!