Archive: 12 posts

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Hey guys, I'm currently building a fully functional escavator, but I have some issues with balance. When ever I move the boom arm, the entire vehicle threatens to flip over on me. I'm using wobble bolts for the arm's connections. So far, I have tried, making the entire body of the vehicle metal, that only served to break the tracks. I have tried to counter the boom's weight by making the opposite side of the body all metal and the boom side carboard. I have tried adding additional weight on one side to that. Is there a way to get this to work without the driver tipping the thing over? Should I try using pistons instead? Here's pic of what the vehicle looks like: http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz204/Haleys_Papa/APhoto_5.jpg Thanks for the help.

2011-03-10 18:52:00 Author: Haleys_Papa Posts: 171

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I'm no engineer but I'd try using a gyroscope first on the main body of the escavator.

2011-03-10 18:59:00 Author: Morgana25 Posts: 5983

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cool. thank u

2011-03-10 19:04:00 Author: Haleys_Papa Posts: 171

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Maybe a counter weight, too. Real excavators all have them.

2011-03-10 19:30:00 Author: Antikris Posts: 1340

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Thanks for the help guys! Both ideas worked like a charm.

2011-03-10 20:18:00 Author: Haleys_Papa Posts: 171

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Now I have another problem, with the solutions that you guys gave me. The vehicle stays horizontal now, which is good, but if I want it to move up an incline or a decline, the illusion comes undone and the vehicle will not pitch according to the angle of the hill. I have tried to tweak the gyroscope, but it's either too weak or too strong. Can't get it just right. Are there any other suggestions to counter this problem?

2011-03-11 00:46:00 Author: Haleys_Papa Posts: 171

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If the gyroscope idea isn't working. I'd definitely go with the counterweight idea. It looks from the pic that the body is made from the metal gear cardboard. Try putting a large block of stone or wood hidden in the back half of the body. Keep in mind that a real excavator will tip if it tries to pull up too much of a load.

2011-03-11 00:56:00 Author: Chicago51 Posts: 258

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You could try to make the claw separate from the vehicle. You can place a follower on the piece that is attached to the body and attach a tag to wherever the arm was on the body in the first place. Make the follower follow that tag and set speed to 100. Oh...well, Since you said you're using bolts, you should place the follower on a piece of holo material and bolt the arm to it. It should look like its attached to it but it really won't be. . Then you can attach anti-gravity to the boom arm are to make it weightless. Hope that helps.

2011-03-11 01:10:00 Author: comishguy67 Posts: 849

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So far, I have tried, making the entire body of the vehicle metal, that only served to break the tracks. One of the tweakers, I think it's the material tweaker, has an option to make objects indestructible. You could try placing one of these on each of track segments.

2011-03-11 01:33:00 Author: Osprey71 Posts: 93

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@ Osprey: Oh yeah.

2011-03-11 02:06:00 Author: Haleys_Papa Posts: 171

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yeah, what osprey said is probably the best bet, and the easiest. I do love a good puzzle though Here's what I would do. Run a piece of holo that is the same shape as your ground, and place a "ground" tag on it. Place an impact sensor on your bucket, set to detect touching and to require that tag. Now, have a rotator placed on your excavator with a deceleration strength of 100 and a rotate speed of 0. run your impact sensor to that rotator, and through some logic to disable your treads. It will prevent the machine from flipping, but allow it to move freely when the bucket is not in contact with the ground. The only issue with this would be in a rollover situation, but proper incline planning, or a gyroscope set to a low strength, should prevent that.

2011-03-11 02:22:00 Author: tdarb Posts: 689

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The zero speed rotator is a good suggestion. Another thing you might try is to turn the wobble bolts' strength down to zero and use advanced rotators on the arm segments. The rotators won't apply any torque to the vehicle body, and the zero strength wobble bolts will keep the arm pieces from going too far in either direction.

2011-03-11 08:09:00 Author: Sehven Posts: 2188

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