I was putting together an assembly. Imagine a plate that has (2) different rollers. and each roller, is inserted into a guide-track. The track is straight, but at the end, it takes a radial turn. (Each roller has it's own specific track, so there are two tracks in total. each track is straight, then has a radial curve at one end)
I want both rollers to follow the turns when the plate with the rollers is pulled as a unit, down the tracks.
I tried using this constraint: Tangent to keep the roller inside the track and it works, up until the track goes from being straight, to having a curve.
On my drawing, the "roller", just looks like a circle that has been extruded. the "track" is just a pocket, that looks like a slot, except the slot is straight in the beginning, then takes a turn.
So in a way, this plate moves like a "slider", except the slots are not perfectly straight.
Does anyone have any advice on how to make this work, or what kind of constraints to use, to connect the plate with rollers to the entire track?
My goal is to use "mechanism" or animation to move the plate down the tracks eventually.
Also note: If I only focus on the curved side of the track, I can make the part "work" there, but when i move the part towards the straight part of the guide track, then it stops. the tangent constraint keeps the part on the curved surface but won't let me transfer it to the straight surface...
any help or advice is appreciated.
Edited by: MB2011SD
I want both rollers to follow the turns when the plate with the rollers is pulled as a unit, down the tracks.
I tried using this constraint: Tangent to keep the roller inside the track and it works, up until the track goes from being straight, to having a curve.
On my drawing, the "roller", just looks like a circle that has been extruded. the "track" is just a pocket, that looks like a slot, except the slot is straight in the beginning, then takes a turn.
So in a way, this plate moves like a "slider", except the slots are not perfectly straight.
Does anyone have any advice on how to make this work, or what kind of constraints to use, to connect the plate with rollers to the entire track?
My goal is to use "mechanism" or animation to move the plate down the tracks eventually.
Also note: If I only focus on the curved side of the track, I can make the part "work" there, but when i move the part towards the straight part of the guide track, then it stops. the tangent constraint keeps the part on the curved surface but won't let me transfer it to the straight surface...
any help or advice is appreciated.
Edited by: MB2011SD