Testing Kinematics with Papervision3D, Collada
30 Jan 2008
Click to run demo
A forward kinematics experiment using Papervision3D v2.0 alpha and a Collada 3D model of a robotic arm.
More work could be done on the following items...
As you'll see, the range of rotation of each joint is constrained, but there isn't enough program logic to keep consecutive joints from being rotated in such a way that the model folds in on itself unrealistically. Incidentally, the kind of model used here is ideal for playing with kinematics, as each joint rotates around only one axis, and each segment is connected on each end by no more than one other segment, except for the 'pincers'. (Next up: bipeds ... ?!)
There's some 'Z-popup' which could be mitigated by modifying the source model a little. By the way, the model comes from Learning 3ds Max 2008 Foundation.
The user interface to this piece is bare-bones functional. But I'm glad to have discovered that it's possible to detect overlapping key-down events in Flash, which is kind of interesting. (If anyone has ideas for an easier-to-use interface that stills allows you to control multiple joints simultaneously, please let me know)
Lastly, it makes sense at this point to learn about inverse kinematics...