Wheels and their Unity hierarchy

[NoMrBond]

Looking for more information on wheel building, videos or a tutorial, anything really. All I have seen thus far is the picture C7 posted

From which I have a few questions; Which are meshes, which are colliders (and of what types), which are gameObjects, which object names are mutable?

If we pair it up with the Wheel1 part.cfg, the information in the pic and some guesswork we get

roverWheel1							[Parent gameObject]
	Bounds							[Box(?) collider]
	roverWheelBig						[Mesh? gameObject? imported model name?]
		base						[Mesh?]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]			susp1-2					[Fixed end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part]
			susp2-2					[Fixed end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part]
			susp3-2					[Fixed end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part][/COLOR]
		suspensionNeutralPoint				[gameObject? is that a box-collider on it which specifies travel distance?]
			steering				[Called in FXModuleConstrainPosition, is a gameObject? Orientation?]
				wheelCollider			[collider for the wheel: Layer 27 - WheelColliders]
		suspensionTraverse				[gameObject? does orientation specify direction? is travel limiting collider here?]
			bracket					[is this a mesh or collider? does this limit travel? box collider working as a bounding box?]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]			susp1-1					[Floating end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part]
				susp3-1				[Floating end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part]
			susp2-1					[Floating end of FXModuleLookAtConstraint/CONSTRAINLOOKFX part][/COLOR]
			trackSteering				[Called in FXModuleConstrainPosition, is a gameObject? Orientation?]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]				bustedwheel			[gameObject parent for broken wheel components]
					bustedwheel		[mesh for broken wheel]
					collisionEnhancer	[collider for broken wheel][/COLOR]
					Object01		[Uhh?]
			wheelMount				[The mesh for the wheel hub that doesn't spin?]
				wheel				[The mesh for the wheel part that spins?]
					collisionEnhancer	[Sphere (?) collider for the spinning/turning wheel: Layer 26 - WheelCollidersIgnore]

With config arguments (related to the given Unity hierarchy names);

WHEEL; wheelName = wheel

WHEEL; wheelColliderName = wheelCollider

WHEEL; suspensionTransformName = suspensionTraverse

WHEEL; suspensionNeutralPointName = suspensionNeutralPoint

WHEEL; damagedObjectName = bustedwheel

MODULE{FXModuleConstrainPosition}; targetName = steering

MODULE{FXModuleConstrainPosition}; moversName = trackSteering

---

So breaking it down I guess we have three main parts;

The part which attaches to the rest of the craft, stable (unmoving) base and fixed origins of suspension elements

base			[Mesh]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]	susp		[Fixed ends of suspension elements][/COLOR]

The bridging part

suspensionNeutralPoint				[gameObject? is that a box-collider on it which specifies travel distance?]
	steering				[Called in FXModuleConstrainPosition, is a gameObject? Defines forward orientation?]
		wheelCollider			[collider (type?) for the wheel: Layer 27 - WheelColliders]

The floating wheel part

suspensionTraverse				[gameObject? does orientation specify direction? is travel limiting collider here?]
	bracket					[is this a mesh or collider? does this limit travel? box collider working as a bounding box?]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]	susp					[Floating ends of suspension element][/COLOR]
	trackSteering				[Called in FXModuleConstrainPosition, is a gameObject? Orientation?]
[COLOR="#A9A9A9"]		bustedwheel			[gameObject parent for broken wheel components]
			bustedwheel		[mesh for broken wheel]
			collisionEnhancer	[collider for broken wheel][/COLOR]
			Object01		[Uhh?]
		wheelMount				[The mesh for the wheel hub that doesn't spin?]
			wheel				[The mesh for the wheel part that spins on the hub?]
				collisionEnhancer	[Sphere (?) collider for the spinning/turning wheel: Layer 26 - WheelCollidersIgnore]

I'm assuming the trackSteering object works like the ModuleGimbal engine object in that this an actuation point and all children are moved?

How does the suspensionNeutralPoint control how far the 'suspension' can move? or how stiff the ride is?

Hopefully there are some good definitions for elements, known collider types, and/or corrections/suggestions for making wheels greatly appreciated

Edited March 11, 2014 by NoMrBond

[Nazari1382]

Here's a pic of a working wheel with a smaller amount of objects:

Like the first pic states, suspensionNeutralPoint,steering,wheelCollider,and suspensionTraverse are the same location and orientation. trackSteering and the actual wheel object can be elsewhere. trackSteering behaves like the wheel does in relation to wheelCollider. It mimics the movement of the steering.

The distance and stiffness of suspension is controlled in the wheelCollider object. Make the Bounds object out of a box collider and the wheels will be propped up by that object until physics kicks in. Add a standard collider object over the bulk of your suspension also.

[NoMrBond]

Thanks Nazari1382, will need to wait until tomorrow (or really late tonight) before I'll have more time to dedicate to this endeavour

Is the wheelCollider a specific sort of physics component? I guess I should really have a look through the component types too

[Alskari]

Handy. I'd love to have the same thing for landing legs. Mine currently don't seem to utilize the suspension options.

[NoMrBond]

Suggestion for anyone making wheels, use the exact default names as given in the example picture for the major parts

Bounds

suspensionNeutralPoint

steering

wheelCollider

suspensionTraverse

trackSteering

wheel

Or you're going to have a bad time

Using your own labels and setting your custom names in the part.cfg doesn't seem to cut it as one might expect :\