[ODE] Steering, and feedback?

[Amund Børsand]

<skjold@cistron.nl> skreiv:

> > >I've done similar stuff using a joystick to control regular hinges (and
> > >sliders), and it works well.  Do something like:

> > A method I have been experimenting with is setting up the steering system exactly ala
> > the Lego Technics cars, i.e. with one beam fixed to the chassis and three other beams
> > forming a rectangle, the steering column moving the beam parallel to that attached to
> > the chassis and the wheels connected to the side beams, in which case the effect of
> > steering is a contact constraint on the top surface of the "parallel to fixed" beam.
> > With the 0.035/CVS and above API you can even chuck in a feedback buffer to get an
> > accurate backward force for that sort of steering wheel.

> > Has anyone else tried anything like this?

> > -Thomas


I thought of setting up my car(s) with live axles and a steering box
mounted to the chassis, and with a rod from the steering box arm (pitman
arm) to the steering knuckle at the wheel, plus one tie-rod between the
wheels to keep them facing the same direction, as is used in real cars
with live front axle setup. A steering box/servo unit is, in ODE speak,
a short beam with a hinge and an Amotor attached to the car chassis, and
a ball joint in the other end, connecting the rod to the wheels and so
on. The interesting thing here is that this is the way it works in real
life, and if one could also read the "stress" the Amotor has to go
through to keep the wheels at the same place or turn them, you'd have a
perfect setup for force feedback joysticks and wheels. Is this possible?
How? I need the "feedback" for other things as well, like engine load.