[ODE] Simulation of tank

[Martijn Buijs]

Peter Libic( wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to write a simulation of a tank on a trimesh terrain.
> I tried to simulate it using one box with four spheres-wheels in corners.  
> Then I applied torque or amotor to the wheels. For turning I applied to left wheels 
> more torque and to  the left wheels  less, or negative torque. This didn't worked well.
> So I tried to let the wheeels only for acceleration and braking and to turn I used torque 
> for the chasis-box in desired direction. When I reduced the mu value this worked quite well 
> for big wheels and boxes, but for smaller ones it's really bad.
> Could anyone give me advice, how should I simulate the tank?
> 
> Thanks a lot,
> Peter

In the game Battlefield 1942 the tracks are simulated with a number of 'wheels', around 5-7 on each 
side (depending on the type of tank). The wheels are rays, cast downward, no spheres/cylinders 
AFAIK, probably very cheap. The tracks themselves are skinned meshes, with a scrolling texture, 
vertices are weighted and move along with the wheel objects (ray feedback). It looks and feels very 
convincing.

Martijn