Non-Raycast Vehicle

[kelano]

Hello!

I am very new to Bullet and am trying to implement a motorized robot. I want each wheel to be controlled with a separate servo, so I don't think the raycast vehicle prefab is the best choice for me. Instead I have been using hinge constraints and enabling motor velocity to power the wheels.

I have attached an image of the bot for reference.

The design is not dissimilar to a roomba, in which there are two wheels along the diameter to allow for in place rotation. I will add that the wheels are Rigid Bodies and the cubes in front and back are frictionless 'casters' to keep the bot from rocking back and forth.

I have found when I am trying to move this bot with precision that the wheels sometimes fail to both 'catch' the ground, causing the vehicle to veer slightly off its intended trajectory. I have also noticed that the wheels go very slightly through the floor (A Planar Trimesh Shape) and sometimes a bounce occurs from this.

While there could be many causes for this, I was curious if there were any general tips for making a non raycast vehicle that I could benefit from. Perhaps I should try to add suspension with a 6DOF constraint?

Thank you!

--Kellen

[Karrok]

Check if the "bumps" you get are whenever the cylinders roll over a line (internal edge).
If they do, you have an internal edge problem, and have to use the internal edge util to fix it.